The Story So Far: Jey Uso Vs. GUNTHER At WWE WresteMania 41

Jey Uso looks to finally ascend his own personal Everest this Saturday when he challenges GUNTHER for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Long an established tag title winner alongside his twin brother, "Main Event" Uso has had a remarkable breakout from his time as Roman Reigns' "Right-Hand Man" in The Bloodline, capped with a brief stint as the Intercontinental Champion last year, before winning the Royal Rumble with the hope of finally entering the hall of former WWE world champions. 

GUNTHER has consistently stood in the way of Uso's singles pursuits, extending back to February last year when Uso sought the Intercontinental Championship. Though he would win the title later in the year from Bron Breakker, GUNTHER was a different challenge and one that came during a brotherly feud with Jimmy Uso — who would interfere to cost his twin ahead of their own grudge match at WrestleMania 40.

They once again met at the King of the Ring semi-finals in May, and once again GUNTHER proved the better athlete, going on to win the tournament and secure a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which he would eventually win at SummerSlam. And then the third time didn't turn out to serve any charm when Uso challenged GUNTHER for that title at Saturday Night's Main Event in January, once again falling short of the mark after over 15 minutes of action. Despite those losses, Uso is back for the fourth occasion on the biggest show of the year looking to finish the story, so let's take a look at what led to this point.

GUNTHER's reign has been one of dominance over his challengers, first winning the title at SummerSlam by choking out Damian Priest and then repeating the feat over Randy Orton in his first defense at Bash In Berlin later that month, and once again with Sami Zayn – the man that had ended his Intercontinental title reign just a few months prior – in October.

For over 250 days he has held the title, and the only man to have overcome him in singles action is the Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes. To go further than that, he has legitimately spent the majority of his WWE career as champion – United Kingdom Champion for 870 days and Intercontinental Champion for 666 days – with only four people overcoming him with a clean win in that time. To put that into perspective, at the time of writing, GUNTHER has been signed to the company for a collective 2176 days since joining in 2019, and he has held a title for 1793 of those days – approximately 82% of his time with the company. Throughout that time, only Rhodes, Breakker, Zayn, and Ilja Dragunov have succeeded in beating him with a title on the line. 

The "Ring General" has completed five title defenses during this reign with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and is a serial defender, having a record of 35-3 with a title belt he holds on the line – including a count-out loss to Chad Gable for the Intercontinental Championship in August 2023. 

Uso's story has been one of repeatedly trying to break out of shadows cast by those perceived to be bigger than him. He became the first man to pin Reigns clean in years in 2023, only to be denied taking the title from him by his brother – a recurring theme in his failings – before ultimately cementing himself beyond The Bloodline in the time since. He failed at the Intercontinental title when he first faced GUNTHER only to capture it later on from Breakker. Uso now has his opportunity at the title having put his familial issues to bed.

One of the core themes of Uso's character as a singles competitor is his typical underdog spirit through layers of self-deprecation and a lack of self-belief. His question has been why he can't be the one who bears the flag right from the beginning – when an unfortunate spell on the sidelines for his tag team partner plunged the unsuspecting Uso into singles competition with a shot at the Universal title in September 2020.

That question was asked throughout his time spent subservient to Reigns and it's one that he finally seeks to answer on the "Grandest Stage of Them All." He didn't just get the opportunity on a whim, he did so by winning a match including the likes of Reigns and lastly eliminating John Cena in the Royal Rumble, and even then he was told by GUNTHER not to make the mistake of challenging him again. But once again, Uso asked why not and made the "Ring General" his choice.

GUNTHER has attempted to make him rue that decision in the weeks since, constantly gaining the upper hand in skirmishes at ringside and battering his challenger at every chance he could get. His gameplan was in full effect, with Uso slowly becoming a shell of the man would "YEET" along with thousands of his supporters, and it left Jimmy Uso to try and right the wrongs of the past in a match against his brother's tormentor.

That would prove to be the turning point in the psychological and the physical games being played by GUNTHER, as he defeated Jimmy convincingly and beat him bloody after tying Jey to the ropes, forcing him to watch on helplessly as GUNTHER choked Jimmy out in the middle of the ring and wiped his blood over himself.

The consequence that he had not envisioned, however, is that he is now dealing with a laser-focused and vengeful challenger that he has not dealt with in all of his previous bouts in the saga. On the go-home episode of "WWE Raw" on Monday that was on full display, with GUNTHER overcompensating and cutting an enraged promo centered around the further punishment he is going to dish out this weekend, and Uso acknowledging that for perhaps the first time in their rivalry, GUNTHER is concerned about their match. Until Saturday, the time for talking appears to be at an end, with nothing left to hear but the ring of the starting bell.