Jey Uso may have subtly told us he will turn heel by betraying Cody Rhodes on WWE RAW

The curious case of Jey Uso becomes more interesting with each passing week, and he has morphed from one of the most popular yet unidimensional and cartoonish characters on WWE TV over the past year into once again a deep and layered character whom fans do not know what to think about over the past few weeks.

Uso's evolution has been from a legendary tag team wrestler to a man resisting Roman Reigns and developing a singles pedigree, to acquiescing and becoming The Right Hand Man, and then going on to become his own man away from his family, away from Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso, winning singles gold, becoming the YEETman, winning the Royal Rumble and then the World Heavyweight Championship from Gunther at WrestleMania.

Now, however, having lost the title, he is struggling to come to terms with having lost the World Heavyweight Championship and not being able to get back to the top of the mountain. His ego is soaring high, his insecurities are showing, he is damaging a seemingly repaired relationship with Jimmy Uso, and he is looking for people to blame, whether it's CM Punk or LA Knight. In short, Uce is crashing out, and Jimmy, surprisingly, but in a certain sense, logically, is seemingly bringing out the worst in Jey.

Jey Uso is becoming someone he once hated, but he did acknowledge, and that is what spawned his singles run in the first place

On last night's RAW, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes returned to the red brand to open the show, a welcome blast from the recent past. He was confronted by World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, and the two had an incredibly compelling exchange of words as they made sense of the past and the present, and staked their claim as the face of the company for the future.

As the two world champions in WWE with a rich shared past, and yet a fresh and exciting dynamic, the build to the main event of WWE Crown Jewel and the match potentially have "blockbuster" written all over. However, Rhodes's presence on RAW also allowed another compelling dynamic to be explored: Cody and Jey. Cody is the man who brought Jey Uso to RAW back in 2023. He gave Jey the chance to not just establish himself, but redeem himself, and eventually, truly become "Main Event" Jey Uso.

Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes have been a major part of each other's story and journey to World Title glory

They won tag team gold together. They were united inside WarGames. They went from being on opposite sides of a conflict to trusted allies and great friends. In fact, after his loss to John Cena at WrestleMania, Cody Rhodes, after a month-long hiatus, made his return to save Jey Uso from Logan Paul and John Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event.

At Money in the Bank, they teamed up against Logan Paul and then-WWE Champion John Cena. Bear in mind: Jey Uso was a champion then, and Cody wasn't. There was no insecurity and no lust, but the tables have now turned, and the situation is different. Interestingly, Uso lost his title to Gunther on the Monday Night RAW that followed MITB.

Anyway, then, they clashed on RAW a few weeks later in the semi-finals of the King of the Ring tournament (the KOTR also received a world title shot at SummerSlam). Cody won that match and went on to win the WWE Championship back from John Cena at SummerSlam. Jey Uso, meanwhile, dealt with The Vision, teaming with CM Punk, Sami Zayn, and Roman Reigns at various points, with a lot of conflict there too.

With Reigns out injured following Clash in Paris, Zayn having moved to SmackDown, his contentious relationship with LA Knight deteriorating by the week, and him antagonising CM Punk following Roman Reigns' warnings, Jey Uso needed help, and it arrived in the form of his twin, Jimmy. So, when Jimmy kept struggling to help Jey through his psychological troubles, Cody's presence last night prompted Big Jim to ask The American Nightmare to help.

What happened between Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes last night on RAW?

On last night's RAW, Cody Rhodes reaffirmed his faith in Jey Uso and tried to help him through his feelings of perceived failure, whether against The Vision or his quest for title glory once again. But Jey Uso is a man who has had a taste of what it feels like to be on top now, and now, he is obsessed. That means ego, arrogance, fractured relationships, talking down to Jimmy, and an insatiable thirst to return to the top and to stay there. There is no need to mention who that reminds all of us of.

However, it is now manifesting itself into an utter lack of self-control. Last night on RAW, as Cody tried to help Jey through his troubles, Jey's focus kept drifting to something else: the Undisputed WWE Championship belt. He clearly does not care for fighting off The Vision, or winning tag team gold with his brother after years, or even teaming up with his brother at all. In fact, perhaps, he looks at the prospect of winning tag team gold, especially alongside Jimmy, beneath him; not just beneath him, a reminder of a past he is ashamed of.

He does not want advice; he does not seek counsel. All he wants now is a World Title around his waist. If that cannot be the World Heavyweight Championship, then it might as well be the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Clearly, relationships, ethics, and morality are dwindling priorities for Jey Uso, and his ambition and desperation are leading him down a dark path. Jimmy Uso's arrival only seems to have exacerbated that, and Jimmy's warnings and, in fact, betrayal of Jey Uso, seem to now actually make a lot of sense. Here's what he had said to Jey while explaining his actions at SummerSlam 2023:

“'Jimmy betrayed Jey because he’s jealous.' I did what I did at SummerSlam not because of jealousy, Uce. You really wanna know? Man, I was afraid. Alright. I was afraid to lose you… I would never be able to live Uce if I let you and watch you become an egotistical, lying, manipulative a**hole like Roman Reigns.

Well, perhaps, Jimmy did, in fact, know his brother and how his family operates better than fans who criticised that turn from a booking standpoint. His explanation had been followed by Jey taking out Roman, superkicking Jimmy, and quitting WWE, before Cody Rhodes brought him over to RAW. And now, all of this may mark a pivotal point in the lives of all these characters if Jey ends up turning heel on Cody, perhaps at Crown Jewel.

Jey may move back to SmackDown, going after Rhodes and the WWE Championship, and given the batting average WWE has had playing these moving pieces near one another, it could be one of the best stories WWE has told over the past few years. Jey Uso's tale initially seemed to be one about breaking through how his family operates, becoming his own man, doing wonders no one ever imagined, and doing it all with a smile on his face, YEETing as became the quintessential underdog babyface of the modern era.

Now, however, it has assumed a completely different direction: one of a man for whom family is nothing but a past legacy he needs to not just uphold and protect, but surpass. Why? To satiate his own ego. It has become a tale of insatiable desire, unchecked ambition, and a tragedy of hubris. It has become a tale of history repeating itself; of Uso falling much like Roman Reigns did, due to pride, arrogance, and selfishness in the name of family.