Yeet or Not Yeet: Is Jey Uso The Right Opponent for CM Punk at Saturday Night’s Main Event

Written by James Mertz

WWE will be hosting another edition of the 2-hour live show streaming exclusively on Peacock, Saturday Night’s Main Event. 

The main event of the show will see two fan-favorites, Jey Uso and CM Punk, battling it out for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

The decision was a split-second one from WWE creative after former world champion Seth Rollins suffered an injury and announced he would be out of action for a while.

So the question has been raised amongst fans whether or not this match was the right move, is Jey Uso the best opponent to battle CM Punk for the World Heavyweight championship?

The short answer to that is no.

Since losing the title to Gunther this past summer, Uso has seen his role in the singles contender landscape dwindling. Whether that is because Triple H and co. think Uso isn’t a big enough star or they believe that his “Main Event” gimmick has become stale is unclear. But what is known is that Uso has been intertwined in a story with the old Bloodline with Jimmy Uso and Roman Reigns for a considerable amount of time now. To thrust him into a match for a World Title with one of the company’s biggest stars doesn’t make a lot of sense. 

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Also, on the latest episode of Monday Night Raw, Uso said “screw you” to Punk in their promo. Which makes sense because they’re about to fight for a main singles title, but it felt forced just because these two are both babyfaces and WWE wants to create some friction between the two when there really is none. Punk is better than anyone at enhancing a feud and raising his opponent’s talent both on the microphone and in the ring, but this time it has all just felt unnatural. By piecing this matchup together, not only are fans getting a worse in-ring product, but also a build-up with no real animosity. 

Another reason this is the wrong move is that this match may bury Uso. Just about every fan assumes that Punk walks out of Salt Lake City with the title on Saturday night. He won that same title at SummerSlam before Rollins cashed in and took it from him five minutes later. So with Rollins out of the picture, it’s clear the WWE universe is finally getting the Punk title run they’ve waited almost 13 years for. When that happens, it will be a knock on Uso’s solo record and further increase the narrative amongst fans that WWE doesn’t believe in Uso as a main eventer. 

Rollins having to vacate the title was the perfect opportunity for WWE creative to bump a mid-carder up for a chance at a World championship run. A heel like Finn Balor or Logan Paul, who have been in and out of the main event scene in their career, would’ve created better promos, hype and overall more entertaining in-ring action. Or if they wanted to keep it babyface vs. babyface, giving guys like Sheamus or Penta a shot at the World title, even if they lost, would be a push for their careers and create a banger of a match on Saturday night.

CM Punk vs. Jey Uso headlines Saturday Night’s Main Event this Saturday on Peacock.