Next week’s WWE Raw will include a matchup between two of the top performers on the brand – Jey Uso against Drew McIntyre. Uso came face-to-face with McIntyre in a backstage segment, with McIntyre clearly not convinced that Uso’s recent change of heart has been genuine. Following their confrontation, the match was made official for next week’s show. McIntyre is coming off a victory on tonight’s episode, having defeated Xavier Woods of The New Day in singles action. Uso, on the other hand, suffered a loss alongside Kevin Owens to Damien Priest and Finn Balor of The Judgment Day.
Tonight’s WWE Raw opened up with Uso making his way to the ring and discussing his recent decision to leave The Bloodline and make the move to Raw. However, he was quickly interrupted by Owens, with the former WWE Universal Champion making it clear that Uso had many enemies backstage due to his actions over the last several years. Owens noted that Uso already had the support of both Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes, and he was willing to give Uso a chance to gain his trust.
Balor, Priest, and Dominik Mysterio then made their presence known. The villainous trio extended an invitation to Uso, telling him he had no need to win over their trust and pointing to Mysterio as an example of what joining them can do for one’s career. However, rather than join up with The Judgment Day, Uso sided with Owens, offering to step in for the absent Zayn to be Owens’ tag partner for the night against Priest and Balor.
The match was then made official, kicking off after the commercial break. With the help of Mysterio on the outside, and some underhanded tactics on the parts of Priest and Balor, The Judgment Day was able to get Uso in position to accidentally hit Owens with a superkick. That gave Balor an opportunity to land a Coup De Grace on Owens for the victory.
While it was seemingly inadvertent, the superkick to Owens is sure to serve as a bump in the road for Uso as he looks to repair relationships in the locker room. The former Bloodline member was apologetic toward Owens after the match, but an irate Owens yelled at Uso backstage, telling him to go join The Judgment Day. Presuming Zayn returns to Raw next week, he’ll likely have some work ahead of him, and so will Uso.