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WWE fan favourite Jey Use has reflected on how ‘awkward’ and ‘vulnerable’ he felt taking his first steps as a solo star.
The Raw superstar, who recently became Intercontinental Champion as he captured his first ever singles title after 14 years in the game, admitted it wasn’t easy breaking out on his own after being paired with twin brother Jimmy for his whole career.
‘So felt awkward, you know, felt like I was vulnerable a lot of the time,’ he exclusively told Metro.co.uk backstage during WWE’s recent show at Manchester’s Co-op Live.
Jey felt like it took a little while to settle, as he tried to find his feet with a whole new way of working on Raw away from his family, his brother, and the whole Bloodline saga.
‘In the beginning, it was kind of hard,’ he confessed. ‘I was trying to find my way now. Now I’ve been out there for almost a whole year now, I’m comfortable. I could believe in what I’m doing now. I think the people believe in what I’m doing now.’
He added: ‘But it just caught on, the Yeet Movement caught on. Man, the people just got behind me. I just never I’d be in this position. I was very, very appreciative of everybody.
‘I think because they just watched me grow on TV, I don’t know, like they watched me, they watched the ups and downs the whole time. So they were just rooting for me.’
For the 39-year-old star, Backlash France in Lyon earlier this year was a huge turning point for him, with the arena lit up as fans waved their phones in time to his theme music.
‘That made me realise, like, “Oh damn, they with me”, but I didn’t recognize how big that entrance was until I got to watch it back,’ he explained, noting how in the moment, he doesn’t hear the outside noise.
He recalled: ‘When I watched it back the next couple of days, man, I didn’t know it was that big. Yeah, it was fire. I’ll never be able to really relive that, or replicate that ever again.’
Six months later, Jey now holds the prestigious Intercontinental Championship – but he admitted being a solo star was ‘never’ something he thought about.
‘It never crossed my mind to venture out and be a singles competitor. Always thought we would be a tag team for life, for sure,’ he explained.
‘Always thought that the goal and the mission was to come in here and be like the number one tag team in the world ever in pro wrestling. And we did that. And as the journey kept going, I started wanting to reach bigger heights.’
That came with the big title win, but the career milestone didn’t sink in until he got home to his family.
‘To be honest, man, I won that Monday night, and then had an early morning flight, 6am Tuesday morning,’ he said. ‘I just, I stayed up the whole night because I was so turned up so I couldn’t sleep, man.
‘And then it didn’t hit me until I got home, around my kids, and I showed my my son the belt. I said, “Here, look, look, see what I got”. He geeked out, man! He started taking pictures with it.’
It’s a moment he never even dreamed of, but Jey is proving that ‘main event’ isn’t just a nickname.
‘Took me almost 15 years to get it. Never thought I’d have my own singles championship,’ he smiled. ‘I got the singles championship.’
WWE returns to the UK in November with dates in Dublin (Nov 3), London (Nov 4), Nottingham (Nov 5) and Sheffield (Nov 6).
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