On the Road to Wrestlemania, Jey Uso Enjoys Status as Top Superstar
In February, my 12-year-old sons received the birthday gift of a lifetime: tickets to WWE RAW live in Cincinnati. With a crowd of about 25,000, it was an electrifying experience. And to my marketing mind, it was an interesting growth strategy marketing case. From my vantage point, around 20% of the audience was appareled in YEET merchandise from WWE Superstar Jey Uso. And the most enthusiastic crowd chants were, you guessed it, “YEET! YEET!”
At this moment, it might be helpful to provide Urban Dictionary’s definition of “yeet.”
“To discard an item at a high velocity
Alex finishes his soda and proceeds to yeet his empty can into a trash bin
Alex (while throwing the can): ‘YEET!’”
Co-opting this colloquialism was probably the smartest thing Jey Uso ever did.
Growth Strategy Marketing:
Jey Uso Puts the Work In
Back in October 2024, Jey Uso claimed a spot in my article, “Customer Segmentation Examples: There’s a WWE Superstar for Everyone.” Since then, he has risen to the top of the field and will headline WWE’s premier event of the year, Wrestlemania, in April 2026. Let’s take a look at Uso’s path to stardom.
- Born in 1985, he’s currently 39
- 2010: He and his twin brother Jimmy started their pro-wrestling careers at Florida Championship Wrestling
- 2020: Won WWE Feud of the Year with antagonist (and real-life relative) Roman Reigns
- 2021-2023: Joined “The Bloodline,” led by Roman Reigns. Wrestled as tag-team “The Usos” with Jimmy. Together, they claim the record for holding the WWE male tag team championship the longest, 622 days. At some point, Jimmy picked a feud with Jey, separating their career paths
- 2024: Won the Intercontinental Championship
- 2025: Won the Men’s Royal Rumble, earning his spot at Wrestlemania, which is likely to be the pinnacle of his career
The old adage is certainly at play in Uso’s career: “An overnight success is 10 years in the making.” He engaged in careful growth strategy marketing for his personal brand, cultivating a “babyface” character that has broad appeal and offers “heel” characters plenty to work with. My sons write a blog, Wrestling Bros, where you can learn more about the top babyfaces (heroes) and top heels (villains) of all time.
At Wrestlemania in Las Vegas, Uso faces Gunther for the World Heavyweight Champion title. With WWE being wrestling entertainment, and Uso’s star ascending, I wonder who will win? (Wink, wink).
Growth Strategy Marketing:
What Happens When the ‘Wrong’ Star Wins
We don’t have to guess what will happen to WWE’s growth strategy marketing if Gunther wins in Vegas. At Wrestlemania VI in 1990, mega-superstar Hulk Hogan faced the Ultimate Warrior… and lost. Fans were devastated, and it was a major business setback. One seasoned wrestling fan of my acquaintance explains:
“After that match, I stopped watching wrestling for four or five years. They over-estimated the popularity of the Ultimate Warrior and under-estimated the popular support Hulk Hogan had. A few years later, the Ultimate Warrior would be gone.”
WWE needs to balance suspense and surprise with fan expectations. With social media, it’s a little easier these days to know which characters the fans love. It’s clear that Jey Uso is overwhelmingly popular, so the brand will likely choreograph a suspenseful bout with Gunther, which Uso ultimately wins (by just a hair!).
Growth Strategy Marketing:
RAW on Netflix Diminishes Sub-Brand SmackDown
Wrestlemania may be the main event for WWE, but it’s just the culmination of a constellation of year-round experiences that include both a live audience and live streaming:
- Weekly shows: RAW on Monday night, and SmackDown on Friday night
- Special events: Periodic larger productions, such as Royal Rumble, SummerSlam or Elimination Chamber. In days gone by, these were called “pay-per-views”
For a time, WWE attempted to host its own streaming service, a perfect collection of all things wrestling on one network. That niche subscription approach didn’t catch enough casual viewers, so WWE branched out its distribution to more generalized streaming services, including Peacock.
In a significant growth strategy marketing push in January 2025, WWE launched Monday night RAW live on Netflix. The launch garnered 5.9 million views, but enthusiasm has weakened over time.
Fans report enjoying RAW, but it seems the brand’s other weekly show, Friday night SmackDown, is suffering from a lack of quality. Here’s a fan comment:
“How is RAW consistently been good to very good every single week, meanwhile SmackDown… lol. Does Triple H just like the color red more? So crazy. I’m not complaining though, I love the RAW aesthetic so much more than SmackDown. If only one of the shows can be good, I prefer that it’s RAW.”
Regarding the February 24, 2025 RAW event that my family attended, here’s some crowd reaction from the after-show Reddit thread:
“One of the best raw episodes in recent memory.”
That opinion tracks with my sons’ experience that night. I’m reliably informed that the show was excellent.
Jey Uso didn’t wrestle at this RAW event, but he did appear for a storyline segment:
“A less noted thing that deserves recognition is the Gunther/Alpha Academy/Jey Uso segment. I don’t think main eventers always need 20 – 30 minutes every week. A segment like this is how you further the story while not spending too much time that could be given to others. This was a perfect amount of time devoted to these characters and it accomplished quite a lot. It made Gunther look like a grade-A prick, gave some shine to AA, especially Tozawa, and endeared people to Jey even more for making the save. I think this does more for Jey than his long entrance, as fun as it is when you’re there live, and it was only 10 minutes long.”
Having Jey Uso in the house certainly upped the excitement level, and fans enjoyed fantasizing:
“Hear me out… At Wrestlemania 41, a triple threat against Akira Tozawa, Jey Uso, and Gunter for the World Heavyweight Championship!”
Jey Uso wasn’t the only attraction for the event. WWE is careful to highlight different superstar segments and to keep several storylines active at once:
“Very good episode and happy that the women got the focus with the two biggest Matches both going to them. Also good choice to again build up multiple paths to WM [Wrestlemania] just like the Rumble”
I can attest that my seven-year-old daughter was thrilled to see her favorite superstar, Bianca Belair, in action.
I’m continually impressed by WWE’s branding and marketing prowess. The brand certainly hustles to earn its 90 million US fans. Hopefully, Jey Uso doesn’t YEET his chance to be an enduring fan favorite, and instead follows in the footsteps of legends like Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and other luminaries of WWE.
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