Roman Reigns, The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) have received much respect from fans for recognizing their Anoa’i family roots on WWE television in recent years. The Usos, who are real-life brothers, made their debut in 2010 as heels, but later became babyfaces and achieved much success. In September 2016, they underwent a significant shift in appearance and turned heel for the first time in five years by taking off their facial paint, which made them resemble Reigns.
In recent years, the pair have been closely associated with Reigns on WWE television as part of the all-conquering Bloodline faction, dominating the tag team divisions on both RAW and SmackDown.
During a recent episode of the After The Bell podcast, Jey Uso revealed that WWE executives had advised him and his brother not to look too much like Reigns. Uso said, “Obviously, for the heel change, we needed to change everything, but they were saying when they had first seen us working in all black, it was like, ‘You guys look too much like Roman. Don’t look like Roman.’ Man, who the hell else are we supposed to look like? We’re in the same gene pool, uce.”
Family Dynasty
It is not uncommon for wrestlers to be advised to alter their appearance in order to better differentiate themselves from other wrestlers, particularly those within the same family. In the case of The Usos and Roman Reigns, both wrestlers are part of the Anoa’i family, a wrestling dynasty that includes well-known wrestlers such as The Rock, Yokozuna, and Rikishi. It can be difficult for wrestlers within the same family to distinguish themselves from one another due to their shared family ties and physical similarities. This is especially true when two wrestlers are closely related, as is the case with The Usos and Reigns. Despite this, The Usos have managed to establish their own unique identities within the wrestling industry, thanks in part to their energetic and impactful wrestling style.