Former West Alabama football players competing in another WrestleMania
Alabama will have another WrestleMania moment this weekend as World Wrestling Entertainment’s biggest event of the year gets underway at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Jimmy and Jey Uso (real names Jonathan and Joshua Fatu) form the popular tag team The Usos, the multi-time WWE Tag Team Champions. Members of the renowned Anoa’i family (and sons of the WWE Hall of Famer Solofa “Rikishi” Fatu), the brothers were stars at Escambia County (Fla.) High and went on to play college football at West Alabama.
The Usos are part of a long history of Alabama-connected performers in WWE including Bray Wyatt, Paul Bearer, Sherri Martel, Bob Holly, Debra Marshall and others.
The squared-circle veterans made their WWE debut in May 2010 and remain two of the most popular and distinguished performers in the business, thanks in large part to their run the last few years working alongside WWE champion Roman Reigns in their stable The Bloodline. They are also the longest reigning male tag team champions in WWE history.
The Usos will compete during night one of WrestleMania 39 on Saturday, April 1. Putting their Undisputed Tag Team Championship belts on the line, Jey and Jimmy will face Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in one of the night’s headlining matches along with Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul and Austin Theory vs. John Cena. Roman Reigns will main event night two when he faces Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. WrestleMania will air live Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2 starting at 7 p.m. CT on Peacock.
READ: Alabama at WrestleMania: From Paul Bearer to Bray Wyatt, the state’s biggest moments
Here’s a look at their WrestleMania resume leading up to Saturday night’s match…
WrestleMania 28: The Usos unsuccessfully challenged for the tag titles in a triple threat dark match against champions Primo and Epico and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel. The champs retained.
WrestleMania 30: On the pre-show, the Usos successfully defended their titles in a fatal four-way match against Ryback and Curtis Axel, The Real Americans, and Los Matadores. They would then resume a rivalry with The Wyatt Family.
WrestleMania 31: Back to the pre-show, they competed in the fatal four-way match against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (winners), Los Matadores and The New Day. They lost, with Jey injuring his shoulder.
WrestleMania 32: Performing on a third straight kickoff show, the Usos defeated The Dudley Boyz, but the next night on Raw, the Dudleys got revenge in a tables match.
WrestleMania 34: Back on the main card, the Usos their titles against to The Bludgeon Brothers in a triple threat tag team match, when Luke Harper pinned Kofi Kingston of The New Day.
WrestleMania 35: They retained the tag titles in a fatal four-way match against The Bar, Aleister Black and Ricochet, and Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. But just two days later on SmackDown, the Usos lost the titles to The Hardy Boyz.
WrestleMania 36: Previously scheduled to perform in a triple threat tag match, they had to switch it up on night one of the crowd-less WrestleMania 36 after The Miz pulled out of the event. That sent Jimmy Uso into a triple threat ladder match to determine the tag title winners, with John Morrison defeating Jimmy Uso and Kofi Kingston. Jimmy unfortunately suffered a legitimate knee injury, putting him out of in-ring action indefinitely.
WrestleMania 37: Jey Uso competed in and won the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, with Shinsuke Nakamura finishing as runner-up. He would also accompany Roman Reigns during the main event in which he successfully defended the Universal Championship against Edge and Daniel Bryan.
WrestleMania 38: The Usos opened night one by successfully defending their WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs in a 7-minute match.