Say what you will about the Bloodline story, it’s done the one thing WWE has consistently failed to do over the course of the last decade: It’s made new stars. Sami Zayn is a star. Solo Sikoa is a star. Roman Reigns is one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. And as for the Usos … well, when you get a reaction like that at Madison Square Garden, your stardom goes without saying.

Like the “Trial of Sami Zayn” segment from January, this edition of “Tribal Court” was a little clunky, especially because unlike the last time they did this, it was never really clear what the trial was for. The Usos presented “Exhibit A,” which was basically a package of all the times Reigns had mistreated the people around him (the Usos have excellent video editing software) but there was no “Exhibit B.” Reigns’ character work was typically excellent, but his question about how he can even be called before a Tribal Court, and under whose authority, was never really answered. And did WWE really expect us to believe that after taking a single pinfall loss at Money in the Bank, he would willingly give up both his role as Tribal Chief and his world championship?

The thing is, though … for a second, we almost did believe it. Reigns sold the moment extremely well, building to it by binding together all the narcissistic threads of his character to create the narrative that he was tired, that the burden of working so hard to support his family was growing too heavy, that they needed him more than he needed them, and that if they didn’t want his help, they could gladly relieve him of the weight of his responsibilities, because he didn’t want them anymore. It’s a lie. We all know it’s a lie. But we also know that the character of Roman Reigns believes it. He really does see his tyranny as beneficence. And while he’s obviously not going to give up that “burden” for anyone (because it’s not actually a burden, it’s addiction to power), you can talk yourself into thinking that maybe he might, because that’s what Reigns would do if he actually was the person he’s pretending to be rather than an abusive, power-hungry manipulator.

Certainly Jey Uso could talk himself into believing that’s what was happening. if there’s one thing we love most about this segment, it’s that Jey still clearly loves his cousin. It’s the thing that separates people like Jey from people like Reigns, and that allows the former to be used by the latter. And it happened again, with Reigns using Jey’s compassion against him before he and Solo Sikoa (who had a few interesting character moments of his own in the opening segment) delivered a beating that landed Jimmy Uso in the hospital. Which was actually something we expected to happen weeks ago.

Because that’s what was always going to happen if a title match between Jey and Roman was the goal. The only way to facilitate such a match was always to have Roman destroy Jimmy. It’s the one thing Jey would never be able to forgive. Jey turned against the Bloodline for his twin brother, but he was still clearly sympathetic to Reigns. That’s over now. The promo that Jey cut in the show’s main event segment, where he declared himself the Tribal Court’s judge, jury, and executioner, and explicitly challenged Reigns to “trial by combat,” was absolutely incredible, and it gave us the thing we’ve needed to see for three years. No more sympathy. No more compassion. No more blaming anything on Paul Heyman. Jey Uso is going to fight Roman Reigns, presumably for the world title, presumably at SummerSlam, and how that match ends — not necessarily who wins, or who’s champion, but how it ends — is an incredibly important decision.

We have arrived. We’re getting Roman vs. Jey, again, for the championship, again. Let’s hope the Bloodline story treads carefully from here, because if it steps in the wrong direction, it’s a long way down. But if WWE gets this right, it could officially reach the top of the mountain — the apex of narrative storytelling in professional wrestling.