Roman Reigns on how he reacted to Jimmy Uso’s latest DUI

There was a lot of disappointment throughout the wrestling world when Jimmy Uso (Jonathan Fatu) was arrested for DUI on July 5. It was Uso’s third alcohol-related arrest since 2019.

WWE never commented on Uso’s latest alleged drunk driving incident. He was back on television days later, and he & twin brother Jey won the SmackDown Tag Team titles from The Mysterios at Money in the Bank a little more than two weeks after the arrest. It was rumored those decisions were made because The Usos were seen as integral to the booking of Roman Reigns’ Universal championship reign.

Reigns was recently asked by the New York Post about his response to his cousin’s situation. Roman’s answer doesn’t indicate there were business reasons for how Jimmy’s been treated, but they won’t satisfy everyone. It does show that, if reports were correct there was internal debate about how to handle Uso’s continuing issues with alcohol and the law, the company’s biggest star was probably one of those advocating for keeping his cousin close and encouraging him to address his issues - as opposed to isolating him and forcing him to.

After telling the Post’s Joseph Staszewski he doesn’t “condone that kind of behavior or decision-making,” and admitting Jimmy’s arrests are “not a great light to be shining” on his family or WWE, Reigns said his first conversation with Jimmy was a “mental checkup” to make sure he was OK.

“We’re all human, we’re all cynics, we all make mistakes.

“Instead of what some people might feel you should give up on somebody or maybe turn your back on that type of behavior, that’s one way to do it. But I don’t think that’s the way to push through and gain experience or make progressive movements of becoming a better man or a better human. So for me, it was diving into it with great attention, great love and very thorough communication to make sure my family is continually bettering themselves and putting themselves in a position to make better decisions.”

It’s a compassionate approach. I truly hope it works. We’ll find out as Jimmy takes things a day at a time.