Jason Burgos
WWE management seems to be way too high on country music star Jelly Roll, and their overuse of the singer backfired on them during the final minutes of Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
It is no secret that WWE likes to involve celebrities in its content. It helped bring rise to the brand in the 1980s, and during peak periods, celebs more freely offer up their services to the company. We have seen that in recent years with Bad Bunny, Travis Scott, and Jelly Roll. However, the latter seems to be a favorite of management.
Jelly Roll has made several appearances for the company in the past and even had a tag match at last year’s SummerSlam. However, he has become a frequent participant on SmackDown in recent weeks, and actually had a singles match on Friday’s episode. Scoring an upset win over Kip Wilson.
But Jelly Roll has been popping up in a surprising number of backstage segments as well, including three on Friday. The company has thrust him into an awkward role as a source for advice and support for wrestlers. One of the oddest was appearing during a segment with Damian Priest, R-Truth, and Rhea Ripley. It has taken him beyond just being a visiting celebrity who is a friend of stars like Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes.
WWE blew a big moment by overusing Jelly Roll
That recent overuse cost the WWE creative in a key moment on this week’s SmackDown. While fans in Pittsburgh were very supportive of the singer during his match with Wilson, they were less so when he arrived in the final minutes of the show during a brawl between WrestleMania 42 opponents and his friends, Orton and Rhodes.
When Jelly Roll showed up in the ring at the end of the show, it was the fifth time he appeared on the broadcast. That’s more than the brand’s top stars. His arrival was supposed to set up a moment they company has been clearly building to for weeks. And that was Orton turning on him. Which he did when he hit an RKO on the singer.
However, instead of fans being in shock, and the moment cementing Orton as the hated bad guy in what will be the Night 1 WrestleMania main event, fans actually chanted “one more time.” The creative team has been trying to push fans in a direction where they get behind Rhodes and hate Orton ahead of their April match. Jelly Roll being betrayed was supposed to further that plan.
Yet, the country star being on the show so much and being used awkwardly may have made fans in the arena grow tired of him and more accepting of being a victim of “The Viper.” Maybe they chant “one more time” even if he was on the show just once before. However, the obvious plan failed on Friday because they went to the well way too often with the three-time Grammy winner.
