Tagged under: American Alpha, Backlash, Breezango, EOTR Tag Team Tuesdays, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Samoan Dynasty, The Usos
By @AmeenKnows
I honestly was an adamant hater of The Usos when they were faces. They were boring and tiring. Their characters were stale and repetitive. Its like being forced to watch the same John Cena promo week after week. Then something changed. There was a click and the light went off and boom! Instant fire.
Our story starts with a tournament to name new Smackdown Live Tag Team Champions. The Usos breezed through the first round, defeating the Ascension. The following week however, they would be defeated by American Alpha in 28 seconds. What would follow was a beat down bestowed upon AA by the enraged Usos and it was glorious, no Bobby Roode. For the first time, Jimmy and Jey had stood up for what they wanted. They didn't just accept defeat and embarrassment. They felt they were wronged and did something about it. They did the generic promo about being done trying to earn the respect of the fans, but it intrigued me because their characters before were all about fan acceptance.
Every speech and every promo, the fans this and fans that. It was sickening. So with American Alpha unable to compete in the finals of the tournament, a new number 1 Contender's match, if you will, was made. The Usos defeated the Hype Bros on the Backlash preshow for the right to face Heath Slater and Rhyno later that night. They would go on to lose that match.
A month later, they would go on to beat American Alpha to become number one contenders yet again for the Tag Team Titles at No Mercy and unfortunately came up short again. They competed in the Raw vs Smackdown Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match, being eliminated by Cesaro and Sheamus in the final. They lost two more opportunities to become SD Live Tag Team Champions before once again attacking American Alpha again. After the Elimination Chamber PPV, they attacked AA again which would lead to a match between both teams on March 14th. The Usos won that match and the subsequent rematch a week later to win the SD Live Tag Team Titles. Their reign was threatened by Breezango at Backlash this past Sunday, but they persevered and retained in a really fun. Their reign is currently at 63 days and counting, and will continue to grow.
To match their new attitude, the Usos abandoned the colorful shorts and war paint for a more modern look. One of the things I hated about them as a face was their matches carried the same formula. Hot Tag, Uso Crazy dive to the outside, Superkick and Uso Splash before the 3 count. This almost made the matches pointless to watch because you knew what you were getting. It made me wonder why they would limit their moveset when they have done more in previous matches. Now they work a more technical and aggressive style. Including something as basic as limb targeting has brought a more interesting component to their skillset. Now they're cocky and entitled douchebags and it couldn't work more perfectly for them. Their match with AA a week before Mania was a Mania worthy match. The crowd was hot for both teams and they delivered. It's the best match I've seen from them since their matches with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. I think eventually they will have to return to the Samoan heritage characters because that's the way things work in WWE, but for now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy what's being presented to me and it is great TV.
-Ameen
Tagged under: American Alpha, Authors of Pain, Cesaro and Sheamus, DIY, EOTR Tag Team Tuesdays, The Hardys, The Revival, The Usos
By @AmeenKnows
I'm currently a week behind on this article because I wanted to do this right after Wrestlemania, but I was so impressed by the performance from The Authors Of Pain that I had to make them my featured team of the week. Keep in mind this article was written before the Superstar Shakeup and it will have no place in this article. This will be my first time addressing WWE's tag team division as a whole and its current standing. I'm not sure how many times I will do this kind of article because if I do it once a month, there's probably not enough growth from teams so they will be far in between. I am also thinking of doing the same for ROH, Impact Wrestling and New Japan possibly in the future, but it'll take some time as I am currently back in school and don't have enough time on my hands anymore. On to more important matters!
NXT:
Once again, the cupboard has been stricken bare due to the call up of The Revival after they were one of the three featured teams in the NXT Tag Team Championship scene. However, there is still talent to be cultivated. Currently DIY are the ring leaders of the division and the best in ring workers. The Authors of Pain are still very much a work in progress, but have made incredible strides and are working their role as the monster heel's perfectly. TM61 has been out of action due to Shane Thorne's knee injury but when he returns, they will provide an instant boost to the division. The Bollywood Boyz have had success on the independent circuit and could get over with the Full Sail crowd if they weren't booked as enhancement talent.
A team to watch for is Heavy Machinery. Made up of Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight, these guys remind me of The Natural Disasters. Tucker was very impressive in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Classic in particular, where they were defeated by Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. The wild card of the division is SAnitY's Killian Dame and Alexander Wolfe. They have mostly been used as Eric Young's protection but if they were to decide they wanted the tag team gold, there would be a hard struggle to stop them. All in all, the NXT brand has been able to recover from call ups and will remain in good standings for the forseeable future.
Raw:
Tag team wrestling is in its most exciting place it has been since the brand split. With the additions of the Hardy Boyz and The Revival, the stale look of the division has received a refreshing boost in appeal. The problem that needs to be overcome is the booking of the division. Everyone outside of these two mentioned teams have gone through periods of looking incredibly weak. The Club has been underwhelmingly booked but they still try their best to work with what they have. The New Day is still their naturally funny selves but without the Tag Team gold they have been nothing more than a comedy act (Editor's Note: They'll be moving to Smackdown).
Enzo and Cass are usually given the bad seed but since they are entertaining on the mic they don't lose momentum. The Golden Truth is nothing more than enhancement talent. The wildcard is Sheamus and Cesaro. They have recently shown even greater signs of unity, but in the back of my mind is a potential split betweent the two. Just something to watch out for. If the top teams can overcome stale booking then Raw's Tag Team Division will get that shot in the arm it received when The Brotherhood showed up in 2013.
Smackdown Live:
Even with a great creative team, Smackdown's tag team division is the weakest by far. With the Wyatt Family currently out of the fold, the only two teams that matter are American Alpha and current Tag Team Champions The Usos, who have gone over an incredible character change. The Hype Bros are currently out of action due to Zack Ryder's knee injury and although at times they have had flashes of compentency, the Ascension have continued to look like a shell of their former selves.
I also haven't seen much from Rhyno and Heath Slater since they dropped the Tag Team Titles so I don't expect to see more in the future (Editor's Note: They're now on RAW). Breezango is nothing more than enhancement talent. The Vaudevillains are gone. The division needs a complete face lift. As great as Alpha vs Usos will possibly be as a feud, they can't fall into the same stale patterns that held back Raw's tag team division.
With the Superstar Shakeup, not much has really changed minus a few insignificant teams moving and I can only hope each show puts the work in to make their tag team divisions even better than before.
-Ameen
