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
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