The scheduled WrestleMania Backlash tag team championship match between The Usos and RK-Bro was recently reconfigured into a six man tag to help launch a Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre feud. As such, we’ll have to wait to find out which duo really sits on the top of WWE’s tag team division. Many would argue it’s The Usos, who have held the Smackdown titles for almost 300 days, but not everyone is so enamored with their WWE run.
Wrestling industry veteran Jim Cornette, who played a major role in WWE scouting and development through much of the 90s and early 00s in addition to his on-screen managerial work, recently got to talking about The Usos. During a larger review of a prior SmackDown episode, he brought up an interesting perspective on the Usos. He said he has an issue with their current presentation because when they’re by themselves, they’re treated like the biggest and toughest tag team, but when they’re with Roman Reigns, they’re much weaker and easily disposed of by Reigns’ opponents. Here’s a portion of his quote from Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru…
Here’s the problem with The Usos. If they had not been portrayed as Roman’s flunkies since the dawn of The Bloodline, if they were just Roman’s flunkies, they’d be great. Or if they weren’t Roman’s flunkies and they were tag team champions, I’d at least give them a shot… (Jim describes a recent incident where they were beat up easily by Drew McIntyre as he tried to get at Roman Reigns)... There’s the problem. The Usos beat up the top baby face teams and/ or hold the titles and/ or are in the championship matches in the tag team division. But when they crossover and interact in any way with Roman’s opponents, they’re the flunkies that are there to take one punch and sell like they’re going to the electric chair.
Let’s deal with the substance of his argument here first and then I’ll get to defending The Usos, who are terrific, later in the article. His larger argument is quite astute and something I have been annoyed with before. Sometimes they feel too important to other stories going on to be standing behind Roman Reigns and doing nothing while he delivers a promo. Whatever. That I can live with. Sometimes that’s just the side effect of being in a stable, especially when the main guy is the entire company's main guy.
When they’re easily beaten up like they’re disposable nWo henchmen, however, I get a little bit annoyed. I’m not saying they would beat Drew McIntyre in a 1v1 match, but given they’re the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, it wouldn’t be a squash either. They should be given more room by WWE to fight back. It would only help their characters, and I don’t think it would hurt whoever Roman is feuding with.
That being said, this quote is a little dismissive of The Usos, and I’m not here for that. Their chemistry on the microphone is among my favorites in WWE. I can’t get enough of their fast-paced back-and-forth convos. Their work in the ring is strong too. They’re athletic but don’t rely too much on big spots. They sell for their opponents, and their offense looks good. I think they deserve to be exactly where they’re at, and I’m happy to see them at or near the top of the mountain for awhile longer.
You can check out The Usos in action with Roman Reigns this weekend at WrestleMania Backlash when they take on RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre. There are five other matches currently on the card. You can check them all out in our predictions article.
