I don't think tonight was much of anything other than kicking the can down the road. In fact, I don't think there's much upside to either title. Let's remember what the US and Tag Team titles are...nothing more than midcard filler and by putting those titles on The Shield, they have made The Shield WWE Superstars...just like the rest of the roster.
Now it's always possible that WWE has awoken from a long slumber and realize that titles should not be used as props, rather they represent a staple of wrestling storytelling and need to be treated as such. Maybe WWE has remembered that their most successful eras were a balance of sport and entertainment...with championships anchoring the sport aspect of the show. It's possible, but I doubt it.
My fear is that The Sheild will be victims of their own success. Bear with me here: The Shield is a gimmick for Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. It's a gimmick built for nameless, faceless guys. Think about it. The matching gear, the working as a single unit (in fact I think they were designed to eventually be revealed as Punk's henchmen). But then the The Shield excelled and made the fans actually care about them. So they were booked with upper tier guys and were successful....as a unit. The problem is that there are only so many combinations of top guys for them to beat, so the time arrived for something outside 6-man matches. Did Ambrose win the WWE title? Did Reigns get the World title? Did Rollins unify the US and IC titles? Nope. Ambrose got just the US title and Reigns and Rollins are tag champs. Not exactly a "rocket up their ass" push.
Part of the reason why WWE couldn't/wouldn't go with the bigger push is the gimmick. Before WWE is going to really get behind any one of these guys as a top guy, that guy or guys will have to be re-packaged in a way that makes them individuals and uniquely identifiable. This isn't a wrestling issue, this is a marketing, sponsor, licensing issue. For WWE to sell these guys as individuals, they have to be individuals. I'm not saying this is right or smart, rather I'm just pointing out the business reality as WWE sees it and would cite WWE history as proof.
But The Shield has been successful and therein lies the victimization. Why would WWE risk that success for greater success, when they have Cena and Punk as cash cows, with Rock, Brock, Taker, HHH as part time cows? The answer I fear is they don't see the need to ever take a risk anymore. Daniel Bryan is in the same spot. He has a character/gimmick (Yes/No) that is successful, but one WWE would struggle to sell to their partners. It's precisely because of his modest success that WWE won't alter him, risk the success, and position him to be a top guy. Here's a gambling analogy of WWE's risk averse nature: They would rather pocket the $10 dollars Bryan makes them from a $1 dollar (midcarder) bet (and in WWE's defense most guys in the midcard make WWE $1.50), rather than let it roll on the chance of making $100 as a main eventer.
So my fear is that this is The Shield becoming midcarders as they will defend the US and Tag titles against all the other usual midcard suspects and WWE will simply wait out The Shield's shelf life...and by the time that happens who knows just how stale or how much stink from The Shield growing cold will stick to each guy, but it's almost certain they will not be as hot as they are right now.
For the record, I hope I'm wrong. Ambrose is awesome and Reigns is dripping with potential and The Shield gimmick is one of maybe 3 things that I've found remotely entertaining in WWE over the past year. I hope this is a stepping stone for Ambrose to the WWE title and Reigns and Rollins are the renewal of the tag team division...or at least the dawn of superteams trying to unseat them (Rated RKO, JeriShow, etc).
But I looked at tonight as WWE needing something for The Shield to do, so they put meaningless gold on them, and now they'll be on Raw/Smackdown facing the Santinos and Tensai/Clays every week, then before long coming through the crowd will just be another intro and The Shield will be just 3 young guys lost in the shuffle. If we're lucky in 3-4 years, one, two, or all three will finally have worked their way to the top...after two more gimmick changes. I hate being so pessimistic, but what has WWE done in the last decade to make me anything else.