WWE Backlash: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

[Jack-Hammer]

it was announced on Talking Smack that due to "injury" suffered at the hands of the Usos, American Alpha won't be competing in the finals of the tourney against Heath Slater & Rhyno. Instead the two losing teams, the Hype Bros & the Usos, will have a bout at Backlash and the winner said match will face Slater & Rhyno for the vacant tag titles later on.

I like how they set this up tonight. The Usos needed a heel turn and it went down tonight and aside from American Alpha, they're really the only other team on the blue brand right now that are ready for the titles. As a result, they'll almost certainly win the titles this Sunday and that'll lead to a nice feud with AA chasing the heel Usos for the straps for a bit. Given that the deck has been stacked, when it comes to roster depth overall, against the blue brand, I think that this really is the best way to go about things. AA is an energetic, highly entertaining team to watch, but simply putting the titles on them so soon would've given them nowhere to go already.

If the blue brand has a few more high level teams, like the Revival and reuniting Blake & Murphy, they could have a pretty strong tag team scene by the beginning of next year.

 

[Rulk25]

I think the exact opposite...I think this guarantees a OneManBeast band win
Usos end the Hype and then look to beat Slater Rhino but then AA music hits distracts them. Slater makes a tag. Gore to Uso and Bam they win

Plus for Vince you know he is salivating over a couple more weeks of Trailer Park vignettes

This would allow AA and Usos to feud for a month or two non title and the ONEMANBEASTBAND can beat up the Ascension, Vaudevillains and any other detris in their way before dropping them around SS to one of the other teams

it was announced on Talking Smack that due to "injury" suffered at the hands of the Usos, American Alpha won't be competing in the finals of the tourney against Heath Slater & Rhyno. Instead the two losing teams, the Hype Bros & the Usos, will have a bout at Backlash and the winner said match will face Slater & Rhyno for the vacant tag titles later on.

I like how they set this up tonight. The Usos needed a heel turn and it went down tonight and aside from American Alpha, they're really the only other team on the blue brand right now that are ready for the titles. As a result, they'll almost certainly win the titles this Sunday and that'll lead to a nice feud with AA chasing the heel Usos for the straps for a bit. Given that the deck has been stacked, when it comes to roster depth overall, against the blue brand, I think that this really is the best way to go about things. AA is an energetic, highly entertaining team to watch, but simply putting the titles on them so soon would've given them nowhere to go already.

If the blue brand has a few more high level teams, like the Revival and reuniting Blake & Murphy, they could have a pretty strong tag team scene by the beginning of next year.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I think the exact opposite...I think this guarantees a OneManBeast band win
Usos end the Hype and then look to beat Slater Rhino but then AA music hits distracts them. Slater makes a tag. Gore to Uso and Bam they win

Plus for Vince you know he is salivating over a couple more weeks of Trailer Park vignettes

This would allow AA and Usos to feud for a month or two non title and the ONEMANBEASTBAND can beat up the Ascension, Vaudevillains and any other detris in their way before dropping them around SS to one of the other teams

This. Heath Slater is literally one of the most over people on Smackdown and while 99% of that popularity is due to his status as an "underdog" the pop his title win would get is undeniable. I'll be rooting for the boyhood dream coming true and seeing Slater finally get that contract. Mary Lou needs that tongue!




Side note: I find it weird that the OP points out how putting the belts on AA would make little booking sense and give them nowhere to go, because when I made that exact same argument about not giving Finn the belt within a month of his RAW debut I was dismissed as a "fickle internet fan" who was simply complaining just for the sake of it. I guess title chases only work in the tag division?

 

[Azane]

This. Heath Slater is literally one of the most over people on Smackdown and while 99% of that popularity is due to his status as an "underdog" the pop his title win would get is undeniable. I'll be rooting for the boyhood dream coming true and seeing Slater finally get that contract. Mary Lou needs that tongue!




Side note: I find it weird that the OP points out how putting the belts on AA would make little booking sense and give them nowhere to go, because when I made that exact same argument about not giving Finn the belt within a month of his RAW debut I was dismissed as a "fickle internet fan" who was simply complaining just for the sake of it. I guess title chases only work in the tag division?

Without side tracking it too much, Finn has been a champion in other parts of the world, he's hit his potential and connected with the audience as a champion for a full year.

AA are much newer to the scene, even counting their time in NXT, they're over a decade behind Finn, when combined. Giving Alpha the titles immediately means they never play the chase, while Finn's "Chase" was making the main roster.

I also don't see that much in American Alpha, but I'm trying not to let that cloud my judgement, because I can see that they are very over, just not why they're over.

Slater + Rhyno failing this chase is the better choice in my opinion, the Slater free agent thing could go all the way to Rumble or Mania, the dudes always been great at playing the underdog, or flat out failure (Heath getting squashed by all the legends around Raw 1000 was one of my favorite stories).

When Heath finally gets signed, he's losing his momentum.

That being said, Between Mojo's charisma vacuum, and the BOOso's, I'd rather see Jimmy and Jay get another run between the 3 teams right now, for no other reason, than the heal turn gives them plenty of battles to fight.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

So here what I think will happen at backlash, the uso's win their first match against the hype bros to establish themselves as a heel team against a team that is still super over with the fans then in the final they lose to heath and rhyno because some sort of distraction by jason jordan.

I think the heath slater getting sign storyline need to end at backlash before people will turn on this if they do this for too long. The next step is for him to win the contract and the belt and start doing more comedy stuff with his family until they drop the belt back to the uso's in 2 months.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Usos will certainly beat the Hype Bros, but will they make it past Slater/Rhyno? It seems pretty likely considering Slater and Rhyno's status as a largely comedy team. An angry American Alpha returning to face One Man Beast makes less sense than the victorious heel team of The Usos.

Smackdown needs a top heel tag team more than it needs to push Rhyno and Heath. They're already over and Slater can earn a Smackdown contract through other means. The first Smackdown tag champs ought to be the bigger team.

They could go the route of a short run for the comedy faces, but is that going to draw? Alpha chasing the now dastardly Samoans fits the classic drawing model. Usos win through underhanded means (twin magic, foreign object, etc.) and Slater gets a Smackdown contract anyway.

 

[ShinChan]

I think that The Usos should win this tournament.

A big no for Hype Bros as it's all hype in them and nothing else. As much as I would love to see Slayno win, it shouldn't happen. The Usos need the win especially after their overdue heel turn.

OR just let Slayno win and lose the titles next night to The Usos thus giving Slater a contract and putting more heat on The Usos. That might be looked as depleting credibility of the title though.

 

[Isaac Kaye]

I think that The Usos should win this tournament.

A big no for Hype Bros as it's all hype in them and nothing else. As much as I would love to see Slayno win, it shouldn't happen. The Usos need the win especially after their overdue heel turn.

OR just let Slayno win and lose the titles next night to The Usos thus giving Slater a contract and putting more heat on The Usos. That might be looked as depleting credibility of the title though.

Yeah I agree. I thought initially they'd hand the strap to Slayno by default but that's got no excitement to it at all - and they want to keep Slater in the underdog role for as long as possible. I see them losing to Uso's but getting royally screwed and setting up more story line heading into next Tuesday.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Rhyno and Slater deserve them more but you don't make your inaugural champions a comedy team. Which is a shame as they're a opening match highlight at the moment.

 

[kadroan]

I'd love to Rhyno and Slater win. However, it wouldn't surprise me if The Usos win and American Alpha returns and feud with them for the next couple of months.

 

[Gallops77]

Rhyno and Slater will win. This was their way of not having AA lose or get heat by beating Rhyno and Slater. Rhyno and Slater will lose the belts to the Usos and American Alpha will be the first to take the belts from the Usos.

Had the match been American Alpha vs Rhyno and Slater, there'd be a better shot at Rhyno and Slater not winning. Only way I see it happening now is if Rhyno turns on Slater.

 

[@smarkmouth]

By and large, this is the most interesting share of the Backlash card. I'm not entirely sure who picks up the ultimate W, but a handful of possible decisions make sense. If five years ago you told me a few things about wrestling today, I'd be more likely to believe you that AJ Styles would be main eventing WWE PPVs than I would believe I'd actually be invested in Heath Slater.

The crowd reaction to this one is going to make or break the finals, but I think they've built the tournament in a compelling way. It'll be a hot crowd.

My somewhat non-committal prediction; Usos beat the Hype Bros in quick and devious fashion, go on to face Slyno in a MOTY candidate. Slater picks up the unlikely win. Post match; Usos jump Slater and Rhyno. Hype Bros and AA (with Gable on a crutch) make the save and celebrate the new Tag Team Champions.