The Usos Defeat American Alpha For The SmackDown Tag Team Titles

There's no getting around the fact that even with SmacDown in the ascendancy, the tag team division has been one of the blue brand's few weak points, but this week's show provided us with an outstanding bout between two of the best duos on the roster, ending with a surprising title change.

With less than two weeks to go before WrestleMania 33, booking The Usos to walk away with the belts came out of nowhere, which is precisely one of the reasons why it was so effective. Despite outstanding ring-work, American Alpha, aren't nearly as over as the were in NXT, and part of the reason for that is the shallow division they have to work with. Neither SmackDown nor Raw have enough depth among their teams, and once you get past the top-heaviness of each show's roster things start to thin out quite a bit.

In stark contrast, The Usos have been rejuvenated since their heel turn and seem to have found new life in the bad guys role, and they helped put on an entertaining bout.

SmackDown kicked off with this as the first match of the night, and it proved to be an exciting showdown full of high-paced action, false finishes and a great use of classic tag team ring psychology. The fans were into this bout in a big way, and showed the performers their appreciation by showering them with the (all-too ubiquitous) "This is awesome!" chant.

This was great for SD as the brand's been struggling to find something to build the fans' interest in the division, so hopefully the match and title change adds some much-needed intrigue for the teams as they head into Orlando.