The Usos overcame early setbacks, personal struggles, and professional challenges to achieve unparalleled success in the world of professional wrestling. From their humble beginnings and early failures to their evolution in the ring and record-breaking title reigns, and The Bloodlinestorylinee with Roman Reigns. Discover how The Usos transformed themselves into one of the most dominant and beloved tag teams in WWE history
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00:00It's not paranoia, it's the Usos!
00:07Welcome to the Usos Penitentiary!
00:18The Usos.
00:19Today, they're considered one of the greatest tag teams in modern professional wrestling.
00:24It's hard to dispute that claim, but it maybe wasn't always that way.
00:28Jay and Jimmy Uso are completely on a different level today than when they started their WWE
00:34careers.
00:35Let's go back 20 years ago.
00:37Dig deep for reasons why the Usos spent a significant period of their career trying
00:42to gain respect for themselves and respect for tag teams in general.
00:46When we say Us, you say Oh.
00:48Yes, let us know in the comments below what you think of the Usos.
00:52I'm Kevin, this is Sportskeeda Wrestling.
00:55Being the sons of WWE veteran Rikishi and a part of the famed wrestling royal family
01:00the Anawahis, the path to becoming professional wrestlers didn't take very long.
01:05Within two years of getting into the family business, they signed developmental deals
01:10with WWE.
01:11Just a year after that, they were stars on the main roster.
01:14The Usos had a problem debuting in WWE before they ever stepped on camera or got in a ring.
01:20That was because they were a tag team in WWE in the late 2000s, early 2010s, when tag teams
01:27simply were not being featured.
01:29Former WWE superstar Charlie Haas once explained that WWE boss Vince McMahon didn't like
01:34the idea of tag team wrestling in general, felt that it was simply an added expense to
01:38have four guys in one match.
01:40This resulted in periodic neglects of WWE's tag team division throughout the years.
01:45That was something the Usos were going to have to fight against.
01:49Now, how do you debut in WWE as you already feel that that's being weighted against you
01:54as simply just being a tag team fundamentally is a problem?
01:58They debuted with Tamina, also a member of the Bloodline, and marked out early as targeting
02:04another unified family-based act in WWE, the Heart Dynasty, then WWE Unified Tag Team Champions.
02:12In May of 2010, on Monday Night Raw, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole were puzzled by these
02:18nameless newcomers who laid out David Hart Smith, TJ Wilson, and Natalya.
02:23Then Raw GM Bret Hart actually signed the trio, who he didn't know would attack his
02:28Canadian kin.
02:29It was a family-versus-family feud to introduce the Usos and Tamina, playing off their generational
02:34connections.
02:35We just gonna keep it real with you.
02:37We wanted to let you know that your family ain't the only family that runs deep in this
02:43business," said Jimmy in their first big breakout promo.
02:48WWE wasn't featuring tag teams, but they were certainly trying to give the Usos and
02:52Tamina their own identity, one that would give them legitimacy coming into WWE for diehard
02:58fans who had followed the business for decades.
03:01Though tag teams were not the top of the card acts with WWE in 2010, the Usos came into
03:06the company with a wave of disruption and a chip on their shoulder as they literally
03:10splashed the competition yet that did not translate into championship gold for their
03:15first few years.
03:16They would deliver thrilling performances, and it never really earned them the straps
03:20they were after.
03:21That would change, though, but they were destined to knock off an act that defined an era before
03:27them.
03:28In 2014, Jimmy and Jey got the big pop with that traditional haka dance entrance that
03:34riled up the crowds and chased down the legacy tandem of Road Dogg and Billy Gunn.
03:40The new-age outlaw came back to WWE for a victory lap as WWE Tag Team Champions.
03:46It was a clash of generations on Raw, and the brothers came out with their first championship
03:51tag team win.
03:52Though they would capture the tag team gold a second time before the end of the year and
03:57be named the 2014 WWE Tag Team of the Year, gaining recognition was still going to be
04:02an uphill battle.
04:04As a team, they would score stellar bouts and technically sound matches against some
04:08of the best tag teams that WWE had to offer.
04:10They were still just a tag team, right?
04:13They needed something else that made them stand out.
04:16A twist for the twins was needed, and in 2016, as they once again attempted to pursue the
04:22Smackdown Tag Team Championships in a contenders tournament facing a team that truly tested
04:28them.
04:29And that test would come from below.
04:31The team rising up underneath them would surpass them for some time.
04:36That was the American Alphas, the hottest new team drafted to Smackdown from NXT, featuring
04:42former Olympian Chad Gable and collegiate standout Jason Jordan.
04:48They were going to occupy that number one spot as the good guys on Smackdown.
04:53What did that mean for the colorful face-painted duo, Jimmy and Jey?
04:57What started out as a pre-match respectable meeting, a shaking of hands, saw a quick knife
05:04in the back attack by the Usos on Jordan and Gable.
05:08After losing to the American Alpha in 28 seconds, the friendly rivalry was now bitter.
05:14It was a real personal issue.
05:16Usos launched an assault, changing their careers forever.
05:21It's one thing to deliver a body splash to a man's midsection.
05:25It's another thing to do it to his knees.
05:27They were out to injure, maim, and manipulate their enemies.
05:31This was a different version of the Usos.
05:35To counter these fresh heroes, WWE needed strong villains, and this new presentation
05:46and good timing benefited the Usos.
05:49With a new coat of no face paint right before WrestleMania 33, the Usos would dethrone Alpha
05:55Academy and capture the first of several Smackdown tag team titles.
06:00The now edgier Usos would march into 2017, becoming truly one of the best acts in WWE
06:08around this time, and having some of the most reliable performances on pay-per-view before
06:13they would meet their true rivals.
06:15One of the best WWE tag team rivalries of the past 10 years, when they would begin to
06:21face The New Day.
06:22It was kind of similar to Sasha Banks vs Charlotte Flair, Macho Man vs Ricky the Dragon Steamboat.
06:29They met their match and would have truly seismic performances.
06:34The bad blood would boil over into a Hell in a Cell match, maybe one of the most underrated
06:38in WWE history, with the Usos defeating The New Day to finish the feud.
06:44After that, the two sides couldn't help but have some level of mutual respect with
06:48each other.
06:49Once they had their truce, the Usos were sort of good guys again, except this time they
06:53weren't going back to the face paint and smiles, but keeping that edgy sneer at the
06:58side of their mouth.
06:59By this point, the Usos were really getting acknowledged by a large portion of the WWE
07:04fanbase as being one of the best, if not the best tag team of their generation.
07:08From having a general lack of respect and apathy from fans, they finally got a much
07:13needed level of recognition that maybe they were due years before.
07:18The New Day had already established themselves in a category of maybe all-time greats, but
07:23the Usos were creeping in on that conversation as well.
07:25You may not believe it, but it was in WrestleMania 34 in 2018 that the Usos finally got their
07:31first appearance on the main card of the grandest stage of them all.
07:35Imagine that.
07:36Sure, they had some pre-show appearances here and there, but it took them 8 freaking years
07:41to make a WrestleMania card.
07:43Unfortunately, they would lose at the hands of the very large and ferocious Bludgeon Brothers.
07:50Although they were kind of just treading in the tag team division in 2018, they were by
07:55no means irrelevant.
07:57They actually led Smackdown to their only win in Survivor Series in 2018, and it wasn't
08:02counted because it was technically on the pre-show, I guess.
08:05In early 2019, they dethroned the best tag team in the world, The Miz and Shane McMahon,
08:11to once again recapture Smackdown tag team gold.
08:15They were a big reason why Kofi Kingston was able to make it to WrestleMania 35 on his
08:20KofiMania quest to become WWE Champion.
08:24The then villain of villains Vince McMahon had put Xavier Woods and Big E of the New
08:29Day, Kofi's partners, in a tag team gauntlet match.
08:33They had to win to put Kofi into WWE title match contention at Mania, and only when they
08:40won would he get that opportunity.
08:42A beaten and battered Woods and Big E had to go through a daunting field of opponents
08:48before getting to the Usos.
08:51But in a show of shocking solidarity, and maybe one of the most respectable forfeits
08:56of all time, the Usos would forfeit.
08:59This was a massive moment in that KofiMania storyline, and made them even bigger fan favorites
09:05than they were before.
09:07In storyline, McMahon punished them for this by putting them in a fatal four-way tag team
09:11match at Mania, and being on the opposing end of McMahon punishment is usually a way
09:16of elevating superstars and making them more vulnerable and beloved in the eyes of fans.
09:22They carried on their momentum at WrestleMania 35, and retained their titles in their first
09:27ever win on Mania.
09:29The Usos would lose those titles to the returning Hardy Boyz a couple of days later at SmackDown,
09:36and get sent over to Raw for the first time since the brand split was reintroduced.
09:41Unfortunately, this coincided with that awful wildcard rule where superstars of one brand
09:46were allowed to go to another.
09:48So while also feuding with The Revival for the Raw tag team titles, they had a feud on
09:53SmackDown with Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan, showing that WWE truly wanted to bet on the
09:59Usos to carry the tag team divisions, but they unfortunately failed to regain the SmackDown
10:05tag team titles again.
10:06The feud with The Revival just wasn't that great.
10:09It was definitive of things that WWE was trying post-WrestleMania in 2019, and unfortunately
10:14it was an underwhelming year for the Usos at this point.
10:17They failed to win any gold after April, and after Jimmy had a DUI arrest, the Usos were
10:23kept off television for the remainder of the year.
10:26What would happen for them?
10:27Would all of the issues outside of the ring and just other circumstantial setbacks really
10:32set back their career, and maybe even their legacy as one of the greatest tag teams of
10:36WWE's current crop?
10:38They returned to aid Roman Reigns in a feud that nobody wants to remember against the
10:43Baron Corbin guy, but at least the Usos were back in the mix.
10:49The pandemic would hit at WrestleMania 36, and Jimmy Uso would suffer a knee injury that
10:54would keep him out of action for a long time.
10:58Another career renaissance was in the works, specifically for Jey Uso.
11:02Without Jimmy, he would have to define himself, do something different, and Roman Reigns was
11:07reintroducing himself as the Tribal Chief.
11:10He was going to demand that his family fall in line and be under his command.
11:15Jey just wasn't having it.
11:17He would return with a new look, a new attitude, and a fresh chip on his shoulder.
11:22He would actually be the first person to challenge this new Tribal Chief Roman Reigns for that
11:27Universal Championship in a stellar, underrated match at Clash of Champions.
11:33The personal issue would boil and boil on for the weeks that would follow.
11:37Though Roman would come out top as the Universal Champion, the personal issue got even more
11:43violent, even more vicious, with Roman believing he was doing the right thing by brutalizing
11:49his own family member Jey Uso inside a Hell in a Cell-Eye quitmatch, where Jimmy Uso himself
11:58had to run out there and save his brother, and only because Roman assaulted a prone,
12:04and injured Jimmy Uso did Jey Uso say those dreaded words, I quit.
12:11It is truly one of the best moments that WWE had inside of the no-fans pandemic era, and
12:17it was a sign of the character level of growth we were going to get out of all of these men.
12:23Jimmy Uso would finally return post-WrestleMania 37 in 2021 and join the fold without much
12:29of a fuss.
12:30It only took them a few months to recapture the tag team titles on Smackdown, and this
12:35time they would go with the run of their lives.
12:40For 622 days, as WWE stormed out of the pandemic and went coast to coast, the team being booed
12:49the most was the Usos.
12:51They would become the gold standard of WWE's tag team division, and this may be their best
12:57run as champions in WWE.
13:00They did this all while helping Roman Reigns sustain his WWE World Championship and Universal
13:07title runs.
13:08He wasn't a champion unless they interfered and helped him.
13:14The Bloodline became one of the biggest factions in modern day WWE, and the Usos were a critical
13:21part of it.
13:22They were the meat of the plate.
13:24They made it move.
13:25Roman Reigns may have been the figurehead, but they kept this machine going.
13:30Enter all of the dramatic and wonderful moments they had with other players like Paul Heyman,
13:35The Wise Man, Solo Sokoa, and of course that entire issue with Sami Zayn.
13:42Along the way, all of that worry about tag team wrestling not being at the top of the
13:47card would be destroyed in La La Land for the first time in a long time.
13:54The Usos would take championship gold, the tag team titles, unified from both Raw and
14:00Smackdown to the main event.
14:03In one of the greatest WWE tag team matches of all time, the Usos would fall to the team
14:10of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
14:12An absolute five stars, six stars, ten stars, I don't care how many stars Dave Meltzer has,
14:20he could give it all to this match that they had at WrestleMania 39, closing out night
14:26one.
14:27Having banger after banger with the best tag teams in the world, it certainly helped them
14:31cement their status, but if you look at the overall change in their careers, it happened
14:36because they finally got a much needed boost of character depth.
14:40They were allowed to be a version of themselves and grow as themselves on screen.
14:46They had a hell of a run with the Bloodline, and they would turn on Roman Reigns, and actually
14:52in a tag team match, the Bloodline Civil War at Money in the Bank, they did something unthinkable.
14:58They were the first people to pin Roman Reigns in years.
15:02Jey Uso would do it, it was an incredible thing, but abruptly later, Jimmy would turn
15:07on Jey, even though Jey got Jimmy to leave the Bloodline, it was sort of a mess.
15:12They would have a final, conquesting match, brother versus brother at WrestleMania 40
15:18in Philadelphia.
15:19The hype was there, many believed the match didn't live up to the hype, but the brothers
15:23certainly got to have their moment as solo superstars on the grandest stage of all.
15:28The Usos have proved themselves to be some of the best supporting players of WWE's most
15:33profitable storyline in recent years, and the best part is now as solo superstars, separate
15:39from each other, they still have quite a shelf life left in in-ring action.
15:44Whether it's them reuniting again in the future, or extending their legacies as single stars,
15:49maybe having a redemptive redo of that brother versus brother match, it's exciting to see
15:55what is next for the brothers.
15:58So what do you think is going to be the pinnacle of the Usos' career?
16:01Was it WrestleMania 39?
16:03Was it their brother versus brother match?
16:05Or is it a match we haven't seen yet?
16:08Let us know what you think in the comments below and check out these other great videos
16:12from Sportskeeda Wrestling.