Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. the Usos Announced for WWE No Mercy 2016

Rhyno and Heath Slater's second tag team championship defense will be a rematch. The Usos defeated American Alpha on Tuesday's Smackdown Live to earn a second opportunity at next month's No Mercy pay-per-view, as WWE announced on Twitter:

Utilizing their newfound ruthlessness, The Usos again targeted Chad Gable's injured leg and essentially left Jason Jordan fighting a two-on-one battle. Jimmy and Jey finished Jordan off with dual superkicks and a splash for a clean (albeit heelish) victory.

Rhyno and Slater previously defeated The Usos at Backlash to win the tag team championship tournament. The Usos defeated the Hype Bros. in a semifinals match on that same night to earn a spot in the final. They had previously lost to American Alpha in the original semifinal but attacked Gable after the match, injuring (kayfabe) his leg in the process.

Rhyno and Slater's victory earned the latter a Smackdown Live contract. He'd been a so-called free agent for the first month-plus after the WWE draft, floating between Smackdown and Raw—often as the best non-wrestling part of the show.

It marked Rhyno's first tag team championship in WWE and his first with the company in more than a decade. Slater, who had barely appeared on television for the past couple of years before joining the Social Outcasts, is now a four-time tag champ.

Their status as oddball underdogs has made them a crowd favorite, but this is shaping up like a pretty easy setup for them to drop the belts. The Usos have an existing feud with Alpha that only grew Tuesday night, and their heel turn has generated interest in a team that had seemingly gone stale.

This would be an interesting time to pull the trigger on handing The Usos the title for a more extended feud with Alpha, whom everyone expects to reign supreme in Smackdown's tag division going forward.

What's more, with Slater locked into a contract, the need for him to keep winning has mostly ceased. Rhyno's budding political career may also force WWE's hand into cutting the reign short before November's election. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.