Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. the Usos: Winner and Reaction from WWE No Mercy 2016

The Cinderella story of Heath Slater and Rhyno continued Sunday at No Mercy, as the odd couple retained the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships by beating The Usos.

WrestlingInc.com broke down how the match finished: 

The WWE Universe shared an image of the champions celebrating: 

WWE Podcast host Matts Madness wondered if this was the right booking decision:  

Slater would tweet about the win after the match: 

Sunday's bout was a rematch from Backlash, as both teams reached the finals of a tournament to determine the first SmackDown tag champs.

Slater and Rhyno earned their way through that tourney, while The Usos took a different route. Jimmy and Jey were technically eliminated by American Alpha in the semifinals when they lost in 30 seconds, but that defeat set The Usos off and caused them to brutally attack Chad Gable.

With Gable injured, SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan decided to pit The Usos against the Hype Bros, with the winners facing Slater and Rhyno in the tournament final.

While The Usos managed to get past Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley, Slater and Rhyno upset them at Backlash, which resulted in The Usos falling just short of becoming three-time tag champs.

Despite that loss, they remained undeterred as they continued to strive toward getting another crack at the titles.

They took on the returning American Alpha on SmackDown with the No. 1 contendership on the line, and after targeting Gable's injured knee, they took advantage by pinning Jason Jordan and earning another championship match.

After that triumph, The Usos made it clear they had a new outlook and were focused on rising to the top of the tag team ranks on the blue brand:

Jimmy and Jey attempted to intimidate Slater and Rhyno during the build toward No Mercy, but the Man Beast never backs down from a fight, and he didn't allow the new-look Usos to throw them off their game.

Despite how quickly Slater and Rhyno have meshed and how much success they have enjoyed in such a short amount of time, they once again entered the pay-per-view as underdogs.

With The Usos getting built up as strong heels and American Alpha waiting in the wings to exact revenge, the smart money was on the Samoan twins bouncing back to win the titles.

Slater and Rhyno once again showed their ability to perform under difficult circumstances, however, and maintained their chokehold over the tag division.

While Slater and Rhyno have consistently been among the best part of SmackDown programming on a weekly basis, the biggest challenge moving forward is finding worthy contenders for their titles in a SmackDown tag scene that is light on top-level teams.

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