Usos' Development Hinges on Return to Heel Status After Win vs. Cesaro, Sheamus

After beating Raw tag team champions Cesaro and Sheamus at Survivor Series on Sunday, SmackDown tag team champions The Usos must re-establish their heel characters to enjoy sustained success on the blue brand. 

The consensus on Twitter was that this ended up being a highly entertaining match:

"

Wow. Great match between Usos and Sheamus/Cesaro. Not sure anyone will top that tonight. #SurvivorSeries

— Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) November 20, 2017"

The Usos have long been one of the featured teams in WWE's tag division, but it wasn't until they moved to SmackDown Live in the brand split draft last year that they came into their own.

Jimmy and Jey turned heel during the tournament to crown the first SmackDown tag team champions by viciously attacking American Alpha, and that set the wheels in motion for the best run of The Usos' career.

Although the sons of Rikishi always had strong in-ring ability and were capable of putting on quality matches prior to the heel turn, they were lacking the attitude and personality needed to make a legitimate connection with the WWE Universe.

The Usos seemed to flip the switch in that regard when they turned heel, and they became far more comfortable in essentially all areas.

Being villains allowed them to get more aggressive in their matches, resulting in them generating actual heat by targeting body parts and attempting to injure their opponents.

Their biggest strides came from a character development perspective and through their mic work, which were virtually nonexistent factors throughout their face run.

The Usos created the "Uso Penitentiary" catchphrase, and they worked a unique cadence into their promos that has helped make their mic time must-see television rather than bathroom break material for the fans.

One thing that helped them break out of their shells even more was their long and entertaining feud with New Day, which fired on all cylinders from start to finish.

With New Day taking on a comedic role much of the time, it allowed The Usos to get serious and show a side of themselves that few wrestling fans knew existed.

As good as The Usos were in that regard, where they stood out most during The New Day rivalry was in the ring, as the two teams had what was perhaps one of the greatest series of matches between tag teams in WWE history.

The Usos and New Day showed respect for each other after their series came to an end, which was the first sign that The Usos were no longer the dastardly heels they had previously become.

It became even clearer when Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin became No. 1 contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and started teasing heel characters rather than remaining faces against The Usos.

Although The Usos were de facto faces against Cesaro and Sheamus, their long-term credibility depends on going back to being strong heels on SmackDown.

The Usos were stale during their long face run, and even though their characters are different now, there is little logic in departing from something that has worked so well for them over the past year.

SmackDown has a strong contingent of face tag teams with New Day and Breezango leading the way, but there is no true competition for The Usos on the heel side, and that alone should compel WWE to stick with the characters they had started to master.

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