The Usos Win The Tag Titles

The major development for Smackdown this week was The Usos winning the brand's tag titles. They defeated American Alpha. It just seemed like The Usos would eventually get the titles, so that's not an issue. There are still a few things to bring up.

First, why not have the title change happen at Wrestlemania? There are some people talking like The Hardys will return and win the titles at Wrestlemania from The Usos, but ignore that. As it stands, there are a couple titles likely to change hands at Wrestlemania this year already. Because of that, I don't see a problem with having this title change happen outside the event. As it stands, The Usos vs. American Alpha is hardly worthy of Wrestlemania, But that doesn't seem to stop the WWE these days.

The WWE had a moment on Smackdown. There are a lot of moments on Smackdown. Whether you are talking about title changes, returns, gimmick matches, or whatever, Smackdown delivers when it comes to moments. Where they fail is properly building up to moments. They did not build up well to the 2 out of 3 falls match between Mickie James and Becky Lynch. They did not build Becky Lynch up well prior to her title win last year. American Alpha was not built up well to their title win. I have seen fans talk like the tag division was dead on Smackdown until just recently. The journey is sometimes more fun than the destination. Smackdown needs to do a better job making the journey matter for the audience. I would even question the journey for The Usos to their recent title win.

What about American Alpha? As I said, these guys were not built well. Was the title reign that great? No. These guys are flops. Giving them the tag titles does not change that. They are talented in-ring performers, but that is really all they have shown. The WWE should have done better with them. And if they still couldn't properly get over, depush them. There is still room for much improvement in Smackdown's tag division.

Previewing The 2017 Elimination Chamber Men's Matches

First match to talk about will be Dolph Ziggler vs. both Apollo Crews and Kalisto. This might be another instance of the WWE trying to get too fancy with a feud. This match could easily have been just Ziggler vs. Crews. It might not be too interesting, but this PPV is featuring an Elimination Chamber match. That is the big selling point right there.

Or is the WWE planning something more with this match? The odds are against the heel. They could pull a swerve and have Apollo Crews turn heel and help Ziggler win. Ziggler is no stranger to having some muscle at his side. You can also say this heel turn for him has been a bit forced or that he might be trying too hard. Maybe the WWE will give him a sidekick to help him. As for Crews, he hasn't really done anything important in the longest while. A heel turn might at least give him a chance to show a different personality, which might help him.

Who wins this? There are a lot of possibilities and a lot of things to consider. I just brought up the heel turn option. Ziggler is the one being pushed, so he should win. At the same time, two faces would look bad if they lost this match without major shenanigans, although Apollo Crews and Kalisto aren't exactly too important. I will say Ziggler wins.

Randy Orton faces Luke Harper. Forgetting the Royal Rumble win for Orton, this match was just the logical step in the storyline Orton has with Bray Wyatt. Randy Orton drives away Bray's top disciple, then the path is cleared for Orton to turn on Bray. Randy Orton seriously did not need that Royal Rumble win.

Who wins this? I don't see Luke Harper in line to get a huge push moving forward. If he was, I might say he wins this. Since that is not the case, Orton wins.

American Alpha defend the tag titles against The Usos, The Ascension, The Vaudevillains, Breezango, and Heath Slater & Rhyno. Did I miss anyone? The tag division is probably something else I should try to take time out to talk about in this hectic Wrestlemania season. A lot has been going on in the last few weeks, including title changes. Is the WWE making good booking decisions? Are they developing teams properly? Well, there are a bunch of jobbers in this match. The WWE might have done better by just building a feud between American Alpha and The Usos.

I think this match might just come down to those two teams. One of them will win. The title reign of American Alpha is still young, so they should retain here. However, the WWE has had some questionable title changes in the last few months. It's not just with the Cruiserweight Championship. It would be nice to let more of these title reigns develop more. No need for reigns of doom, but a few months and successful title defenses would be nice. I will say American Alpha retain.

And the main event will be John Cena defending the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber against Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Miz, Dean Ambrose, and Baron Corbin. There is a lot I would have liked to have said about this match, including running down each of these guys, but I've already talked about a lot today and I'll just save time by talking about three guys. Keep in mind, the winner of this match likely faces the Royal Rumble winner, Randy Orton, unless some huge swerve happens.

If you're going by what Dave Meltzer's sources are telling him, Bray Wyatt is winning the title and facing Randy Orton. I can just end it right here and go make a sandwich. Whether the WWE does it or not, this is a terrible booking decision. It is amazing how the WWE could take what was my favorite storyline going on at one time and ruin it by just trying to do too much. I thought the way they had Randy Orton just join The Wyatts was bad enough, but this was just not a feud that needed to involve Randy Orton winning the Royal Rumble and Bray Wyatt winning the WWE Championship. I am not against Bray Wyatt finally winning a top title, but now is not the time for it.

Look at the incumbent. Look at the guy holding the title heading into the PPV. That would be John Cena. He just won the title a few short weeks ago. I wouldn't be too shocked if he lost it so soon. Moreover, Cena retaining would mean Randy Orton vs. John Cena. They just faced each other in a singles match this week. These two have never faced each other in a singles match at Wrestlemania, but I think a lot of fans can live with not seeing it. Going in this direction would also put the Orton/Wyatt angle in an interesting position. What happens there?

The last name I will bring up is AJ Styles. He held the title prior to Cena. A feud and match between Randy Orton and AJ Styles would be fresh and something I have seen some fans interested in. The main problem here is that it would ruin the Orton/Wyatt feud. I can have an easier time imagining Orton vs. Cena with Bray Wyatt hovering in the background than Orton vs. Styles with Bray Wyatt hovering in the background.

Who wins this? Because of all the crappy possibilities, I am not even going to take this seriously. I'll say Jinder Mahal beats up Baron Corbin before the match, takes his spot, and wins the title. Randy Orton just should not have won the Royal Rumble. I am a fan of Randy Orton. I don't own a lot of wrestling merchandise, but Randy Orton is one of the guys I have bought merchandise of. But it is just hard to get excited for this push for him when so many epic feuds could have been built with someone else winning the Royal Rumble. I would rather see John Cena vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the title. The feud between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton just didn't need all this.

American Alpha Win The Titles

There was a title change on Smackdown this week. It just wasn't the titles I thought it might be. It was the tag titles. American Alpha won them.

Let's not sugarcoat it, American Alpha were flops. The WWE debuted them on Smackdown like they were just supposed to be the top team of the division. They did not connect with the audience well and Heath Slater & Rhyno just deserved to win the tag titles before them. But I have said that the WWE should go back to them and give them a proper push.

A proper push does not mean just dumping a title in someone's lap. There was no development for these guys to win the titles. Obviously, with Zack Ryder's injury, the WWE could not do what they originally would have liked to do. But doing a title change like this does not do American Alpha any favors. They need work. It reminds of Becky Lynch winning the Women's Championship a few months ago. She had no proper focus on her heading into that match to crown the inaugural titleholder. And she just won. Her fans will eat it up, but there are a lot of fans out there that might not care that much. Of the women that debuted from NXT in one night last year, Becky Lynch was the one pushed the least properly.

I am not saying the WWE should never have a title change come out of nowhere for someone that had no real build for the push. Normally, however, it should at least go to someone with prior credibility. Look at Sheamus winning the Royal Rumble out of nowhere a few years ago. There really was not much focus on Sheamus to legitimately win the big match, but he did. Of course, Sheamus had credibility from being a WWE Champion prior to that. I can also agree with creating some buzz by having someone win a title in their first match, like Paige did. The WWE obviously fumbled with Paige soon after, but that's another story.

Which category does American Alpha fall under? They didn't win the titles in their debut match to cause buzz. These are not guys that had credibility previously on the main roster to imply they have at least gotten a proper push before in front of the main audience. They are rookies that have not been pushed well and suddenly have the tag titles.

Some might think I'm crazy. Didn't I hear how some fans reacted when American Alpha got their moment? Yeah, and can you hear how all the other fans and potential viewers reacted to it? No, you can't. How about you stop and consider that? When certain wrestlers are in front of their hometown, they are likely to get a good reaction. When certain wrestlers are in front of smark crowds or wrestling-friendly crowds, they are likely to get a good reaction. Smackdown was in Chicago this week. I don't think I need to say anything else about that. No one should get fooled into thinking American Alpha are more over than they really are just because smarks like them. I pointed out in the past that these are the type of guys that wrestling fans would eat up. The WWE needs to put proper work in these guys to develop wider appeal.

How about the team that lost the tag titles? That would be The Wyatts. It was a very short title reign. Some people are unhappy about Bray Wyatt losing his title reign so fast. Face it, this title reign was more about furthering a storyline, not honoring Bray Wyatt. That should not be the issue for discussion here. What you should be talking about is whether the WWE pulled the trigger too soon on the title change. The feud between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt has a lot of creative potential, but I have pointed out in the last few months that the WWE has made some questionable choices. Even if you can forgive or ignore all that, this recent development is questionable. The WWE just didn't get enough off the title reign, even just talking creatively. It isn't really about building a dominant stable, since that is obviously not what the story is about. It is about playing with the relationships within The Wyatts right now. They could have done more before having The Wyatts lose the tag titles.