WWE Hell in a Cell 2014 match card preview: Gold & Stardust vs. The Usos

WWE Tag Team Title Match

Gold & Stardust (c) vs. The Usos

The cosmic key has so far proven to be a cursed talisman for the Dust Brothers. Will that change at the pay-per-view tomorrow? Or do they need to lose the poisoned chalice to regain their Midas touch?

The Road to Hell in a Cell

The futuristic, intergalactic duo of Goldust & Stardust finally found their cosmic key, which turned out to be the WWE Tag Team Championships, when they defeated The Usos for the straps at Night Of Champions last month. Afterwards, Stardust proclaimed that through the victory "science fiction became science fact", as he was over the moon with becoming a champion for the first time ever (forgetting, of course, that Cody Rhodes ever existed):

Instead of being propelled into outer space, the Dusts were quickly brought back down to Planet Earth, as The Usos racked up a number of victories against the new champions and firmly established themselves as the number one contenders for the titles.

First, Jey Uso pinned Goldust with a Superfly Splash in a trios match on the Sept. 22nd Monday Night Raw that also featured Sheamus and Cesaro. This led to a WWE Tag Team Championship rematch on Smackdown later that week, where Jey was on the verge of pinning Stardust after a Doomsday Device and Superfly Splash when Goldust smashed Jey with his gold belt to intentionally get his team disqualified, so the titles wouldn't change hands here.

Without his big brother around to save his bacon, Stardust was cleanly defeated in singles competition on the Oct. 2nd edition of Superstars after another Superfly Splash, this time by Jimmy Uso. Another trios match, this time with Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro as the partners, on the Oct. 6th Monday Night Raw saw the exact same finish: Stardust squashed and pinned by a Jimmy Uso Superfly Splash. It wasn't third time lucky for Stardust either, as he fell foul to the Uso finisher again the very next night on WWE Main Event, this time pinned by Jey in another singles bout.

The 15th Anniversary of Smackdown was another victorious evening for The Usos, as they helped Teddy Long earn the title of greatest General Manager in Smackdown history by being part of his team that beat Team Laurinaitis, which unsurprisingly included The Dust bros. The finish was a familiar one, Jey pinning Damien Mizdow after a Superfly Splash.

The losing streak for Goldust and Stardust continued on their fourth week as WWE Tag Team Champions of the World. On Monday Night Raw, they were cleanly defeated by John Cena and Dean Ambrose in a non-title triangle match that also featured The Usos. Smackdown saw their third trios match defeat, this time with The Miz as their partner, when The Usos helped Sheamus clear the ring of his other foes, leaving Goldust free to be KO'd by the Irish fella's Brogue Kick.

On the go-home edition of Raw, a schoolboy from behind by Damien Mizdow (taking the place of The Miz) on Sheamus, after a distraction by Stardust, reversed the Smackdown result, but still The Usos remained unblemished.

The Usos even beat The Dusts in a bizarre competition of "How Well Do You Know Your Bro?" on this week's WWE Main Event, before laying them both out with superkicks!

Last night on Smackdown saw the rivalry between the brothers Rhodes and Uso overshadowed again, as the focus of the finish was on their trios match partners: Bo Dallas pinned Mark Henry after surprising him with the Bodog.

What's at Stake?

Cosmic key or the WWE Tag Team Championships, call it what you will, but they symbolise being the best tag team in the world today. That's a prize worth fighting for! Even if it comes with the price of being booked like dirt, as secondary champions, especially heels, are never protected in WWE.

There's not much else to say, as the booking of this feud has been pretty insipid, with The Usos always looking strong in various matches against the champions. That would be all fine and dandy if The Dusts were allowed to get their heat back by attacking the Samoan twins afterwards, but they've never been given the opportunity. Less lopsided booking would also create more uncertainty in the end result, as people get used to their patterns and can easily spot them.

This should be a fun match, even though the WWE creative team are doing the wrestlers a disservice with their uninspired storylines.