WWE Night of Champions 2014 match card preview: The Usos vs. Stardust & Goldust

Tag Team Championship Match

The Usos (c) vs. Goldust & Stardust

Jimmy & Jey as tag champs is beginning to feel like an institution.  But as we've passed the six-month mark on their title reign, a pair of brothers who previously wore the belts have come at them - one with a new coat of paint, and both with a newly aggressive attitude.  Will the Usos make it to seven months as WWE Tag Team Champions, or will the Dust Brothers take the belts, which may or may not be the "cosmic key" that Stardust has been ranting about all summer long?

The Road to Night of Champions

It was just a friendly rivalry.  The four brothers faced off on the Raw after SummerSlam, in one of those "beat the champs - get a title match" deals that drive the internet wrestling community (IWC) U-So crazy.  With a win, Stardust & Goldust got their shot at the belts the following week.  When Jey was the legal man in that match, he seemed to suffer a leg injury on the outside, and was unable to get back within the ropes before the referee's count of ten.  The countout victory for the Dusts meant they would not win the belts, however.  And that was just too much for the two eccentrics to take...

In classic heel fashion, Dusty's boys didn't think what they'd done was wrong.   On the contrary, the were sure that Rikishi's kids were faking Jey's bum leg in order to keep the titles.

Since then, the Usos have been their usual kind-of-dickish babyface selfs, working through the supposed injury while taunting the rest of the division.  The Dusts have generated heat by assaulting El Torito, Los Matadors minitature bull mascot, and sounded even more possessed by their quest for the "cosmic key", which we're all guessing pretty much has to be the tag belts (right?).

They've fought in various combinations of singles matches, and spent the 'go home' edition of Raw having their feud lumped in with the United States title program as Sheamus, Jimmy and Jey defeated Cesaro, Star and Goldust.  On Smackdown, Jimmy defeated Stardust one-on-one, and then attempted interference by Gold ended with him being stereo-superkicked out on his rear.

So they law of standing tall points to a title change, but we've thought that with the Usos before.

What's at Stake?

A six-month run with the belts is no laughing matter.  WWE has tended towards booking long reigns for the kings of the pairs division over the last few years - it's almost like they matter!  A victory would be a nice reward for the veteran Goldust and especially Stardust, a gimmick that Cody Rhodes has fully committed to even when many fans feel his ceiling would be higher without it.

But the Wyatt Family were firing on all cylinders and deserving of a rub, too.  Conspiracy theories have it that Erick Rowan, Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt all get questionable backstage support, and that was the reason for their falling to capture tag gold.  But conventional wisdom pointed out that there were no babyface teams established to feud with heel champs - something that is still the case heading into NoC.

Would the Dusts flip back to a good alignment in order to feud with teams like the Wyatts or NXT's Ascension?  Or can we count on a few more U-So crazy months?

Either way, you'll get you answers at Night of Champions and right here at Cageside Seats!