With the absence of Roman Reigns, the defection of Jey Uso and the unsure status of Jimmy Uso makes The Bloodline more of a shell of a faction cropped up by Solo Sikoa still murdering people and Paul Heyman's elite performance skills.

So the interactions between Jimmy, Solo and Paul are perhaps less relevant than the fact that others are angling for the top of the food chain. Judgment Day are pretty clearly the top dogs now with the tag belts, titles for Rhea Ripley and Dom Mysterio and a Money in the Bank briefcase. With this week's win on SmackDown over the always-entertaining Brawling Brutes, they now have prominent roles on all three WWE live shows.

And then they went and interacted with The Bloodline after the main event, beating up AJ Styles and throwing him in the ring to Solo as ... a peace offering? A demonstration of power? It's a nice little mystery for what happens next.

But earlier in the show was another intriguing wrinkle, as Bobby Lashley and Street Profits announced they were interested in being the top faction in the fed. They aren't there yet, but there's serious potential. They've all won titles at the highest levels in their divisions, and despite seemingly shade toward heeldom at times, they are really over with the crowd.

Really, sign us up for Bobby vs. Roman, and Street Profits vs. any team. There's a lot of upside to this trio if WWE explores it.

And all of those developments could keep WWE on its current hot streak even as The Bloodline take a step back from being a consistent headline act.

The following Tag Team Power Rankings take into account wins, power and placement of segments, recentness of appearances, creative direction and momentum for teams and factions.

WWE Tag Team Power Rankings through Sept. 9:

1. Judgment Day (last week: 1)

Pro: Damian Priest and Finn Balor are double tag champs, Rhea Ripley a women's champ and Dom Mysterio's NXT North American title. Plus Damian Priest remains Senor Money in the Bank. Added a win over Brawling Brutes on SmackDown.
Con: The jury still seems out on whether JD McDonagh will join the group.

2. Imperium (4)

Pro: Gunther now holds the modern Intercontinental Championship record after defeating a game Chad Gable in a brilliant, brutal match.
Con: Now if only his henchmen could be taken seriously.

3. The D'Angelo Family (5)

Pro: Still the NXT men's tag champs, and that a lot of folks want their gold makes the title feel relevant.
Con: They'll have a tough opponent in whomever steps up next.

4. Alpha Academy (3)

Pro: Call him Main Event Chad Gable? One of the finest technicians in the craft delivered yet again in his biggest spotlight.
Con: Unable to defeat Gunther for the championship, but in that he has plenty of company.

5. Viking Raiders (9)

Pro: Continued their win streak with a win over Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle on Raw.
Con: Once again had to rely on a malfunction at the junction for the W.

6. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (2)

Pro: Sami is clearly still a key player, coming out to welcome and establish the Raw story for Jey Uso.
Con: Zayn took a loss (albeit a dirty one) to McDonagh on Raw.

7. Street Profits and Bobby Lashley (7)

Pro: Staked their claim to be the new top faction in WWE.
Con: Need to do more than that to top Judgment Day.

8. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven (6)

Pro: Still the women's tag champs.
Con: Piper is on the shelf, while Chelsea was fed (entertainingly so, at least) to Raquel Rodriguez.

9. Brawling Brutes (not ranked)

Pro: Butch looked phenomenal back in NXT for the Heritage Cup tournament, then he and Ridge Holland had a good showing against Judgment Day.
Con: Unable to beat the new top team on SmackDown. Despite a fantastic showing, had to settle for the time-limit draw with Axiom.

10. The OC (not ranked)

Pro: AJ Styles picked up a main event win over Jimmy Uso on SmackDown, all on his own.
Con: That he was on his own wasn't a good sign for his faction. And that lack of backup left him to be picked clean by Judgment Day and Solo Sikoa.

Tag Team Segment of the Week: What's going on between Judgment Day and The Bloodline? That tease was the most interesting thing that happened this week in wrestling.

Grade: B+

The building up of factions and teams is quite intriguing, although the lack of a women's division remains a trend.