On the July 26 episode of "SmackDown Live", Rhyno returned to attack "free agent" Heath Slater with a Gore. On the August 9 episode of "SmackDown Live", the two wrestled each other with the stipulation that if Slater won, he would be signed to the "SmackDown" roster; however, Rhyno defeated Slater. On the August 23 episode of "SmackDown", Slater was offered a spot in the tournament for the newly instated SmackDown Tag Team Championship if he found a partner. After struggling to find a partner, Rhyno approached Slater and agreed to be his partner for the tournament. Rhyno and Slater defeated The Headbangers in the first round and The Hype Bros in the semi-finals to advance to the finals at Backlash, where they defeated The Usos to become the inaugural champions, while also granting Slater a contract. On the September 13 episode of "SmackDown Live", Rhyno and Slater defeated The Ascension to successfully retain the titles in their first defense following Slater's official live contract signing. At No Mercy, Rhyno and Slater retained the titles against The Usos. At Survivor Series, Rhyno and Slater were the team captains for Team SmackDown in the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match, where they were defeated by Team Raw. At on December 4, Rhyno and Slater's tag team championship reign came to an end at 84 days after they were defeated by The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton). Two days later on "SmackDown Live", Rhyno and Slater received their rematch, but failed to regain the titles. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, 2017, the duo were the first entrants into the tag team turmoil match for the titles, eliminating Breezango and The Vaudevillains before being eliminated by The Usos.