The Usos

The Usos are a Samoan American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life identical twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso.
Trained since childhood by their father Rikishi, the team debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in 2009, where they became FCW Florida Tag Team Champions. They were moved to the main roster the following year, capturing the Tag Team Championship twice in 2014 and winning the Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year in both 2014 and 2015. In 2017, they became Smackdown Tag Team Champions for the first time.
Jey (real name Joshua Samuel Fatu) and Jimmy (real name Jonathan Solofa Fatu) are members of the renowned Anoa'i family. The pair were previously managed by Tamina Snuka and Jimmy's real-life wife, Naomi.
==History==
=== World Wrestling Entertainment ===
==== Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010) ====
Jimmy Uso appeared at the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) television tapings on November 5, accompanying Donny Marlow to the ring. Jimmy also appeared in a dark match prior to the FCW television tapings on November 19, defeating Titus O'Neill.
The Uso Brothers began 2010 by defeating The Rotundo Brothers (Duke and Bo) on January 14. In a clash of the generational wrestlers on February 18, The Rotundo Brothers teamed up with Wes Brisco to defeat The Usos and Donny Marlow. They continued their association with Marlow at the television tapings on February 25, when he accompanied them to ringside for a victory against Titus O'Neill and Big E. Langston. In March they were joined by Sarona Snuka, who began acting as their manager and on March 13, The Usos defeated The Fortunate Sons (Joe Hennig and Brett DiBiase) to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. They made their first title defense at the March 18 television tapings by defeating The Dudebusters (Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft) to retain. They went on to successfully defend the championship against Percy Watson and Darren Young, Hunico and Tito Nieves, Skip Sheffield and Darren Young, and The Dudebusters, who they defeated by disqualification when Tamina pulled the referee out of the ring]] to stop him from counting the pinfall. On June 3, The Usos lost the Florida Tag Team Championship to "Los Aviadores" (Hunico and Dos Equis).
==== Feud with The Hart Dynasty (2010–2011) ====
On the May 24, 2010 episode of Raw, The Usos and Tamina made their debut as heels by attacking the Unified Tag Team Champions, The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, and Natalya) The following week, Raw General Manager Bret Hart stated that he had signed them to contracts. That night, the trio cut a promo, stating that they were looking for respect for their families. They were interrupted and attacked by The Hart Dynasty, who were seeking revenge for the surprise attack the previous week. The Usos attempted to attack The Hart Dynasty again on the June 7 episode of Raw, but The Harts were ready and gained the upper hand. The Usos made their in-ring debut for the brand on the June 17 episode of Superstars, defeating Goldust and Mark Henry. Three days later they made their pay-per-view debut by losing to The Hart Dynasty in a six-person mixed tag team match at Fatal 4-Way. The Usos were scheduled to face The Hart Dynasty on the June 28 episode of Raw, but the match never started as The Usos instead attacked The Harts when they were entering the ring. The Usos defeated The Hart Dynasty for the first time in a six-person mixed tag team match on the July 12 episode of Raw when Jey pinned Smith. The Usos challenged The Harts for the Unified Tag Team Championship at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, but were unsuccessful. On the July 26 episode of Raw, Jey Uso went against Randy Orton in his first singles match on the brand in a losing effort. They received another shot for the Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions in a Tag Team Turmoil match, where they eliminated both The Hart Dynasty and the team of Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella before being eliminated by Mark Henry and Evan Bourne. On the December 6 episode of Raw, The Usos were in a fatal four-way tag match and were eliminated, but Tamina stayed in the corner of Marella and Kozlov upon their winning of the WWE Tag Team Championship; as a result, she turned face and left The Usos.
====Various feuds (2011–2013)====
On April 26, 2011, both Usos were drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. On the June 2 episode of Superstars, The Usos turned face when they competed against The Corre (Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) in a losing effort. Throughout June 2011, The Usos continued to exchange victories with Gabriel and Slater in tag team matches, while managing to defeat them in two six-man tag matches while partnering once with Ezekiel Jackson and once with Trent Barreta. As of the June 24 episode of SmackDown, The Usos have been performing the Siva Tau, a traditional Samoan war dance, as part of their ring entrance, using the dance to display their strength and energize themselves. On the July 29 episode of SmackDown, The Usos challenged David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty for the WWE Tag Team Titles, but were defeated.
The Usos then began appearing on the fifth season of NXT in September 2011, by delivering post-match attacks on the team of Darren Young and JTG. The Usos then went on to defeat Young and JTG on the September 27 episode of NXT Redemption. However, just like how The Usos debuted on NXT, they were attacked after their win by another debuting tag team, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks, and The Usos were defeated by Hawkins and Reks the next week. In the following months and into 2012, The Usos exchanged wins with Hawkins and Reks on NXT, while continually losing to Primo and Epico on SmackDown. They also feuded with JTG, who had become Tamina's boyfriend. In March 2012, The Usos began a feud with Darren Young and Titus O'Neil, after they mocked The Uso's pre-match Siva Tau. Although The Usos beat Young and O'Neil in tag team matches, they were continually defeated in singles matches. On the final episode of the fifth season of NXT on June 13, The Usos defeated Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty.
At WrestleMania XXVIII, The Usos unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat dark match against champions Primo and Epico, and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel when the defending champions retained their titles. At No Way Out, The Usos competed with Primo and Epico, Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd, and The Prime Time Players in a Fatal-4-Way Tag Team match to determine the Number 1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Champions and were unsuccessful. On the July 16 episode of Raw, The Usos made an appearance dancing with their father, Rikishi, after Rikishi made a "Blast from the Past" return defeating Heath Slater. On the September 7 episode of SmackDown, The Usos were unsuccessful in winning a Triple Threat Tag Team match for No. 1 contendership for the WWE Tag Team titles against The Prime Time Players, and Primo and Epico.
The Usos then started a feud with The Ascension (Conor O'Brian and Kenneth Cameron) on the August 15 episode of NXT, with a match between the two tag teams ending in the Ascension being disqualified; the Ascension then conducted a post-match attack on The Usos. On the August 29 episode of NXT, The Usos called out the Ascension, but the Ascension ambushed The Usos and again delivered a beatdown. On the September 5 episode of NXT, the Ascension defeated The Usos. The Usos then teamed with Richie Steamboat to lose to The Ascension and Kassius Ohno on the October 17 episode of NXT. The Usos' feud with the Ascension was cut short when Cameron was released from WWE. The Usos and Kofi Kingston teamed-up to try to hand The Shield (which includes Jey and Jimmy's cousin, Roman Reigns) their first defeat as a unit, but they would lose when Kingston was pinned by Dean Ambrose on the May 6 episode of Raw.
====Pursuit of the Tag Team Championships (2013–2014)====
On the June 3 episode of Raw, the Usos began to use face paint similar to their deceased uncle Eddie Fatu, as a means of further highlighting their Samoan culture. That same night, they defeated The Prime Time Players, which began the start of a winning streak. On the June 5 episode of Main Event, they defeated Team Rhodes Scholars to continue their winning streak. On the June 24 episode of Raw, the Usos defeated Tons of Funk and 3MB (Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) to be number one contenders for Tag Team Championship and would receive their title match at Money In The Bank. They began feuding with current champions, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns of The Shield. That week on SmackDown they teamed with Christian to a victory over The Shield. However, the following week on Raw they lost to them. On the July 12th episode of SmackDown, Seth Rollins beat Jey Uso. The Usos challenged Rollins and Reigns for the WWE Tag Team Championships at Money in the Bank, but were unsuccessful.
On July 19 episode of SmackDown, The Usos was attacked by The Shield but they were saved by Mark Henry. The Usos began an alliance with Henry. The same happened the next week on Raw. The following week they teamed to Henry in a losing effort to The Shield. The next week on Raw they were defeated by Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro ('The Real Americans'). That same week on Main Event they teamed with Henry to face The Shield but were again defeated. The next week on Raw they defeated Swagger and Cesaro.
The Usos competed in a Tag Team Turmoil match during the Night Of Champions Kickoff to determine The Shield's opponents in the Tag Team Championship match later that night, but were unsuccessful as they were eliminated by The Real Americans. However, the next night on Raw The Usos were victorious over The Real Americans and Tons Of Funk in a triple-threat tag team elimination match to once again become number one contenders for The Shield's championships. Over the following weeks The Usos helped Daniel Bryan from getting assaulted by The Shield. This resulted in The Usos being put into an 11-on-3 Elimination Gauntlet match in which neither of them were eliminated and the Jey became the first superstar to pin Roman Reigns in WWE. The Usos participated in a Triple threat tag team match against the team of Goldust & Cody Rhodes and The Shield for WWE Tag Team Championship at the Hell in a Cell pay per view, which they failed to win.
The Usos were involved in the traditional Survivor Series elimination match at Survivor Series, teaming with Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a losing effort against The Real Americans and The Shield. The Usos would then begin a brief feud with The Wyatt Family in early 2014, teaming with Mysterio to defeat Luke Harper, Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan in a 6-man tag match on the January 6th episode of Raw, before defeating Bryan and Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match in the main event the following week. A week later, they would defeat Harper and Rowan in a tag team match, with the help of Bryan, who attacked Bray Wyatt at ringside after Bryan left the family. At the beginning of 2014, The Usos would go on a winning streak and began to demand a Tag Team Championship match from The New Age Outlaws.
====WWE Tag Team Champions====
On the February 14th 2014 edition of SmackDown, The Usos along with Cody Rhodes and Goldust defeated the Outlaws and Ryback and Curtis Axel when Jimmy Uso pinned Road Dogg. The Usos received a tag title shot at the Elimination Chamber PPV against the Outlaws but were once again unsuccessful. After quickly defeating the Outlaws in a non-title match the previous week, The Usos received another title match on the March 3 episode of Raw against the Outlaws, and The Usos were finally successful, winning the titles, their first ones in WWE. The next night on Main Event, The Usos would successfully defend their titles against Los Matadores. At WrestleMania XXX, The Usos successfully defended their titles in a Fatal Four Way Elimination match against RybAxel, The Real Americans, and Los Matadores. The next night on Raw, The Usos again defended the titles against the team of Batista and Randy Orton. Both teams were counted out and The Usos were assaulted by Orton and Batista outside the ring. The Usos then resumed a rivalry with The Wyatt Family, thus allying with John Cena. At Payback; they went as far as to sacrifice themselves through tables to incapacitate Harper and Rowan, to ensure Cena with a victory against Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing Match. On the June 9 edition of Raw the Usos defeated Fandango and Damien Sandow. The Usos teamed up with Dolph Ziggler in a six-man tag team match against RybAxel and The Miz which they won. The following night, on Main Event, The Usos picked up another win against Rybaxel. On the August 18 Raw, Goldust and Stardust defeated The Usos in a non-title match, which sets up a title match between the two teams a week later. The Dust Busters would defeat via countout, thus the Usos retaining the championships. Goldust then demanded a rematch before he and Stardust attacked The Usos, thinking Jey, who has hurt his left leg in the match, would intentionally count out to retain. The Usos then dropped the titles to Goldust and Stardust at Night of Champions, ending their reign at 202 days. They earned their rematch on Smackdown but failed to regain it. Then they got another rematch on Raw and failed to regain again. On the November 7 edition of SmackDown, The Usos were given a title match against Goldust and Stardust in a steel cage, but failed to recapture the titles.
On the December 29 edition of Raw, The Usos recaptured the titles from The Miz and Damien Mizdow after feuding with them over Naomi's entertainment opportunities. On the January 9 episode of SmackDown, The Authority forced The Usos to defend their WWE Tag Team Championships against The Miz and Damien Mizdow and Gold and Stardust, despite many "close calls", Jimmy and Jey managed to retain their WWE Tag Team Championships. On February 22, at Fastlane, they lost the titles to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Despite getting a rematch the next night on Raw, The Usos did not regain the titles due to Natalya interfering for a DQ win. At the March 9 SmackDown tapings, Jey Uso suffered a serious shoulder injury, the extent of which was unknown. Then, for the third time in four years, on the WrestleMania pre-show, they competed in the fatal-four-way tag team match; however, Jey re-injured his shoulder at the hands of Cesaro. Jimmy then competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Big Show.
==== Alliance with Roman Reigns (2015–2016) ====
In April, Jey Uso suffered an anterior shoulder dislocation on the left arm and would be out for about six months, putting their team on hiatus. On the April 18 episode of Main Event, Jimmy Uso defeated Xavier Woods. Jimmy performed commentary while Jey was out with the injury. On the May 12 episode of Main Event, Jimmy Uso teamed with Zack Ryder to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in a losing effort. Jimmy Uso returned to action on September 10 episode of SmackDown, teaming with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a six-man tag team against The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods). They won via disqualification after Jimmy was attacked by The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Luke Harper).
The Usos came back on the November 2 episode of Raw as a surprise return to team up with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Ryback against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and The New Day in a Survivor Series elimination tag team match, The Usos along with Reigns, Ambrose and Ryback were victorious in the match. On the November 30 episode of Raw, The Usos competed in a tag team #1 contenders match against The Lucha Dragons, which ended in a double disqualification when The New Day attacked both teams. Later that night, Stephanie McMahon gave The Lucha Dragons their match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at TLC and The Usos would get their match if Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 5 minutes and 15 seconds, which he won by disqualification. At TLC, The Usos competed in a losing effort. But on December 14, 2015, The Usos and Dean Ambrose were present to congratulate Roman Reigns for winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after he defeated Sheamus in the main event as they joyfully hugged their real-life cousin and lifting him for his victory before Reigns addresses his family for winning the title off-air.
The Usos won a Slammy Award on the December 21 episode of Raw for "Tag Team of the year".
At 2016 Royal Rumble, The Usos unsuccessfully challenged The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship. In February, The Usos entered a feud with The Dudley Boyz after The Dudley Boyz putting The Usos through tables after defeating The New Day and Mark Henry in an 8-man Tag team Tables match. On the WrestleMania 32 kickoff show, The Usos defeated The Dudley Boyz, but the next night on Raw, they were defeated by the Dudleys in tables match. On the April 11 episode of Raw, The Usos defeated The Social Outcasts in the first round of a tag team tournament. Following the match, they were attacked by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The following week on Raw, The Usos lost to The Vaudevillains in the semi-final round. On the May 2 episode of Raw, The Usos and Roman Reigns were defeated by AJ Styles, Gallows and Anderson in a six-man tag team match when Styles pinned Jey Uso. At Extreme Rules, The Usos were defeated by Gallows and Anderson in a Texas Tornado match, but they were still able to assist Roman Reigns retain his title in the main event.
==== WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions ====
On July 19, at the 2016 WWE draft, The Usos were drafted to SmackDown. On the Battleground pre-show, The Usos lost to Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango). On August 21 at the SummerSlam pre-show, The Usos teamed with American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) and The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) to face Breezango, The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a 12-man tag team match, where The Usos' team was victorious. The Usos then entered an 8 tag team tournament which will determine the inaugural holders of the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship, defeating The Ascension in the first round to advance to the semi-finals.
On the September 6 episode of SmackDown, The Usos turned heel for the first time since 2011 after they viciously assaulted American Alpha after losing to them in 28 seconds in the semi-finals. Afterwards in a backstage segment, The Usos justified their heel turn, saying that the fans had turned on them by cheering for American Alpha instead of them, and were done trying to earn the fans' respect. The Usos' assault on American Alpha caused American Alpha to be unable to participate in the finals, and it was later announced that at the Backlash pay-per-view, The Usos would face The Hype Bros, where the winner would face Heath Slater and Rhyno in the same night in the tournament finals. At Backlash, The Usos defeated The Hype Bros but they lost to Heath Slater and Rhyno in the final. On the September 20 episode of SmackDown, The Usos defeated the returning American Alpha to face Slater and Rhyno for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at No Mercy, where they were defeated.
On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, The Usos defeated The Headbangers to qualify for Team SmackDown for the 5–on–5 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series. At the event, The Usos eliminated The New Day and made it to the final 2 teams before losing to Cesaro and Sheamus and Team Raw. The Usos would reignite their feud with American Alpha following Elimination Chamber after they attacked American Alpha who defeated them to eliminate The Usos from a tag team turmoil.
On the March 21, 2017 episode of SmackDown, The Usos defeated American Alpha to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, becoming the only team to have won both the Raw Tag Team Championships (their first two reigns were as WWE Tag Team Champions) and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
==Other media==
The pair starred in the first episode of Outside the Ring, where they cooked a traditional Samoan barbecue.
Together, The Usos made their video game debut in WWE '13 as downloadable content.
Jimmy is regularly featured in the reality television series Total Divas. Jey has also made brief appearances.
==Personal lives==
Jonathan Solofa Fatu and Joshua Samuel Fatu were born in San Francisco on August 22, 1985, and are of Samoan descent. They often perform the Samoan haka or Siva Tau before a match with Samoan tribal face paint. Their stage name "uso" means "brother" in the Samoan language. They are the sons of Solofa Fatu, better known as Rikishi and by extension, also part of the Anoa'i family. They are first cousins once removed from WWE superstar and member of the Shield Roman Reigns, Second cousins once removed with The Rock and the nephews of the late Umaga and Yokozuna. The brothers attended Escambia High School in Pensacola, FL. where they excelled at Football. They continued their football careers at the University of West Alabama where they both played linebacker. Jonathan played one season (2003) while Joshua played from 2003–2005.
Jonathan Fatu married fellow wrestler and longtime girlfriend, Trinity McCray (a.k.a. Naomi Knight) on January 16, 2014. Jonathan also has two children from a previous relationship named Jaiden (son) and Jayla (daughter) as revealed on Total Divas. Joshua is also married and has 2 children.
==In wrestling==
*Double team finishing moves
**Samoan Drop Followed up by a diving splash
**1D
*Double team signature moves
**Alley-Us (Pop-up Samoan drop)
**Assisted hot shot
**Backbreaker hold / Diving elbow drop combination
**Double back elbow followed by double elbow drop
**Double headbutt drop
**Double superkick
**Irish whip / Uppercut combination
*Managers
**Tamina
**Mark Henry
**Naomi
*Wrestlers managed
**Donny Marlow
**Tamina
*Entrance themes
**"Get Up" by Extreme Music (2010–2011)
**"Alga" by Jim Johnston (played while The Usos performed the Siva Tau)
**"Never Make It Without You (Instrumental)" by Fifth Floor (June 24, 2011 – October 19, 2011; played after The Usos performed the Siva Tau)
**"So Close Now" by David Dallas (October 26, 2011 – September 20, 2016; played after The Usos performed the Siva Tau)
**"Done with That" by CFO$
**"Done with That" (Day One remix) by CFO$
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Florida Championship Wrestling
**FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI Tag Team of the Year (2014)
**PWI ranked Jimmy Uso #296 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010
**PWI ranked Jules Uso #291 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010
**The team was ranked #1 in the 2022 PWI Top 100 Tag Teams
*World Wrestling Entertainment
**WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times)
**WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (1 time)
**WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship (5 times)
**Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year (2014)
**Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year (2015)
==External links==
* Profile
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment teams and stables
Category:WWE Tag Team Champions
Category:FCW Florida Tag Team Champions
Category:Florida Championship Wrestling teams and stables
Category:Teams and stables
Category:Anoa'i family