Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of April 21

Mic masters and powerhouses composed the best of the week in WWE.

Bray Wyatt showed off his vocal range, Paul Heyman jabbed fans with a single line and Big E and The Ascension impressed in the ring. Those highlights inspired awe and cheering while WWE's crumbling tag division and continued misuse of Emma made it hard not to sigh.

Extreme Rules is nearing, and Wyatt has made sure his collision with John Cena in a steel cage will be worth watching.

It's harder to say that for Emma's feud with a pair of dancers and a tag team division that is forced to focus on its filler teams. Heyman, Wyatt, Big E and an NXT six-man bout helped ease the week's low points, though. 

Best: Paul Heyman Needles the Crowd

Paul Heyman is making sure no one has a chance to put his client Brock Lesnar's win over Undertaker at WrestleMania out of their minds.

He took every opportunity in front of a microphone this week to remind fans of that feat. He has done so in a grating, repetitive way that is impossible to ignore. As popular as he is, he's making fans hate him.

That's tough to do in a world where the audience is fully aware of wrestling's scripted nature. Folks tend to gravitate toward the performers they like despite the fact that those performers are doing dastardly deeds onscreen. Heyman is generating heat in spite of all that.

On Friday's SmackDown, Heyman brayed over and over again about Lesnar beating Undertaker. 

He fell to his knees, pointed at the crowd and delivered slightly different versions of that line. Heyman controlled the audience like only the elite talkers can do.

Worst: Emma Slips on a Snake

The parallels between Santino Marella and Emma grew after Monday's Raw. In her showdown with Layla, Emma pulled out a pink snake sock puppet and struck her foe in the throat with it.

It earned her the win but also emphasized her further as merely comic relief. Emma is far more talented than the goofy court jester she's been asked to play. Leave that role to folks who can only flourish as filler.

By focusing on her relationship with Santino and adding a snake to the mix, WWE has only made Emma less interesting.

It has felt as if WWE's creative team leaves her and Santino's feud with Fandango as the last item on its list and throws something together just before the show airs. Even Hornswoggle and El Torito's rivalry has more spark (with no sock puppets needed).

Best: Big E and Alberto Del Rio's Battles

Alberto Del Rio and Big E is a familiar matchup, but one that showcases great chemistry each time.

They met on Friday's SmackDown and on Tuesday's Main Event. Del Rio refused to release his cross armbreaker in the ropes during their first fight. Their second clash was longer, more dramatic and one of the better showings of the week.

Most of Main Event was engaging, but Del Rio and Big E's hard-fought battle stood out. Big E won with the Big Ending, heading toward his Intercontinental Championship match against either Rob Van Dam or Bad News Barrett with the momentum gained from victory and from a memorable match.

Big E's best work continues to be against Del Rio. If he can produce the same kind of quality ring work against whoever he faces at Extreme Rules and beyond, the future is promising for the powerhouse.

Worst: Tag Team Division Showing Its Lack of Depth

The tag team division has turned lukewarm, and this week made that painfully clear.

It's obvious WWE needs to add more teams when 3MB and Los Matadores is a matchup featured prominently, and Ryback and Curtis Axel are the No. 1 contenders for the tag titles.

Axel and Ryback watched from the announce table as The Usos took on Goldust and Cody Rhodes on Monday's Raw. The Rhodes brothers then showed signs of tension between them. If they break up, WWE is going to have precious few teams to showcase.

The Wyatt Family has been mostly concerned with John Cena, not getting into the tag team fray often enough. The Real Americans are now rivals. 

Once the highlight of WWE programming, the tag division is hurting. 

The Usos had to head to NXT for their stiffest competition in a long while. They faced The Ascension, a group who could boost the tag team scene if called up to the main roster.

Best: The Whole World in His Hands

Kane's assault on Daniel Bryan ensnared fans early on Monday's Raw. Bray Wyatt topped that, compelling the audience with his mic skills and later in a three-on-one beatdown of John Cena.

Wyatt delivered more chilling lines throughout the show, something that is expected from him at this point. He then provided Raw with its lasting image—him cradling a fallen Cena in his arms and singing, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."

Moments like these have made Cena vs. Wyatt a headlining feud without a championship on the line.

The Shield vs. Evolution is brewing nicely. Kane's return to being a masked monster makes his match with Bryan more intriguing. It's Wyatt and Cena's strange, suspenseful story that is leading the way to Extreme Rules, though.

Best: 6-Man on NXT

The Usos traveled to Full Sail University, and the result was a match that held the audience on a string.

Sami Zayn teamed with the champs to face Corey Graves and The Ascension. The bout featured the increasingly contentious rivalry between Zayn and Graves, and The Ascension looked to prove themselves against better competition.

It was Konnor and Viktor's best and most even match to date. They have been running over foes in squash matches, and seeing them get challenged was attention-grabbing. They looked good, giving us a better peek at their promise.

The Usos had fun, dancing and flying. Graves slithered out of trouble several times. Zayn came in with fists at the ready, revving up an already hot crowd.

Fans saw a potential future rivalry in The Ascension and The Usos, and the Zayn-Graves storyline continued in what was an entertaining package.