Breaking Down the Best and Worst of WWE for the Week of December 8

With WWE sleepwalking until WrestleMania season kicks off, it was NXT that most wowed fans.

NXT Takeover: R Evolution was a fantastic show. A big debut, an entrance to remember and a betrayal paired perfectly with outstanding in-ring action.

The live special's matches outdid what Raw and Main Event offered, with developmental showing up the main roster.

SmackDown did well to build toward Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Charlotte vs. Natalya II puttered. And on a Slammy-heavy Raw, a potentially big match was made into a throwaway affair.

This was a week when skipping NXT was a mistake while Raw and Main Event were far from essential viewing. 

Best: Stories on SmackDown

As SmackDown's move back to Thursdays draws near, it looks as if WWE is revamping the show in more ways than just when it airs.

Friday's edition did more to hype TLC than Raw. The show featured big moments that increased the temperature on a number of feuds.

The Miz gave Naomi flowers, causing her husband to grow more enraged with his TLC opponent. Dolph Ziggler's disqualification win over Luke Harper earned him a chance to reclaim his title at the upcoming pay-per-view.

The biggest headline to come out of Oklahoma City that night, though, was Bray Wyatt making sure Rusev vs. Dean Ambrose never happened. The Eater of Worlds crushed Ambrose's trachea with a steel chair, leaving his foe in need of a trip on a stretcher.

WWE needs SmackDown to do this more often. This kind of rivalry advancement makes it a far more can't-miss show.

Worst: Minimal Ring Time

The Slammy Awards don't belong on a go-home show. It's WWE's big shot to build up a pay-per-view.

Instead of doing that for TLC, Monday's Raw focused too much on giving out awards to winners who weren't even in the building.

When Fandango is accepting an award on Chris Jericho's behalf and trying to connect a match from over a year and a half ago to that moment, you know WWE is reaching. 

The three-hour show offered just 33 minutes and 21 seconds of wrestling, per ProFightDB.com.

That's miles better than what Main Event gave fans. The show was purely comprised of recaps and previews for TLC. While the Tribute to the Troops taping certainly made it hard for WWE to find talent to work Tuesday's show, there had to be two guys who could have gone to battle.

That was a prime opportunity to give someone who rarely gets a shot some ring time.

Emma and Natalya could have given WWE a 12-minute bout. Justin Gabriel, Curtis Axel or Heath Slater could have gotten some action, too.

WWE clearly pulls its foot off the gas pedal during the holiday season. The result is shows like Raw and Main Event that suffer from lack of effort.

Best/Worst: Debuts on Different Sides of the Spectrum

Kevin Owens' NXT debut was significant—a beast tearing his way into a new ecosystem. Charlotte's first appearance on the main roster, on the other hand, was far less effective.

It wasn't that Charlotte lost to Natalya; it was that they had just over two minutes to work with. 

Had the rematch of their stellar bout at NXT Takeover seen Charlotte push the veteran, the newcomer putting on a tremendous showing before finally falling to her, the complaints wouldn't be coming in as loudly.

John Cena looked great against Kurt Angle in his SmackDown loss despite losing. They had a bit more time to tell their story in the ring, though.

Charlotte getting shafted is par for the course when it comes to the Divas division. She's going to have to get used to that.

As for Owens, WWE made his arrival a big deal. He destroyed CJ Parker, celebrated with Sami Zayn after the night's main event and then set up a feud with him by cracking his head against the ring.

The company thrust him into the spotlight, doing its best to make him look like a formidable force. The booking team didn't treat Charlotte with that kind of respect at all.

Worst: No Build for Brothers Clashing

Erick Rowan vs. Luke Harper could have been a hot pay-per-view match. It could have been something fans anticipated, with the audience exploding when it finally happened, a la The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield.

Instead, WWE just threw the two former members of the backwoods faction together.

There wasn't even a mention of the match the week before. As a result, it fell flat. It's certainly no Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan, but it was also a waste of something that could have been far bigger.

It doesn't help that the disqualification loss marked the sixth straight time Harper has lost since winning the Intercontinental Championship. What happened to a champion warming up for his a title bout by steamrolling over a jobber?

Best: R Evolution Delivers

TLC is going to have trouble topping NXT Takeover: R Evolution; the bar is set mighty high.

The last NXT live special of the year featured Owens' debut, with Finn Balor transforming into a monster by way of body paint and a succession of compelling matches. It was a testament to the power of a long buildup, as well as to the amount of talent that WWE developmental boasts right now.

The Ascension vs. Balor and Hideo Itami was outstanding. It juxtaposed speed and grace with brute force.

It served as a statement match for both teams, with the newcomers looking the best that they have since arriving to NXT and The Ascension showing what it can do in a less one-sided bout.

Charlotte and Sasha Banks then showed us what a real women's wrestling match looks like. Fans are so often subjected to blink-of-an-eye bouts from the Divas. This was far from that.

It was a meeting of two titans, two potential centerpieces of a division.

NXT followed that up with Sami Zayn's title win over Adrian Neville. In addition to being the usual display of athletic wizardry that these two men usually produce, it was an emotional powerhouse of a match.

A tortured, desperate Zayn finally won the gold he had pursued for so long. And he did it without resorting to the underhanded techniques he was contemplating using.

With those performances, the stars of NXT seemed to be saying to Vince McMahon, "Consider the brass rings grabbed."