WWE Programming's Best Match for Week of December 13

This week, NXT TakeOver: R Evolution demonstrated just how wide the gulf between mainline WWE and its developmental territory has become. In a week that has typified some of the worst of WWE programming, the excellent live special confirmed that the future is bright—and what's more, the future is now.

While Monday Night Raw hosted a languid edition of the Slammy Awards and Main Event dropped its usual in-ring competition for video packages to hype Tables, Ladders and Chairs...and Stairs, R Evolution was a much-needed reminder of the days when WWE was on the cutting edge of the industry.

Honourable Mentions

R Evolution started off with a bang, as indy golden boy Kevin Owens made one of the most memorable WWE debuts in some time. A vicious three-minute encounter saw some manoeuvres many would never have thought they would see in a WWE ring—as well as some unintentional, but very fitting, blood loss.

The breakneck pace set by NXT's newest addition was maintained as the rest of the card unfolded, but it was the tag match pitting Hideo Itami and Finn Balor against The Ascension that really saw the Full Sail University arena come unglued.

Credit: WWE.com

Balor's entrance and attire will be the biggest talking point, but Itami's performance will settle worries that he's struggling to fit into the WWE mould. The match was designed to make Balor look like a star, but as Itami grows more and more confident, he'll have no problem carving out his own path.

Finally, special praise has to go to Charlotte and Sasha Banks for delivering yet another excellent NXT Women's Championship match. Charlotte's messy loss on Monday Night Raw seemed like a distant memory, as the pair demonstrated why the main roster is a better home for a Diva than a female wrestler.

Match of the Week for December 13: Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution

We've come to expect something special from the main event of an NXT live special, and this bout delivered just that. The slow-burn feud between Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn has been going on for months, and this confrontation was a worthy conclusion to an electric rivalry.

Zayn is such a natural fan favourite that Neville's recent cockiness has been more than enough reason for crowds to turn against him. However, it's a testament to Neville's finesse that he's avoided turning into a moustache-twirling villain; the subtlety of his character shift has made it all the more potent.

Credit: WWE.com

Instead, his confidence and the lengths that he's gone to in order to remain champion have simply been the logical actions of a talented wrestler who's been champion for several months. There's a depth to Neville and Zayn—not to mention their friendship-turned-rivalry—that we don't often see on the main roster.

The pieces have all been in place for this showdown for some time, but the in-ring culmination of Zayn's road to redemption was every bit the classic that it deserved to be. The callbacks to the one-upmanship between its competitors in that memorable tag match a couple of months ago were played perfectly, as was just about everything else.

It's difficult to say what the best manoeuvre from R Evolution was. Owens' pumphandle neckbreaker was a great surprise. Itami's tease of the Go 2 Sleep was tantalizing. But seeing Neville bust out a poisoned hurricanrana toward the end of the match showed the scope that NXT performers are being given to impress.

This match wasn't just about the excellent build, compelling story told in the ring, jam-packed war crates of both men or electric atmosphere. It was the way everything came together as something beyond the sum of its top-notch parts.

Credit: WWE.com

Neville congratulating Zayn after the match put the cap on an excellent long-form storyline, rounding off one of the most satisfying main events in recent memory. The in-ring celebration that closed R Evolution may have been something of a throwback, but the show as a whole was a far more modern pro wrestling product than anything we've seen from Raw and SmackDown of late.

If you're not already on board with NXT, you're missing out. On Thursday, we saw the best individual show that the talented bunch in developmental has put on yet—and you get the feeling that there's plenty more where that came from.

Did you think that the main roster outdid NXT this week? Would you prefer to watch John Cena vs. Big Show in the main event than Zayn vs. Neville? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.