WWE Programming's Best Match for Week of December 27

While the holidays can be a slow time for WWE television in terms of storylines, we've been treated to a few excellent matches over the course of this festive week.

It's clear that there is plenty of talent eager to clutch at the "brass ring"—and with inexperience seemingly having some influence over plans for the Royal Rumble, it could be the perfect time for a standout performer to start to receive the due that was earned.

Honourable Mentions

Raw started off with a bang this week, as John Cena and Seth Rollins continued their excellent run of matches. Rollins certainly seems to bring out the best in Cena, as the Doctor of Thuganomics has been pulling the sort of engaged performances that typify his best work.

It's easy to discredit Cena for going through the motions in his matches, but considering how often we see him wrestle, it would be easy to grow tired of just about anyone. When he's paired with someone as talented as Rollins, though, the results are always excellent.

Elsewhere, the new tag team of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd—referred to in some circles as the Uppercats—had a fine match with Los Matadores on Main Event. There's plenty of potential in this pairing, but it's high time we got to see them in a longer match.

SmackDown saw Rusev defend his United States Championship against Dean Ambrose in an entertaining match. Ambrose's wild offence proved to be a good foil for the Bulgarian Brute; it wouldn't be surprising to see this turn into a full-fledged feud sometime in 2015.

Match of the Week for December 27: Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper on SmackDown

Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper have both met their match as they've clashed over the last several weeks; these are two of the absolute best that WWE has to offer at the moment, and their matches have been evidence of that.

Their Ladder match at TLC stands out for obvious reasons, but their ability to have engrossing matches for television on a weekly basis is perhaps even more impressive. Historically, the Intercontinental Championship was for the company's workhorse, and the pair have certainly revived that idea as they've passed it back and forth.

Credit: WWE.com

This week, the pair managed to exceed previous efforts with a back-and-forth contest that didn't suffer at all from them having met frequently in recent weeks; these two are sufficiently talented to be able to play off a long history rather than be restrained by it.

As such, we saw them throw everything they had at one another. After an intense opening salvo, the pair engaged in some breathless sequences where one had barely managed to counter the other's move before another attack was being thrown out.

Credit: WWE.com

There were flashes of a style not often seen on the WWE main roster, but it was tempered in such a way that it still managed to appeal to the mainstream WWE audience. Counter-heavy matches can sometimes leave a crowd flat, but there was no chance of that happening in a bout as engaging as this one.

This is a feud that has done wonders for both men involved; few would have doubted the abilities of either man, but seeing them work together has demonstrated just what they can accomplish when they face someone of equal talent. It seems that both Ziggler and Harper can look forward to a very bright 2015.

Did another match top your list for this week? Was it Adam Rose vs. R-Truth? Or Roman Reigns vs. Big Show? Jack Swagger vs. Fandango, perhaps? Let us know about it in the comments section below.