WWE Programming's Best Match for Week of January 17

As we count down to the 2015 Royal Rumble, there's no better time for talent to stand out. Of course, WrestleMania isn't far off—but as far as the Rumble goes, the prominence of certain Superstars in the all-important Battle Royal may very well depend on their performance at present.

There are certain members of the roster who just need a microphone to stand out; but others are better at showing off their prowess between the ropes. The best of the best demonstrate what they can do each and every week—and a few of those familiar faces stood out over the past seven days.

Honourable Mentions

Once again, Seth Rollins met John Cena on Monday Night Raw—and, once again, it was an excellent match. Rollins brings out the best in Cena, and the Doctor of Thuganomics is a perfect foil for the Architect. With Brock Lesnar in the mix, the main event of the Royal Rumble looks very intriguing indeed.

Over on NXT there was a great match between Finn Balor and Tyson Kidd. Balor continues to look like a huge star even so early in his WWE career—it'll be sad to see him leave developmental, but it's difficult to imagine his stay being very long.

A perhaps unexpected standout from the week played out on Main Event, as the team of Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and Adam Rose took on The New Day. If you're yet to be sold on the character presentation of The New Day, you need to see this match to understand why they've been put together.

There's an easy chemistry between the three men that's steadily catching on with audiences, and their combination tag team offence seems to grow more diverse with every match. Few were satisfied with the way this faction debuted, but they're putting in the work to turn lemons into lemonade.

Match of the Week for January 17: Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville on NXT

This week, Adrian Neville got his rematch for the NXT Championship, and the resulting match was everything you would expect from this excellent pair of competitors.

While on the main roster, the title-rematch clause being invoked often leads to a perfunctory match, this return bout really meant something. Ever the underdog, Sami Zayn still seemed to be fighting an uphill battle for much of the match—an excellent statement of his skills as a fan favourite.

Credit: WWE.com

That said, this was as much a showcase of Neville as Zayn. There are few members of the WWE roster that can claim the same level of crispness as the Jumping Geordie; it seems like every single move he whips out is executed absolutely perfectly.

Neville hit a hurricanrana in the match that resulted in the sort of impact you rarely see in a WWE ring—not to mention his superkick counter to Zayn's through-the-ropes DDT. His aerial offence is obviously a huge part of his appeal, but he's far from a one-trick pony.

It seems quite clear that Zayn is set for a lengthy program with Kevin Owens in the coming months, but it's less obvious where Neville is headed. He could certainly make an impact on the main roster, but there's tantalizing feuds left for him in NXT—Neville vs. Balor in particular.

However, this match would seem to end the issue between Zayn and Neville quite neatly. You have to imagine if this match was on Raw, it would have taken much longer to come around and lacked a decisive finish; but the blistering pace of NXT television means that wasn't the case.

These two top talents added yet another great match to their series this week. If you're not already on the NXT bandwagon, it's really time to rectify that—2014 was a huge year for the stars of tomorrow, but 2015 is already shaping up to exceed it.

What was your pick for Match of the Week? Let us know in the comments section below.