Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of January 12

It was a week of celebrations for WWE fans thanks to Randy Savage's upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame, Daniel Bryan's return to action and Seth Rollins' rise. 

The past, present and future converged. WWE saluted the past while Bryan made it easier to get excited about the state of the company today. Rollins, brass ring in hand, announced himself as a future centerpiece with both words and actions.

Elsewhere, WWE's missteps centered around poor decisions.

Why it continues to feed Roman Reigns garbage lines and hurt The Ascension's chances is hard to understand. The same goes for the company's habit of having Bray Wyatt follow big wins with silence.

To ease the sting of those misguided moves, NXT once again acted as a salve. WWE developmental, especially Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn, continue to produce highlights to cap off each week.

Best: Randy Savage, Hall of Famer

A long overdue Hall of Fame induction is coming. WWE announced that Randy Savage is headed to the institution where he should have been years ago.

Backstage politics and Savage's demand that the entire Poffo family go in with him created the biggest hole in WWE's Hall of Fame. That is coming to an end.

The exciting news unfortunately comes after Savage's passing, but fans have to be happy to see The Macho Man finally get his due.

The 2015 ceremony will have no shortage of star power regardless of who follows Savage in. As Jim Ross writes on his blog, Savage "was one of the best all around performers ever in the biz....bar none....case closed."

When "Pomp and Circumstance" plays, Hulk Hogan delivers a speech about his old tag team partner, and clips of Savage hitting his elbow drop show up on the big screen, it's going to be near impossible to keep a pair of dry eyes.

Worst: Roman Reigns, Quoter of Cartoons, Teller of Fairy Tales

WWE is making Roman Reigns look foolish.

Instead of presenting him as a fierce, confident warrior, it has asked him to play a buffoon. In a promo on the Jan. 9 edition of SmackDown, his script asked him to pull a line from Looney Tunes' Sylvester the Cat. 

A few days later, fans saw Reigns ramble on about beanstalks and golden eggs.

He already struggles to connect with the crowd. To then ask him to deliver a fairy-tale-filled promo on Monday's Raw was a baffling direction to choose.

On Thursday's SmackDown, there were no cartoon homages, no talk of magic beans. Not surprisingly, it was more effective.

Perhaps WWE has listened to the thud of Reigns' last performances and decided to have him get more serious.

Not every babyface has to be the jokester that John Cena and Sheamus are. That role doesn't fit Reigns in the least, and his future speeches have to reflect that.

Best: A Double Dose of Daniel Bryan

Concerns about how much Daniel Bryan would have to adjust his style after recovering from neck surgery went away in the first seconds of his first action in months.

On Thursday's SmackDown, he took on Kane with the same intensity and recklessness that have made him so popular. That bout ended early, and Bryan soon found himself in the main event as well.

Bryan helped make the six-man bout with him, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns battling Kane, Big Show and Seth Rollins a match charged with excitement. He showed no signs of ring rust, instead buzzing around the ring just as he did before his long hiatus.

To celebrate Bryan's return and pinning Kane, Michael Cole shouted, as heard in the video above, "The magic is back!"

Cole couldn't have said it any better. That's exactly what it feels like with Bryan back in the fold.

Worst: Not Capitalizing on Bray Wyatt's Win Enough

Bray Wyatt defeated Dean Ambrose at TLC and then didn't appear on the following Raw. Last week, he wrapped up his feud with The Lunatic Fringe, stuffing his lifeless body into an ambulance.

On the following Raw, Wyatt wasn't around.

The Eater of Worlds did appear on SmackDown to announce that he would be in the Royal Rumble, but there has to be a better way to build on Wyatt's momentum. He just knocked off one of WWE's top babyfaces in a feud he dominated.

Let him celebrate more. Allow him space to gloat. Get him to follow a big win like that with a one-sided victory over some bottom-feeder.

WWE just can't keep him out of sight after such a big moment. It is failing in the follow-up department with him.

Best: Seth Rollins' Arrival

John Cena has been on WWE's top tier for years. Brock Lesnar walked right back onto it after years away from the ring.

Seth Rollins looks to have stepped right next to those men after a career-changing moment on Monday's Raw. 

After putting together another good match against Cena, Rollins barked at his Royal Rumble opponents in the show's closing segment. He didn't just hold his own; he looked like he belonged on that star-studded stage.

He then capped off the brawl that ensued by handing out Curb Stomps, leaving both Cena and Lesnar out cold.

It's refreshing to see WWE have so much confidence in an emerging star. Rather than lean on Cena and Lesnar with this battle, the company is making sure to showcase Rollins. He looks like a legitimate threat, not just a guy The Authority tossed into the match.

When Rollins threatened Paul Heyman on Thursday's SmackDown, the momentum he generated on Raw was clearly still powering him. 

Win or lose at the Rumble, 2015 is starting off beautifully for Rollins. He is poised to make it as big an impact year for him as 2014 was.

Worse: The Ascension Battling the Announcers Again

WWE's announcers continue to mock The Ascension rather than build it up.

When the duo took on a pair of local jobbers on Tuesday's Main Event, John "Bradshaw" Layfield dismissed its accomplishments. His attitude was, "So what if Viktor and Konnor were flinging a man around like bag of garbage? So what if they looked unstoppable if it was against two dudes we've never heard of?"

As a result, The Ascension feels like a pathetic team of bullies who think they're better than they are.

That's far from what it could be. Why not portray it as a beast devouring its prey? Why not use these squash matches to better the duo rather than belittle it?

Either start letting these bouts work to its advantage or give it tougher opposition. Otherwise, you might as well start drafting up the announcement of The Ascension's release.

Best: Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville Do It Again

Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn are appointment television, especially when they clash with each other. Add their NXT title bout on Wednesday's NXT to their list of impressive matches together.

Mat wrestling and high-flying meshed superbly together.

Zayn showed off a more aggressive side, learning from his failings in their past battles. Neville hit some fantastic moves, including a perfect hurricanrana that wowed the Full Sail University crowd.

The two foes also often knew what was coming, each man avoiding the other's biggest weapons. That made this more than just another showdown but a continuation of an ongoing saga.

A match worthy of a pay-per-view showcased NXT's two top stars and kicked off the show's move to Wednesdays in emphatic fashion.

This is a rivalry that WWE needs to turn to when both men are on the main roster. The company knows that both men will deliver; they have done it every time they have battled thus far.