WWE Programming's Best Match for Week of January 24

This weekend, the Royal Rumble is the match that looms large for every WWE fan—not to mention Superstar. However, the week leading up to the massive pay-per-view has offered up some excellent bouts all of its own.

With the focus this Sunday on the Battle Royal, we saw a couple of singles matches that might normally be saved for the pay-per-view undercard, as well as some typically excellent action from the stars of tomorrow down in NXT. 

Honourable Mentions

This week's edition of NXT saw the fledgling team of Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake pull off an upset over The Vaudevillains. It was a brief match, but perfectly formed for its purposes—and well worth seeing.

A shock win can be a difficult thing to pull off effectively in pro wrestling, but it was done so perfectly here. The match may only have lasted a few minutes, but it served to depict Murphy and Blake as an emerging tag team and set up an ongoing storyline. Similar plotting could seriously improve the tag division of the main roster.

Speaking of the main roster, the ever-dependable Dolph Ziggler had a very enjoyable match with Bad News Barrett on this week's SmackDown. These two always work well together, and it's great to see them having some sort of program after injuries scuppered plans last year.

However, it's rather strange that we're not seeing them fight for the Intercontinental Championship at the Rumble. It's a bout people would certainly want to see, and Ziggler is no stranger to pulling double duty on a pay-per-view—perhaps it's a sign he's set for a long tenure in the Rumble match itself?

Finally, Raw's rematch from last year's Royal Rumble saw Daniel Bryan face Bray Wyatt, and while it couldn't quite live up to that excellent bout, it was still very good. Bryan doesn't seem to have missed a step during his time off; it'll be very interesting to see how he fares on Sunday.

Match of the Week for January 24: Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze on NXT

This week's edition of NXT saw the start of a tournament to decide the No. 1 contender to Sami Zayn's title, and rather than fill the early stages with filler matches, things got under way as they mean to go on.

Hideo Itami may have had a steady start in developmental, but his progress in recent weeks has demonstrated just why NXT is such a boon to new members of the roster. Adapting from an international style is more difficult than many would perhaps think, but Itami is showing that, in the right environment, it's very possible.

Credit: WWE.com

Now we're seeing him hit his stride. The pacing of his matches is better, he's capturing the audience and his signature strikes are connecting just as you would want them to. Itami has the talent, but NXT is supplying him with the confidence to bring that to an unfamiliar stage.

This week was undoubtedly his most impressive singles performance in NXT to date, and that's in no small part down to the very talented Tyler Breeze. The self-styled Prince Pretty may not have quite the resume of some other stars of NXT, but he's certainly among the best that developmental has to offer.

It's his Zoolander-inspired character work that made Breeze stand out initially, but since then his in-ring performances have been brought up to the same high standard. He's the complete package—and being able to hang with someone like Itami should prove that.

This was, all in all, a classic NXT main event. Things continue to move forward towards the next special event in a timely manner, but the match was very satisfying in of itself, and demonstrated just why the talent in developmental is said to be some of the best competition in the world.

It's a hugely appealing prospect for any fan; if this is the quality of match we're seeing in the first round of this tournament, what can we expect from the finals at Takeover in a few weeks? The Royal Rumble is at the forefront of everyone's minds at the moment—but a different battle to be the No. 1 contender might take its place come February.

What was your match of the week? Let us know in the comments section below.