Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of February 16

Alliances and beatdowns provided the bulk of the highs and lows in the week leading up to WWE Fastlane.

Brawls elevated interest in matches set for that pay-per-view. The NXT laid waste to another victim. Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins thrilled each time they had an opportunity to pummel each other.

A reunion and a brotherhood splitting apart didn't have as much success.

WWE showed again that it struggles to have its midcard stories flourish. Goldust, Stardust, Titus O'Neil and Darren Young all found that out. They had to end the week feeling cheated.

While their narratives limped along, the ones starring Roman Reigns and Co. sprinted toward Fastlane.

Best: Brawls to Hype Fastlane

At their core, the best wrestling matches are often about hatred and the violence that erupts from that emotion.

WWE turned up the volume on that part of both John Cena's feud with Rusev and Roman Reigns' rivalry with Daniel Bryan. To entice fans to tune in to Fastlane, the company featured both pairs of foes bashing each other in the mugs on Monday's Raw.

Cena clobbered Rusev, leaving him out cold on the entrance ramp. To close the show, Bryan and Reigns tore at each other's throat as referees struggled to pull the two men apart.

In both cases, the collision added intensity to these ongoing stories.

Rusev has clearly set something off in Cena. The former WWE champ now heads into Sunday's event seething. Their clash promises to be one hell of a slugfest.

As for Reigns and Bryan, their mutual respect for each other dissipated in an instant. Rather than this bout be some sportsmanship-heavy competition, it now feels like a dogfight waiting to happen.

WWE relied on a tried-and-true method to hype these matches. The result is higher anticipation for a show that needed plenty more of that very element. 

Worst: A Whimper of a Reunion

Titus O'Neil saved Darren Young from a thrashing at the hands of The Ascension. The move seemed to signify that The Prime Time Players were back in business.

Reforming that team shouldn't have felt so much like an afterthought.

The narrative was rushed. Viktor and Konnor had barely started stomping on Young when O'Neil appeared.

The story of Young seeking out a partner played out on the Raw pre-show. There was no mention of him looking to find someone to help him take down The Ascension on Raw itself.

So when Young appeared onscreen with someone nobody had ever heard of, the collective reaction was mostly confusion.

This is something that should have played out for a lot longer and been more hyped. That would have made O'Neil's save far more meaningful and given The Prime Time Players more momentum for their second try at tag teaming together.

Best: Kevin Owens vs. Adrian Neville (NXT)

NXT has made a habit of producing the best match of the week. This time out, it was Adrian Neville and Kevin Owens who made sure the development brand pulled off that feat again.

Neville was more aggressive than we're used to. He was out to avenge the beating his friend Sami Zayn suffered last week. Rage powered his kicks; intensity ran through him.

That added a crackling energy to the match.

This was a story of Neville fearlessly facing a monster. Eventually, though, the beastly one prevailed. Owens excelled at playing the destroyer, just as he did at NXT TakeOver: Rival.

He left his mark on Neville with hard strikes and eventually a pop-up powerbomb.

Bouts like these give fans twice as many reasons to savor them. For one, they feature well-told stories and thrilling action. In addition, they hint at just how bright WWE's future is with men like Neville and Owens at its helm.

Worst: The Rhodes Brothers' Breakup Lacking

Just as WWE didn't deliver on the drama that should have come with The Prime Time Players getting back together again, it failed to maximize Goldust and Stardust's split.

The company has done a fabulous job building tension between Damien Mizdow and The Miz. When Mizdow finally fights back against his abusive boss, it's going to be a glorious moment.

For Goldust and Stardust, their alliance ending wasn't effective in the least.

Timing is the issue here. WWE showed tension between the brothers last year and then moved away from that story. It returned to it now but rushed to this violent moment. It felt forced, as if the writers suddenly remembered that WrestleMania was coming and decided to jump back into the abandoned narrative.

It certainly didn't help that Stardust's scathing speech to his father happened during the commercial break rather than during Monday's Raw. That took a lot of air out of the moment.

Hopefully, WWE can move past this underwhelming chapter and still craft a memorable brother-against-brother rivalry. 

Best: Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins Do It Again (and Again)

As Mick Foley tweeted, it's hard to remember when either Dolph Ziggler or Seth Rollins had a bad match.

Those men are among the roster's most consistent performers. That has been especially true when they face each other. WWE twice put them in the ring together this week, and Rollins and Ziggler twice made fans take notice.

Ziggler and Rollins battled on Monday's Raw before colliding again on Thursday's SmackDown. 

Both bouts were fluid, energized, hypnotizing and, most importantly, fun. That's even with WWE leaning on this combination of opponents a lot over the last year.

Some folks have great chemistry together, which is clearly the case with Ziggler and Rollins. They will get a chance to display that again when they meet in six-man action at Fastlane.