Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of February 23

Proving grounds dotted the WWE landscape in the last week of February.

At Fastlane, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd thrived when given the chance to climb to the top of the tag team division. Roman Reigns hammered a home run at the pay-per-view, proving that he belongs on center stage. Kevin Owens thrived as a heel without even stepping into the ring.

Lack of opportunity to produce the kind of demonstrations of excellence that Owens, the new tag champs or Reigns did provided the most grating elements of WWE programming. The company continues to bungle Bad News Barrett's title reign. And as much as WWE neglects its midcard champs, it treats the Divas far worse.

Frustration over the women of the roster getting such little time in the ring finally reached its boiling point.

Fans could not help but bark at Vince McMahon and Co. to give the divas a chance—in between raving about Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan of course.

Best: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

The lights have never shone more brightly on Roman Reigns. At Fastlane, he had no teammates to lean on, no large collection of opponents to share the stage. Reigns was on his own against Daniel Bryan in the biggest match of his career.

This was WWE's attempt to convince fans that Reigns was worthy of the headliner spot at WrestleMania, that he was the megastar-in-the-making that the company had told fans he could be.

The battle to win over Bryan's fans isn't over, but Fastlane was a huge victory. It was the night's most engaging match, a showcase of Bryan's ability to make his opponent look great, but more importantly, of Reigns' potential.

Reigns passed his first major test before WrestleMania. He and Bryan composed a thrilling piece of in-ring art, bashing each other until the final bell.

This was the Reigns we need to see against Brock Lesnar—intense, confident, with fistfuls of "it" factor. 

Worst: The Bushwhackers in the Hall of Fame

It sounded like a joke when the rumor first started spreading across the Internet. WWE couldn't be serious about inducting The Bushwhackers into the Hall of Fame. They were.

And so The Four Horsemen, The Road Warriors and The Von Erichs will now be in the same institution as Luke and Butch, the face-licking, butt-biting court jesters of the squared circle.

WWE has always been fast and loose with the criteria for its Hall, but the choice to honor a midcard team over Demolition, The British Bulldogs or The Dudley Boyz is hard to justify. Sure, they were successful elsewhere as The Sheepherders, but is their career really worthy of the Hall of Fame?

Did anyone ever describe The Bushwhackers as elite, one of the best of their generation, or special talents? As crazy as it sounds, in a matter of weeks, people will be able to describe them as Hall of Famers.

Best: Tag Team Title Bouts

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd didn't wait long to start making 2015 their year. They captured the Tag Team Championships at Fastlane, knocking off The Usos in a fast-paced match.

WWE gave Jimmy and Jey a crack at reclaiming the belts the next time in one of the highlights of Monday's Raw.

Twice did the tag title bout deliver. Twice did The Usos, Cesaro and Kidd make the tag team division fun again. 

These two squads can't fight each other forever, but they have shown enough chemistry to inspire WWE to keep them colliding for the foreseeable future. Eventually, though, more teams will have to step up to make the most of Cesaro and Kidd's reign.

It will be intriguing to see if Cesaro and Kidd can have the kind of breakout year that The Usos did in 2014.

Worst: 31 Seconds

Paige and Emma vs. The Bella Twins was like so many Divas matches—short and inconsequential.

Those women had the only in-ring action on Monday's Raw representing the Divas division. They wrestled for just 31 seconds.

That bout became the catalyst for a flood of backlash. #GiveDivasAChance trended on Twitter, stirring up enough discontent to get Vince McMahon's attention. 

That's the positive to come out of this. Something may actually change now.

For too long, WWE has wasted the women's division, giving the Divas crumbs of airtime each week. 

Paige cannot reach her potential in 30-second bouts. Emma can't develop a fanbase in contests that short. The Divas division as a whole can't do anything but flounder without some more attention from the higher-ups.

That may happen to some degree as early as Monday's Raw. McMahon claimed to have heard the fans; let's see what that leads to.

Best: Kevin Owens Is a Scary Dude

Kevin Owens is leaving his claw marks on NXT.

On Wednesday's show, he provided guest commentary for Finn Balor's match against The Brian Kendrick. Alex Riley angered him by calling him out for attacking Sami Zayn. In a display of just how much presence Owens has, he gave Riley a glare that looked like it could cut steel.

Moments later, Owens came out and flung Riley from the announce table.

Throughout the night, he came off as a heartless predator who is not to be poked. He now waits for Riley to come at him in the ring, an inevitability after Riley begged William Regal to give him that match. That will be Owens' latest opportunity to show off his excellence as a heel.

Destruction is coming for Riley. It's going to be fun to watch it happen.

Worst: Bad News Barrett Stumbling into WrestleMania

The Intercontinental Championship has been like a cinder block tied to Bad News Barrett's ankle. Since becoming champ, he has suffered defeat again and again.

In the process, he has looked like a pushover and a paper champion.

That continued this week as Barrett lost two non-title bouts, the first to Dolph Ziggler on Monday's Raw and the second to Daniel Bryan on Thursday's SmackDown. His only win came at Fastlane, which he won from his back, as Dean Ambrose lost his temper and lost by disqualification.

The IC title is meant to propel stars. It has only been a hindrance for Barrett.

He keeps playing the doormat for everyone else. 

He now knows that he will defend the belt at WrestleMania in a Ladder match against multiple (as yet unnamed) opponents. He heads into that contest looking like he has no chance to win and has not a shred of momentum to cling to.