Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of March 30

What is supposed to be the peak of the WWE calendar has been exactly that thanks to a rampage from a former champion, a hot start to the revival of the midcard championships and a WrestleMania filled with spectacle and stories.

WWE nailed its biggest event and then followed it up with more electric programming. How long the company can keep this momentum up is unclear, but it's been a joy to watch pro wrestling this crazy and compelling.

Only a disrespectful crowd and a tepid end to Monday's Raw stand out as WWE's major flops during WrestleMania week.

With a bruiser riding a tank, a scavenger swiping a title and Brock Lesnar becoming a real-life Incredible Hulk, it was easy to focus on what was right in the WWE world and shut out the negatives.

Best: WrestleMania 31 Is a Home Run

Credit: WWE.com

Seth Rollins looks to pounce on Brock Lesnar.

A mostly lackluster build beforehand didn't matter. WrestleMania 31 was one of the best shows in company history.

The Grandaddy of Them All certainly lived up to its billing. Great matches, surprises aplenty and a series of lasting images had the audience entranced on Sunday night.

The Intercontinental Championship ladder match was the kind of thrilling chaos everyone expected. Sting vs. Triple H was bigger, more dramatic and more unpredictable than anyone could have hoped. The night also featured moments such as Ronda Rousey teaming with The Rock, Rusev riding to the ring on a tank and Randy Orton hitting one of his finest RKOs to date.

To cap it all off, Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar was the highlight of the evening.

Champion and challenger beat on each other in a vicious, hard-fought match. Inserting Seth Rollins at the end and having him cash in mid-bout was the stunner of the year. 

The melange of theater and sports, star power and quirkiness that was WrestleMania 31 was the power of pro wrestling on display. 

Worst: Post-WrestleMania Crowd Goes Overboard

The fans who stick around after WrestleMania and attend Raw the next night are famous for being loud and passionate, as well as for rooting for whomever they want, regardless of heel/face alignment.

The audience at Monday's Raw was largely all of those things, but some fans went too far. Some decided to delve into classless territory. During a Divas match, they chanted "You suck Cena!" to Nikki Bella and aimed a "You suck Uso!" at Naomi.

This wasn't funny or clever. It was debase. 

Cite free speech all you want, but there's no excuse for disrespecting anyone like that, much less performers risking their lives out there.

Best: The Beast Goes on a Rampage

Kudos to the writers who penned Brock Lesnar's temporary exit from WWE. With the former world champion set to step offscreen for a while, WWE had him make an emphatic statement and leave the roster trembling as he stepped away.

Seth Rollins said he was too jet-lagged to give Lesnar his rematch. That set off The Beast Incarnate, and soon a cameraman, the announce table, commentators and J&J Security all felt his wrath.

It was the most enthralling part of Raw and made full use of Lesnar's skills. No one destroys quite like him. The rubble-filled scene was a thousand times better than just having him leave as WWE did many times last year.

It will hurt not to have him around. Anticipation for his return is now at a maximum thanks to his performance.

Worst: Raw After WrestleMania Ends Flatly

Monday's Raw had debuts and two excellent title matches. It featured Sheamus' return, Brock Lesnar's violent eruption and a quality Divas match. Fans had plenty to love.

As great as the show was for the most part, though, it closed with little spark.

Featuring overexposed stars in Kane and Big Show was bad idea No. 1. Going with a six-man tag featuring a surprise partner who was not surprising in the least was the second. As creative and fun as WrestleMania and most of Raw had been, it was startling to see Monday night end with a bout that felt like something we would see on a SmackDown in September.

Don't blame the fans for becoming distracted and disinterested. This was a boring concept that resulted in a boring main event.

Moving the Lesnar meltdown to this spot instead would have been an easy fix. 

Best: Fresh Faces from NXT

New energy from a pair of high-flyers leaves fans with reason to be excited going forward.

Kalisto has been hanging around the main roster for weeks now. Adrian Neville (now just Neville for some reason) had been on Raw just once before. They both made their official main-roster debuts on Monday's Raw, keeping up the tradition of introducing new talent after WrestleMania.

Kalisto had the crowd popping with some spectacular athletic moves. Neville looked good in his win over Curtis Axel. 

Who knows whether WWE will respect and value each of these men in the future, but for now, it's hard not to have some fluttering in one's stomach. Both Neville and Kalisto have the potential to be big contributors to WWE programming. Monday night could be the genesis for two future greats.

Best: Midcard Championships Undergoing Renaissance

When the fireworks died down and the confetti had all fallen to the floor at WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan held the Intercontinental Championship and John Cena gripped the U.S. title. The possibility that WWE will now give those belts proper focus is very real.

And the company didn't waste any time in going that route. On Monday's Raw, Cena defended against Dean Ambrose while Bryan defeated Dolph Ziggler to remain champ.

Those were the two best bouts of the night.

While Bryan did suffer a non-title loss on Thursday's SmackDown, the pluses to take away from that night are that for one, he and Sheamus delivered violent excellence in the ring, and two, that it's clear that the champ will have no shortage of challengers.

Sheamus is clearly in the hunt. Bad News Barrett is demanding a title shot. As for Cena, he's already booked to defend against Rusev at Extreme Rules.

This kind of upkeep will better both titles' prestige, as will having top stars such as Bryan and Cena as the titleholders.