WWE Programming's Best Match for Week of May 2

One thing has become apparent over the last few weeks: WWE has a clear direction as we move into the summer.

It's no secret that the period between WrestleMania and the build to SummerSlam can be rather meandering, but there's a zest to WWE TV at the moment that's intrinsically linked to a clear direction.

Fan favourites such as Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn are being given their time in the spotlight, great matches are airing on television each week and the card for Payback shows a lot of promise. In short, it's a good time to be a WWE viewer.

Honourable Mentions

The budding feud between the New Day and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd continued to deliver excellent in-ring competition with the six-man tag match that aired on SmackDown, which saw Ryback join the fray. The tag team division is blossoming, and it's thanks to an injection of top-tier talent.

The New Day also had a great match to open Raw, as they took on Roman Reigns and Randy Orton in a handicap match. A perfectly executed finish showed just how crisp the trio are between the ropes, and their post-match celebrations demonstrated their growing confidence in terms of character.

Raw also played host to a pay-per-view quality match between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. This is a feud that has already produced some excellent encounters, and this one—buoyed by an excellent crowd—lived up to its predecessors.

Elsewhere, NXT hosted a very entertaining match between Charlotte and Emma. What's particularly noteworthy about this one is that it served to further a plotline in the women's division that didn't involve the title or Total Divas—something you perhaps wouldn't see on the main roster.

Finally, it's well worth checking out the latest encounter between Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze. These two have excellent chemistry, and they used that to its maximum potential in this one.

Match of the Week for Week of May 2: John Cena vs. Sami Zayn on Monday Night Raw

Different matches require different things to make them great. For instance, the main event of WrestleMania and the opener of a house show require separate approaches for either to be a success at what it sets out to achieve.

This week's bout between Sami Zayn and John Cena was a perfect television match—but beyond that, it also served the purpose of being an ideal introduction to Zayn for the masses who don't watch NXT.

Cena's reign of terror left many fans cold over the last decade, but it's definitely good to see that he's using the status he's amassed to give talent further down the card a good showing against one of the top stars in the industry.

Credit: WWE.com

Sami Zayn debuting against John Cena in Montreal—and kicking out of an Attitude Adjustment, no less—would once have sounded like fan booking at its most optimistic. Events in Canada have a hint of the bizarro about them at the best of times, but this was just one event of many that suggests times are changing for WWE.

If that results in more matches like this, the future looks very bright indeed. Despite Zayn reportedly injured himself ahead of the match, he delivered a performance that will have won him a bevy of new fans.

The key to Zayn's popularity is his amazing capacity to act as a wholly sympathetic underdog. It's difficult not to get behind him, which worked perfectly with Cena as the favourite to win. Against great odds, a Zayn win looked completely believable on several occasions.

Credit: WWE.com

While Ambrose against Rollins from the same show was a great match, Cena versus Zayn edges it out for the fact that it served as such a perfect way to express the appeal behind Sami Zayn to Raw's television audience. It's undoubtedly a match that fans will look back on for years to come.

What's more, the fact the bout was designed to evoke Cena's debut against Kurt Angle in 2002 suggests that big things are on the horizon for him. As much as his injury might derail Zayn in the short term, it certainly added to the story of the match—and his performance didn't suffer from it too much.

It's easy for a weekly wrestling broadcast to be filled with matches that entertain but fail to endure. Sami Zayn versus John Cena will not be soon forgotten.

Was Sami Zayn against John Cena your favourite match this week? Or did you prefer Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins? Let your voice be heard in the comments section below.