WWE Programming's Best Match for Week of May 23

It's perhaps unsurprising that this week felt like a step down in terms of quality in-ring content.

Ever since WrestleMania, WWE's momentum hasn't really faltered in this department—but the crushing schedule of the last couple of weeks has seemingly taken its toll on the roster.

With injuries piling up, it's easy to see why things were quieter than usual ahead of Sunday's Elimination Chamber. Let's just hope that the roster isn't depleted further as a record-breaking 18 participants step into the structure over the course of the evening.

Honourable Mentions

The tag division continued to impress this week, with a match between the Lucha Dragons and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd delivering the ring work to match The New Day's excellent run with the titles. The tag team Chamber match on Sunday looks set to be a treat.

Elsewhere, we saw a great main event on this week's NXT, as Kevin Owens faced Solomon Crowe in a nontitle match. Plenty of people are yet to be sold on Crowe, but performances like this one are sure to change that before too long.

Last year, there was a period when Main Event started to become one of the better pieces of WWE programming for in-ring competition. That hasn't been the case for some time, but this week's edition showed lots of promise for the future with a very engaging match between Neville and Adam Rose.

Finally, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler continued their ongoing feud on Raw with another good match. This rivalry is beginning to get a little played out, but it's easy to see why WWE is eager to pair these two up so often.

Match of the Week for Week of May 23: Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Kane and Seth Rollins from SmackDown

SmackDown's tag team main events are beyond predictable at this point, but every now and then, there's a match that stands out from the crowd.

The fact that Dean Ambrose is set to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Sunday night is something that will please many fans, and the build to the bout has made the most of the Lunatic Fringe's popularity.

It's been great to see Ambrose get the upper hand in a main event feud after months of being passed around like something of a spare part. Similarly, his renewed friendship with Roman Reigns has added a lot to the program.

The camaraderie of the Shield characterized the later days of the trio, and we've seen that come back in full force thanks to Reigns and Ambrose's partnership. Things are almost too friendly between the two—which might come into play at Elimination Chamber.

For the time being, however, it's serving to build both men up as fan favourites who can realistically challenge for the world title, which is something that's in rather short supply. The crowd is resolutely behind Ambrose, and Reigns is doing great work to win over his critics organically.

This wasn't a match that will have any major fallout—it was just a fun way to round off SmackDown and send fans home eager to see what Elimination Chamber has to offer. It was straightforward, and that's no bad thing.

Credit: WWE.com

Not every WWE broadcast needs to be earth-shattering. In fact, it makes it more difficult for the big moments to hit home if we don't see the status quo every now and again. It's a smart move for SmackDown to be entertaining, with the promise of Elimination Chamber being impactful.

No one will be bringing up this tag match when we talk about the match of the year in months to come—but that doesn't matter. It was a satisfying B-show main event, and it served the purpose it needed to quite capably.

Now, all eyes are on Ambrose and Rollins to see if they can pull off a match of the year candidate when they meet tomorrow night.

What was your favourite match this week? What's going to be the best match at Elimination Chamber? Let us know in the comments section below.