Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of June 1

Storytelling, emotive performances and a flurry of nasty right hands outshone gimmicks during a compelling week of WWE programming.

It wasn't the Elimination Chamber's steel and big spots that left the biggest impression; it was back-to-basics wrestling that did the job. Kevin Owens knocking down WWE's golden boy stunned more than anything that happened inside the chamber. Seth Rollins grabbed a mic on SmackDown and dumped his innards into it.

And in what is proof of the power of personality, Paul Heyman chatting with Steve Austin was more thrilling than the majority of matches WWE offered as June began.

On the flip side, dullness inside the Elimination Chamber forced fans to start wondering if that gimmick match is on its last legs. It's been a victim of the PG Era, toned down to the point where it should no longer be nicknamed Satan's Prison.

As bad as the Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber bout was, though, it doesn't compare to the grating nature of WWE infusing Sonic ads into his shows. After seeing Superstars hawk milkshakes in silly fashion, fans are going to need to recover by re-watching Cena and Owens go to battle.

Best: Kevin Owens vs. John Cena Twice Steals the Show

Victories happen every day in the WWE world. Too often, they feel inconsequential, just another paragraph in a long book.

That was far from the case at Elimination Chamber.

Kevin Owens beating John Cena was a hit-you-in-the-gut result. Few believed that WWE would have the guts to allow a newcomer from NXT to knock off the long-reigning king of the mountain in his debut. The company did exactly that, though, and the reverberations are still happening.

This was far more than just a shocking upset, however. This was an emphatic opening act for a man poised to be WWE's next great predator.

The bout was tremendous. It held fans' attention from open to close. It mixed in the right amount of violence, fresh moves and opponents barking at each other.

WWE knows it has a potentially stellar feud on its hands. It already booked a rematch for Money in the Bank.

Both men followed their collision on Sunday with the highlight of Monday's Raw. An impassioned promo from both Owens and Cena made this rivalry feel like the most important thing happening on the WWE stage.

This is a fight between the old and new guard, the residing alpha male and the cocky new member of the pride set on placing himself atop the hierarchy. It's one that will be the highlight of the summer and quite possibly the path Owens takes to the top tier in record time.

Worst: Letdown Inside the Chamber

The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber match was designed to make history, but instead it made folks sleepy. 

The bout lacked intensity and energy. Whether the wrestlers were tired, disinterested or just having an off night, the result was the same—one of the worst editions of the Elimination Chamber match ever.

Ryback winning the IC crown wasn't nearly as exciting as it could have been.

Not enough highlights before that win didn't help him. Not playing up pre-existing rivalries enough hurt the action as well. And for some reason, WWE decided to replace the injured Rusev with Mark Henry rather than inserting the far more popular Bray Wyatt.

The tag team version of the chamber contest entertained more than this one, but was still a bit stilted. It was too pre-planned, a series of stunts rather than a match unfolding naturally.

Having more build between shows the next time around isn't a cure-all, but it's certainly one of the keys to avoiding another belly flop next year. 

Best: Paul Heyman Sits Down with Stone Cold

Steve Austin is now set to do his live podcast interviews on the WWE Network once a month.

It's going to be mighty tough to top his June show, though. He and Paul Heyman traveled into the past via road stories and reflections. The results were enthralling.

Heyman talked about the Samoan Swat Team writing their initials on a car in blood. He gave his take on Jewish history, talking about why Jews were furriers, not hunters. He offered up his take on where CM Punk is mentally and laid out a plan to make the headlock a devastating move. Every bit of it made one glad to have a WWE Network subscription.

It's not often one can cram two men with elite-level charisma in the same room and let them loose. It happened here, though, with the hour-long interview feeling far too short.

Whoever Austin brings aboard next is sure to be entertaining. Following Heyman, however, is an unenviable task.

Worst: Shakes and the Squared Circle

Raw isn't really three hours. Recaps cut into that time, as do ads—lots of them. By the time you finish watching an episode of WWE's marquee wrestling serial, you'll likely have to fight urges to buy car insurance and fried chicken.

To then add to the inundation of advertisements and to make wrestlers look silly in the process is hard to watch.

On both Raw and SmackDown, WWE aired a video of Superstars auditioning for Sonic. Damien Sandow shilled milkshakes. So did The Prime Time Players. Big Show, currently playing a nasty, unstoppable beast-man, was involved as well.

It's annoying to have commercials overlap with the actual product like that. It's disheartening to see Sandow's only contribution on Raw be him sucking on a straw in full Randy Savage gear.

The money Sonic handed out for this was surely nice, but there has to be less intrusive way to market their wares. What happened to the old "brought to you by..." routine?

Best: Seth Rollins

Dean Ambrose stealing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to play up his unhinged, anti-hero gimmick has been a blast. It was Seth Rollins, though, who delivered the best performance of this rivalry.

On Thursday's SmackDown, Rollins addressed Ambrose's theft. He bellowed into the mic about not needing The Authority to help him anymore.

This was his best promo to date.

He was brooding, intense and ominous. While much of his recent heel run has been as a cowardly corporate rat, this was a glimpse of a darker, more dangerous version of him. WWE needs to let him turn to this part of him more often.

That night he looked and sounded like a top-flight star, a man the company can lean on to be one of its pillars for years to come.