Breaking Down the Best and Worst of the WWE for Week of June 22

WWE's big bruisers provided the bulk of this week's highlights. The future might belong to lightning-quick athletes like Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, but the heavy-handed big men on the roster held the reins on the immediate present.

Sheamus excelled in two TV bouts. Brock Lesnar was the centerpiece of the week's marquee story. Kevin Owens made his impact from the announce desk, where he gave a clinic on how to be an irksome heel.

In addition to the usual in-ring fare, WWE offered up comedy with the prank show Swerved and reality show drama with Tough Enough. The success of both those new additions bears mentioning, but they didn't make the kind of impression that Sheamus, Owens and Lesnar did.

The women didn't fare as well as the men.

It was a week of ill-advised booking at the top of the division and one marked with a wasteful use of Lana's talents. Even NXT couldn't counterbalance the absence of high-quality women's wrestling. Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch all failed to get airtime.

Best: Selling Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar

Anticipation for Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar at Battleground is building.

First, thank Paul Heyman for making it seem impossible that Rollins will overcome his client's power and for presenting Rollins as cunning, unlikable and dangerous. As always, Heyman laid out the narrative of the match beautifully. The stakes are clear, and so are the motivations.

The writing team also had a hand in hyping the bout. WWE Creative penned a scene to close Monday's Raw where The Authority pounced on Lesnar and left the monster hurting. This much vulnerability is not something we often see from The Beast Incarnate.

It's a bold move that makes Lesnar more sympathetic and shows off Rollins' opportunistic, vicious side. Fans will now be expecting Lesnar to wreck Rollins and The Authority.

If WWE can hold off on providing that climactic moment until the pay-per-view, the title match will be explosive. 

Worst: Heel Versus Heel in the Women's Division

WWE has a potentially compelling story in the works. The Bella sisters have dominated the women's division by using backstage sway and underhanded techniques. Paige is trying to recruit a group of women to push back against the twins' regime.

The trouble is, WWE is forgetting some wrestling basics.

Too often, heels are going after heels. Rather than oppose Nikki and Brie Bella with sympathetic babyfaces, the company is having two villains, who spent the last few months making us hate them, collide with the twins.

Naomi and Tamina Snuka battled The Bella Twins on Monday's Raw. Naomi then took on the Bellas' new ally Alicia Fox. There's no one to root for in these contests.

It's like watching The Queen of Hearts take on The Wicked Witch of the West.

The women's division is hurting as a result of WWE going against the tried-and-true dynamic of good vs. evil. Meanwhile, Natalya (a babyface) remains underused. Charlotte and Becky Lynch (both babyfaces) are still waiting for their call-up to the main roster.

Eventually, this angle is likely to lead to a new arrival from NXT. For now, though, fans have little reason to invest in the division.

Best: Sheamus Provides Hard-Hitting Action

Say what you want about Sheamus' underwhelming mic work or even diss his goofy haircut, but you have to give him credit for being a reliable source of brute force in the ring.

His matches are often among the most hard-hitting contests on any given night. He's consistent, hardworking and entertainingly violent.

That was clear in his two clashes on TV this week. He brawled with Roman Reigns on Monday's Raw in the show's most compelling contest. Their chemistry pointed at an engrossing future rivalry between these two.

On Thursday's SmackDown, Sheamus met Dolph Ziggler once again. It was one of the week's better in-ring offerings despite how much love-triangle stuff was in there. Rusev's begging for Lana to come back interrupted what was a showcase of Ziggler's guts and Sheamus' power.

Expect more high-profile matches to come his way and for Sheamus to deliver each time. Even his detractors have to recognize his brawling acumen.

Worst: Dolph Ziggler and Lana's Lackluster Romance

In Dolph Ziggler, WWE potentially has the next Shawn Michaels. In Lana, WWE had a character who was riling up fans with tremendous success. 

As of now, the company has chosen to use these two to provide the soap-opera element of its programming.

Wrestling romances are fine, but this one feels half-hearted and a poor fit for both performers. A part of that is because there is no depth to the Ziggler end of the story.

Rusev's emotions (heartache, rage, regret) are clear and pop on the screen. Ziggler doesn't have anything close to that to work with.

He just seems to be mildly amused that an attractive woman is into him.

As for Lana, she has lost her fangs as a babyface. Rather than provide a burst of emotion outside the ring as she did for Rusev, she's just standing around, watching The Showoff and wearing a coy smile.

Shy, lovesick Lana isn't working. And Ziggler has to have something better to do than incite jealousy in Rusev.

Best: Kevin Owens: Champion, Announcer and Professional Jerk

It's hard to get people to truly hate you in today's wrestling landscape. The heel is seen as the cool guy often enough, and fans are aware that the villain's dastardly deeds are just part of the script.

That makes it especially impressive when someone grates on fans as much as Kevin Owens did on Wednesday's NXT.

Sitting at the announce desk for Finn Balor vs. Rhyno, Owens intimidated Byron Saxton, mocked Rich Brennan and belittled Balor as a wrestler. He did well to showcase himself as an arrogant bully through his commentary.

At times, he made one want to head over to Full Sail University and slap him across the face. That is, if he didn't also come off as so menacing as well.

Owens' ring work has been a great success so far with WWE. This performance is proof that he's a top-level star in terms of the verbal part of the game as well.