WWE's Best and Worst Booking Decisions for the Week of September 20

The week of a WWE pay-per-view is always rife with booking decisions that force fans to sit up and pay attention to the product. Whether those decisions play out at the event in question or on the subsequent editions of Raw and SmackDown, they are choices made by WWE Creative that are designed to lay the groundwork for Hell in a Cell on October 25 in Los Angeles.

The last six days have done just that, for better or worse.

The Big Red Monster returned, as Kane emerged from whatever basement Paul Bearer had him locked in this time and obliterated Seth Rollins at Night of Champions. He followed that up by dragging him to the depths of hell on Raw.

Or the arena floor, one or the other.

Elsewhere in the WWE Universe, Paige reminded fans that she is, and has always been, a loner, much to the chagrin of new Divas champion Charlotte.

Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose had some backup for their war with The Wyatt Family on Sunday's huge pay-per-view broadcast, but did their mystery partner live up to the expectations?

And then there is The Big Show, who, like a zit on prom night, refuses to go away.

It was a week of returns and reintroductions, champions and demons. Relive the best and worst of the last six days through the booking decisions that will shape the coming weeks and months in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Worst: Kane Is Back...and in Title Contention

Trying to convince the WWE Universe that Kane is a legitimate threat to Seth Rollins' WWE World Heavyweight Championship is like the NFL trying to convince its fans that Brett Favre could still succeed in pro football. Sure, the future Hall of Famer is an intriguing character, but to imply he could still hang with the young stars in the sport is an insult to the audience.

That is the case with Kane, who may still be at his peak as far as character acting goes, but in the ring, he is a shell of his former self. That WWE is asking fans to accept the notion he could conceivably beat Seth Rollins in his prime as a performer is ridiculous, especially taking into consideration how many matches Kane has lost over the last two years as a fumbling, bumbling henchman for The Authority.

No mask or amount of pyro will change the fact that the Kane character is past its sell-by date. Sure, Creative will ultimately get a pass because a Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell match will sell the October 25 pay-per-view, thus taking pressure off Rollins and Kane to do so.

But that will not change the fact that, with television ratings tanking to record lows (per F4WOnline.com), the writing staff thought the best course of action was to dust off the Big Red Corporate Demon from Hell for one last go-round at the top of the card. 

Best: Paige Rediscovers Her Voice

One of the biggest issues with the so-called Divas Revolution was the lack of character development and the fact that so many of the women involved were shoved to the background in a ridiculous attempt by WWE Creative to create gang warfare through three undefined trios.

One such woman was Paige, who was the face of the future prior to the arrival of Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, only to find herself lost in the shuffle and forced to play backup to Ric Flair's daughter in recent weeks.

That changed Monday night when the frustration felt by the character boiled over, leading her to ruin Charlotte's championship celebration by dealing out a bit of harsh reality to her fellow Divas, including her partners in Team PCB and The Bella Twins.

The fans reacted strongly to Paige lashing out. They appreciated the fact that WWE allowed her to speak her mind and rediscover her voice, which had been missing for far too long, as the company's writing staff allowed her to fall into the trap of becoming the same characterless performer that everyone else was.

Now that she has been granted the opportunity to let her sarcasm fly, to become the loner she has always been, a "tweener" in the war that has become the Divas Revolution, she can excel in ways that were not possible as just another face in the crowd.

Best: Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker

In recent years, the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view has become watered down by a WWE too lazy to craft rivalries fitting of the greatest feud-ending match in the industry.

When it was announced during Sunday's Night of Champions pay-per-view that Undertaker and Brock Lesnar would bring the second chapter of their epic rivalry to a head inside Satan's Favorite Structure on October 25 in Los Angeles, fans finally had a reason to be excited about a show that has not carried nearly the level of emotion it should have for the last six years.

Lesnar vs. Undertaker is a feud born in hatred, intensified by Lesnar ending the WrestleMania Streak of his rival and The Phenom responding by costing The Beast the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

It is exactly the type of program that should culminate in a violent match such as Hell in a Cell, and thanks to a rare right move by WWE Creative, it will.

Credit: WWE.com

Worst: Chris Jericho Is the Third Man

There was a great deal of speculation and anticipation surrounding the reveal of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose's mystery partner for their Night of Champions battle with The Wyatt Family.

While Chris Jericho's arrival may have been greeted with a huge pop by the fans in Houston, the glitz and glam that accompanied him to the squared circle were soon overwhelmed by a sense of disappointment.

The fact that he suffered the loss for his team, then shoved his way past Reigns and Ambrose and disappeared into whatever hole he crawled out of did not do the lackluster revelation any favors.

Jericho is an all-time great and a phenomenal worker who helped the match exceed expectations.

Unfortunately, it failed to live up to the hype and, as a result, felt more like a dud.

Credit: WWE.com

Best: Eva Marie Gets a Storyline

A few weeks back, Eva Marie squared off with Billie Kay in a match that saw the all-red Diva struggle to get her shoulder off the mat in time, leading to a botched count by the official. Fans recognized that ugly pinfall attempt and booed heavily.

Rather than allowing that to adversely affect the star of Total Divas and her push, the writers turned it into a story that they continued to tell Wednesday night on NXT.

Eva started by thanking the official for doing the right thing, for seeing that her shoulder was up and not counting the fall. Then, during her match with Carmella, the former collegiate soccer star found herself on the receiving end of a bailout by the official, who stalled his count while she barely got her foot on the bottom rope.

It was an interesting development that plays up the belief by fans that management will do whatever it takes to make Eva Marie a star, even if it means relying on crooked officiating.

The development of the story and the ultimate payoff should be fun to watch, as will the athletic Diva's continued evolution into NXT's most hated villain.