WWE Programming's Best Matches for Week of December 19

Last week, Bleacher Report readers voted Asuka vs. Emma as the best match of the week—although the ladder match for the Tag Team Championships at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs received plenty of support in the comments section too.

It's great to see women's wrestling and the tag team division receiving deserved praise as we close out 2015. The past year has seen WWE attempt to make some big changes to its main event scene, but it's the rest of the show that's actually seen the most improvement.

The Divas division still has its share of problems, but there's more talent than any time in recent memory. Meanwhile, The New Day have prompted a rash of promising tag teams to spring up, and the United States and intercontinental titles have rarely seen more continued focus.

Depth is one of WWE's biggest strengths at the moment—but still, we seem to see the same few singles wrestlers continue to be selected as a focus.

Contender No. 1: Gable & Jordan vs. The Vaudevillains vs. Blake & Murphy vs. Hype Bros on NXT

For a stretch, the NXT tag division was a holding pen for the Ascension and little else—this pre-recorded Fatal 4-Way from this week's edition of NXT demonstrated just how much things have changed.

This high-energy, high-intensity show-opener was a testament to the amount of talent vying for the belts held by Dash and Dawson. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan were the stars of the show, but all four duos did more than hold their own.

Special credit has to be given to Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy. Both men quickly cottoned on to how popular Gable and Jordan were with the crowd and set about cutting them down to size at any given opportunity.

Obviously, the crowd hated them for it—but it only made for a more exciting ending sequence when Gable managed to clear house.

While the Vaudevillains' entrance garb might have been more appropriate a few weeks back ahead of their new edge, the throwback team also made a meaningful contribution. The Hype Bros still don't offer too much in the ring, but they were well implemented here.

That being said, this one was largely a showcase for Gable and Jordan. Here's hoping their great chemistry with Blake and Murphy will transition into a brief feud—after that, there's no reason why the pair wouldn't be ready to challenge for the gold.

Contender No. 2: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose on SmackDown

There's no real storyline hook to Dean Ambrose's Intercontinental Championship reign just yet, but great matches such as this will do a great deal to cover for that weakness.

This three-man feud has been building steadily for several weeks now, producing enjoyable singles encounters. However, putting the trio in the ring at once transformed a middling rivalry into something with some real venom.

Earlier in the year, the Intercontinental Championship was defended at WrestleMania in a multi-man ladder match. If the number of contenders involved in this program swells any further over the coming months, we might see a repeat in Texas in April.

However, there's just as much benefit to using the title as a method of producing top-tier television matches on a regular basis. Recently, it seems like the prestige of being intercontinental champion is largely tied to being a consistent in-ring performer.

Ambrose is more of a brawler than a technician, but he's certainly a standout talent. With that being said, it's only really in his excellent matches with Seth Rollins we've seen Ambrose at his very best.

It seems Kevin Owens is bringing out that same high level of performance from Ambrose, as evidenced by this bout. Adding the ever-entertaining Dolph Ziggler to the mix is simply the icing on the cake.

Contender No. 3: Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose on Monday Night Raw

The main event of this week's Slammy Awards edition of Raw was an appropriately silly end to a Christmas special.

A faction such as the League of Nations lends itself to a cage stipulation, and every last drop was wrung from the structure here. Thankfully, it was relatively fresh—moments such as Dean Ambrose's leap from the top to avoid Sheamus' support climbing the outer wall were novel but also fit his Lunatic Fringe persona.

Credit: WWE.com

It's a detail that's often missed, but there are certain wrestlers who are suited to this sort of bout, and it demonstrates a mastery of that persona when that shines through during the match. Bray Wyatt accomplished that facing Roman Reigns at Hell in a Cell, and Ambrose did so here.

Ambrose's cavalier nature is always present when he's in the ring, but a steel cage gives him more scope to let it take center stage. Sheamus always looks powerful in matches in which he can get rough, and that was certainly the case here.

Credit: WWE.com

The match built to a run-in from Roman Reigns, which was executed well—the Juggernaut's uncanny ability to assemble the chair from a throw, in particular. However, your mileage may vary with his appearance, depending on how much you like Reigns.

All in all, this was a feel-good end to a festive Raw broadcast. It was non-essential in terms of storyline advancement but a very entertaining main event at the end of the day.

Which bout was your match of the week? Don't forget to make your choice by voting in the poll and then state your argument in the comments section below—and if you're tweeting about the contenders over the next seven days, use the hashtag #BR_MOTW.