Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno and the Best WWE Matches for Week of March 16

Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno is a match that would have been hard to imagine happening in a WWE ring a few years back.

Roode, long one of Impact Wrestling's cornerstones, didn't seem destined to ever compete for Vince McMahon's company. And WWE cut Ohno from its developmental brand in 2013. On Wednesday night, those two wrestlers collided in NXT's main event, with their paths converging to create one of WWE's latest surreal sights.

Their NXT Championship bout was a good one, a back-and-forth battle between two gifted performers.

Roode and Ohno were among the highlights of a slow week in terms of matches during a talk-heavy stretch to WrestleMania. The cruiserweight and women's divisions did their part, but WWE simply didn't deliver a slew of strong showings in the ring. 

What matches most stood out? Which wrestlers most flourished between the ropes?

The following is a look at the week's best contests, using in-ring action, big moments, chemistry and storytelling to determine the rankings. 

Honorable Mention

• Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens (Raw)
• Rich Swann and Jack Gallagher vs. Noam Dar and Ariya Daivari 

A pair of tag team bouts did enough to catch fans' attention, but neither will inspire appreciative poetry.

On Raw, Jericho and Zayn ran into two brick walls in Joe and Owens. The heels were deliciously vicious here, clubbing their opponents relentlessly. The disqualification ending worked to further the story, but it cut the action short.

The cruiserweight clash on Tuesday saw Dar get a much-needed win.

The usual high-flying action at 205 Live preceded the result. There was solid chemistry between all involved. However, there was nothing special to allow this to stand out.

5. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya (SmackDown)

Becky Lynch and Natalya work well together. If they should ever get into a sustained feud, they would certainly produce a show-stealer or two.

There was plenty to like here, from Natalya mocking The Irish Lass Kicker to Lynch's slugging offense. Lynch's win allowed her to gain momentum ahead of WrestleMania. And the wrestlers had more than eight minutes to work with.

LaToya Ferguson of the A.V. Club wrote that the match was "pretty good in that Dolph Ziggler/Kofi Kingston sort of way."

As much as the action matched the quality of the work from those men, there weren't many big moments to take away from Lynch vs. Natalya. It was a solid SmackDown opener and little else.

4. Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal (Raw)

Fans aren't used to seeing Jinder Mahal in a spot like this, going toe-to-toe with one of WWE's top stars.

It would have made more sense to book Roman Reigns as dominant, but the competitiveness that ensued led to a surprisingly entertaining match. Mahal tangled with an aggressive, no-nonsense Reigns, landing one running drop kick that looked like it loosened some of The Big Dog's teeth.

This wasn't tear-the-house-down stuff, but solid, much like Lynch vs. Natalya.

Reigns vs. Mahal, though, had a more significant moment to brag about. Undertaker's gong went off mid-match, distracting Reigns. Mahal scored a near-fall as a result that had the audience holding its breath.

We almost saw a bottom-feeder take down the golden boy. That tease was a nice nugget in one of the more unexpected collisions we will see all year.

3. Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James (SmackDown)

Mickie James beat the SmackDown champ in the best match from Tuesday's show.

Alexa Bliss was excellent here. She was disdainful throughout, disgusted by her foe. She barked at the referee and squealed whenever things didn't go her way. Plus, she knocked James silly with a gorgeous forearm at one point.

James proved to be a good foil for Bliss. Their chemistry was something WWE should look to build on.

Overall, however, the action was slow, lacking adrenaline. Combine that with an underwhelming climax, and it's hard to rank this any higher, with Bliss' heel acumen and all.

2. Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno (NXT)

Roode fended off the returning Ohno to spoil the bearded bruiser's return to NXT.

The two warriors put on a technical display aided by high stakes. The winner would not only grab the gold but move on to the NXT TakeOver: Orlando main event. More buildup would have improved that part of the equation, but even introduced as cold as it was, this felt like big.

Sweeping strikes from Ohno, several good near-falls and the novelty of these seeing these two face off powered the bout.

Unfortunately, it never quite moved into high gear. It never turned spark into full-on flames.

As John Moore of ProWrestling.net put it, "This was a good TV match but not quite a main event classic."

A more electric cruiserweight contest managed to push past this on the rankings as a result. Ohno is sure to create something special during his second NXT tenure, but for now, he and Roode saw 205 Live's main event surpass theirs.

1. Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match (205 Live)

Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Tony Nese vs. Akira Tozawa

This was Aries' moment, as he survived to earn a trip to WrestleMania. A Double will now face Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship.

That's an exciting result to emerge from the week's most exciting match.

Dives, near-falls, a three-man Tower of Doom and Nese breaking down the security barricade with a running knee were among the many highlights. The Tozawa-Kendrick rivalry advanced, too, thanks to the latter sneaking up and pinning the Japanese pit bull. Perkins showed some frustration that could spell the beginning of a new story for him.

The subplots and action converged to create a fun headline bout that indy wrestler Gran Akuma tweeted "is worth going out of your way to see."