Fixing WWE Raw and SmackDown's Worst Booking Decisions for the Week of Feb. 15

As we get closer to Super ShowDown and Elimination Chamber, WWE has been moving most of its storylines along at a brisk pace.

One of the most talked-about segments of the week featured Matt Hardy trying to get through to Randy Orton only to end up on the receiving end of a classic RKO.

The attack appeared to be a way to write Hardy off of television, but the reaction was so positive, WWE booked them to face each other on Monday's Raw.

We also saw Shayna Baszler begin a feud with Becky Lynch, Bayley and Carmella took their rivalry to another level and Dolph Ziggler stole Otis' date with Mandy Rose, crushing all of our hearts in the process.

Overall, this was a good week for WWE programming. However, there were still a couple of questionable booking decisions made along the way.

Aleister Black vs. Akira Tozawa

The Problem

Aleister Black became popular in NXT because he has a unique wrestling style that suits his personality. He didn't get over by having five-second matches.

Using jobbers to give newcomers an easy win is nothing new in the world of wrestling. It is a tried and true formula, but Black is no longer a newcomer.

He began appearing regularly for WWE in March of 2017 and started appearing on Raw in February of last year. That means he has been on the main roster for almost exactly one year. He even challenged for the SmackDown tag titles at WrestleMania 35.

He spent months begging people to pick a fight with him before he finally decided to start picking the fights himself. That is where we find ourselves now.

Instead of having pay-per-view matches with Cesaro like he was in July at Extreme Rules, Black finds himself facing an endless string of easy opponents.

Akira Tozawa is a former cruiserweight champion and an excellent wrestler. Seeing him used to put Black over in less than two minutes is unfortunate.

This segment did nothing to help either man, but since Black is the one who WWE clearly wants to push, we will focus on him for now.

The Solution

This is easy. WWE needs to pull the trigger on The Dutch Destroyer and put him into a real feud that can test the limits of what he is capable of.

Seeing him chase Andrade and the U.S. Championship would be a great opportunity to reignite their awesome feud from NXT.

WWE fans don't care about seeing someone beat a bunch of jobbers like they used to. Good storylines and solid matches are what will keep fans coming back for more.

The Miz and John Morrison vs. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns

The Problem

The Miz and John Morrison will face The New Day at Super ShowDown for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. It made no sense to book them to lose this close to the event just to make Roman Reigns look strong heading into his SSD match against Baron Corbin.

This would have been the perfect spot to use Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, but The Showoff was busy trying to third wheel Otis' date with Rose.

In the end, The A-Lister and The Friday Night Delight took an unnecessary loss, Bryan and Reigns got a meaningless win and Corbin took a cheap shot at The Big Dog to end the show. The match itself was fun but there was no logic behind it. 

The Solution

We can't go back in time and change the way SmackDown was booked, but there is still time to build the tag title challengers back up before the event.

Super ShowDown takes place on February 27, so that leaves one more week of SmackDown between now and then. 

The Miz and Morrison need a strong victory to give them momentum heading into the show in Saudi Arabia, and there are a few teams on the blue brand who can afford a loss.

Lucha House Party, The Colons and The Revival find themselves without storylines at the moment, so WWE could put them in a competitive match with The Miz and Morrison so they look like they can beat a set of former champions before they challenge for the belts. It's a simple but effective booking decision.