Photo Source: WWE.com
After a scandalous week for the cruiserweights, two of the best on 205 Live put on an absolute classic. Who had the best performances of the week in WWE?
WWE offers up plenty of programming over the course of a week. Even when there’s no pay per view, there’s at least seven hours of original programming. With Raw and SmackDown Live on USA, plus 205 Live and NXT on the WWE Network, it’s a lot to focus on at times.
But for those of us who can make it through the marathon, there’s usually quite a bit to keep our interest. Regardless of what some people say about the quality of programming, as far as in-ring talent goes this is one of the golden periods for WWE. Sure, storylines may be stale, boring, and ridiculous – even nonsensical – but the matches themselves are rarely terrible across the board.
To try and keep track of who stood out on a week to week basis, here at Daily DDT we’ll be taking a look at the top five performers in a given week. Since WWE is a wrestling company (despite what Vince McMahon may try and tell us), we’re going to focus on wrestling performances. After all, you can’t have a wrestling show without wrestling, right?
With that, here are the top in-ring performers for the week of Jan. 22, 2018, in WWE, in no particular order. (We’re doing this before TakeOver and the Royal Rumble because, well, there’s like a hundred superstars involved in the two shows combined, so that’s going to be a second post.)
Cezar Bononi
One of NXT’s greatest success in the WWE Network Era has been the ability to make everyone who steps in front of the camera seem like a big deal. Of course, there’s varying degrees to just how big of a deal each performer is. But rather than permanently slot certain superstars in as “enhancement talent,” everyone gets the chance to demonstrate their abilities.
Cezar Bononi is just the latest example of this. Bononi has been around NXT for a while now. His first match on a live event came in February 2016, and he debuted on television in May 2017. While that match ended with a loss to Aleister Black, Bononi bounced back with a victory over future NXT Champion Andrade Almas in his second televised encounter.
That may be the only win on Bononi’s ledger, but over the past several months he’s definitely demonstrated improvement in the ring. This week on NXT, he lost to No Way Jose, but showed everyone watching that he’s not someone to take lightly. He has impressive size and strength, as indicated by the pump handle slam he rocked Jose with. Watch in the video above – Jose didn’t sandbag him, but he wasn’t giving him too much help, either. That slam was 100% pure Bononi strength.
It’s been less than a year since he debuted on television, but Cezar Bononi is one of NXT’s rising young stars. In due time, he’ll be one of the regular attractions on the show.
The Miz
It’s so great having The Miz back on TV. The holiday season was a little dreary without Monday nights getting a dose of glitz and glamor from Tinseltown, courtesy of the most must see superstar in WWE history.
But now that he’s back, The Miz picked up where he left off – as Intercontinental Champion. On Raw 25, he got his contractually guaranteed rematch against Roman Reigns, and thanks to incredible skill, terrific toughness, and amazing intelligence, the A-Lister regained his precious championship.
Say what you want about both superstars, this was the clear Match of the Night on Raw this week. Sure, there weren’t a whole lot of matches. And most of them weren’t exactly setting the world on fire. But a diamond in the rough is still a diamond.
The best part of the entire match was the subtlety with which the finish came about. While I’m working on our live Raw reviews, I’ll admit there are times when I look away from the TV so I can type something real quick. But I went back and watched the end of the title match, and it’s amazing how well hidden the removal of the turnbuckle pad was – and how easily Miz got it off. Definite bonus points to the production crew for the shot.
But if it wasn’t for The Miz being The Best, there would be nothing for production to work with. Now an eight-time Intercontinental Champion, The Miz is cementing his status as future Hall of Famer, and possibly greatest Intercontinental Champ of all time.
Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali
Amazing. Breath taking. Magnifique.
All of these words can be applied to the 205 Live main event this week between Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali. Two of the most popular superstars on the roster are also two of the most talented. And babyface vs. babyface matches aren’t always the easiest thing to pull off with the audience enjoying themselves.
More from Daily DDT
- It’s time for Adam Cole and MJF to drop the ROH tag team titles
- Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
- Eddie Kingston stands to gain the most from the AEW Continental Classic
- Trish Stratus on WWE NXT would help elevate that women’s division
- Randy Orton signs with SmackDown to go after The Bloodline
But Alexander and Ali blew it out of the water this week. It’s fitting that they did, because in a way, their match was the unofficial new beginning of the Cruiserweight Division. After the events of the weekend surrounding the Enzo Amore scandal – beginning with allegations of sexual assault, proceeding to suspension, and eventual release – things were looking bleak for 205 Live.
Think about it: WWE had spent months building the entire show and division around Enzo, thanks to his charisma. The success of 205 Live was almost solely dependent on him. But with changes needing to be made, it was time for the superstars who had taken a backseat to Enzo’s gift of gab – namely, Alexander and Ali – to prove that they had exactly what it takes to carry the show on their backs for a while.
If you watch this match and don’t think that a sort of “rebirth” of the division with a new direction – focused more on the in-ring action that got these superstars on WWE’s radar in the first place – centered around Alexander and Ali, well, I don’t know what to tell you. This match great from a performance standpoint. But as a symbol of putting the past in the rear view and moving forward with this as a template, it was even better.
Next: Daily DDT Staff Makes Its Royal Rumble Predictions
Stay tuned on Monday for the top performers from Royal Rumble weekend!