WWE Week In Review: The Good And The Bad (06/21/15-06/27/15)

With Battleground still three weeks away from this Sunday, it was a relatively slow week in WWE. The storylines are inching along meticulously, and things will intensify each week we get closer to July 19th.

THE GOOD

Together Again—For Now

Given the tenacity of Brock Lesnar, it only made sense for Seth Rollins to make amends with and seek the help of the Authority. Taking out Lesnar was a memorable, forward-thinking conclusion to a largely forgettable Raw, albeit at the expense of Jamie Noble, who suffered three broken ribs in the attack.

With that said, the Authority reuniting is appealing because this will inevitably all come crashing down on Rollins’ head. Triple H and Stephanie urging Rollins to ask for the Authority’s forgiveness seems like a ploy and the start of something much bigger. It’s likely the Authority leaves Rollins hanging at the orders of Triple H, costing him the Heavyweight Title. Rollins vs. The Game has the potential to be a legendary feud.

U.S. Title Change?

As if this storyline needed any more of a push, it was announced Kevin Owens’ and John Cena’s match at Battleground will be for Cena’s U.S. Title. Considering Finn Balor may very well win the NXT Title on July 4^{th in} Japan, there’s a legitimate chance Owens could win the U.S. Title at some point, even if it doesn’t happen at Battleground.

My gut feeling is Cena retains but Owens gets another stab at the U.S. Title at SummerSlam. This is simply too good to not have spill over to WWE’s most important night of the summer. Most of the talk has been about Owens, and understandably so, but Cena has turned in his best work in the ring and on the mic in quite some time. This feud is can’t-miss TV for wrestling fans.

Mind Games

I wrote last week that the Bray Wyatt/Roman Reigns storyline could get a little creepy, and I think it’s safe to say I understated it. Wyatt’s promos have been tantalizing, and at this point in time I’m looking forward to this match at Battleground more than any other. That says a lot, considering Owens vs. Cena has been gold.

Perhaps the best part of the feud is the change in Reigns. He’s aggressive, almost to the point of losing control. He was ejected from the Huntington Center in Toledo during Tuesday’s taping of SmackDown (although he returned at the end to help Ambrose and Ryback). But, for someone who was been so uninteresting and bland for so long, it’s a welcoming change of pace to see Reigns in this light. And it should only get better as Battleground gets closer.

THE BAD

Lifeless Love Story

The Dolph Ziggler/Lana storyline may or may not have worked if Rusev didn’t suffer an unfortunate ankle injury, but it definitely hasn’t worked with him unable to wrestle. How many times do we have to suffer through Rusev pleading for Lana to come back to him? And, no, the addition of Summer Rae doesn’t make the storyline better one bit.

My larger concern here is that rarely does someone in Rusev’s position come out looking good in these scenarios. When WWE takes a ruthless competitor and reduces them to a desperate loser, more often than not it becomes difficult for the fans to see him as they did before. Also, with Ziggler’s contract up sometime this summer, it’s been rumored he won’t re-sign unless he gets a big push. I doubt this is what he had in mind.

Wake me up when Rusev’s ankle heals and they can settle it in the ring, if Ziggler is still around.

Top Performers, No Direction

Cesaro and Luke Harper may be the two most underutilized and under-appreciated wrestlers in WWE, and now they’ve both recently fallen on bad luck. After a spew of questionable booking by Creative, Cesaro finally found his niche as Tyson Kidd’s tag-team partner. His in-ring ability had never been in question, but it seemed WWE had finally found the best way to showcase it. With Tyson Kidd out for up to a year after undergoing neck surgery, Cesaro has been left with no direction.

The same can be said for Luke Harper, who recently reunited with Erick Rowan. The two were set for a pretty big push before Rowan tore his bicep at a recent house show and is expected to miss at least 4-6 months. Like Cesaro, Harper has been in this position before. After Creative inexplicably broke up the team of Harper and Rowan last fall, Harper was stuck in midcard hell. He had a very brief run as Intercontinental Champion, but aside from that he almost always found himself not only wrestling in pointless matches, but losing them as well.

There could be two simple solutions to this: have Cesaro and Harper feud, or have Cesaro turn heel and have them team-up. Either way, the gears have already been put in motion. The two wrestled during the taping of Main Event on Tuesday in Toledo. I was in attendance, and it was the best match I saw all week.

Embarrassing The ‘King’

I really hope Creative has some sort of idea as to where it’s going with King Barrett right now. R Truth has repeatedly been getting the better of him for about a month now, and Barrett also lost to Jack Swagger during the Main Event taping.

It’s possible Barrett and Truth battle it out to determine who is truly King of the Ring, and Barrett loses the crown. At least then he can revert back to Bad News Barrett and hopefully regain the credibility he held under that moniker before he won the tournament. This is a five-time Intercontinental Champion we’re talking about.

Wrestledelphia.com staff writer Tyler Sablich can be reached at . Follow him on Twitter at .