11 Must-See WWE Matches, Moments & Segments This Week (Oct 14)

Whether you care about Goldberg or not, he's "next" for Brock Lesnar...

Dolph Ziggler WWE Intercontinental Title
WWE.com

It is a fast-paced world in WWE these days, with a pay-per-view every few weeks continually creating talking points in addition to the three brands of weekly programming each full of unique characters to keep up with.

WWE news runs rampant across a variety of other outlets as well. As proven last week by an ESPN "Off The Top Rope" interview making its way onto the list of must-see happenings, the number of avenues through which we can determine the week's key moments is vast and seems to keep growing. Who knows? We might even see something goofy that John Cena did on Total Bellas end up on here, as odd and unlikely as that may seem.

This week, thanks to No Mercy offering a mixed bag of a special event and Raw offering its second straight improved episode - and no thanks to Smackdown, which struggled to keep pace with its reputation on a largely and uncharacteristically skippable Tuesday night for the blue brand - there is a lot of ground to cover. What was the match of the week? Was anyone able to steal the crown from Ziggler and Miz for best segment of the week?

Let's see what made THE LIST...

11. Inter-Gender Mayhem Enhances RAW Broadcast

Dolph Ziggler WWE Intercontinental Title
WWE.com

It felt like deja vu when Sasha Banks opened Raw as the freshly-crowned Women's Champion, only to be interrupted by Charlotte, only for the segment to eventually involve two of the top male superstars of the brand, sparking an inter-gender tag team match for the top of the third hour. The same strategy was utilised the week after Banks won the title for the first time a little over two months ago. That the intermingling again worked well was show-enhancing.

Rusev, who clearly must be a fan of the early 1990s action movie Lionheart, (starring Jean-Claude Van Damme), based on the shaving of his facial hair to make him look like the spitting image of the film's antagonist, Atilla, proved his worth on the microphone and showed good chemistry with Charlotte particularly. To see the former Women's Champion stand her ground against the dominant former United States Champion was impressive.

Roman Reigns and Banks later displayed an interesting chemistry of their own. Perhaps most importantly, the star power of the women came across as near or equal to that of the men - a true testament to how far women's wrestling has come in the last year or so.

The tag team match was nothing to write home about, but the opening segment that set it up delivered.

Contributor
Contributor

"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition. Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.