Cup of coffee in the big time: This week’s shows are how WWE TV should be

Raw and SmackDown have been a bit of a chore to watch most weeks lately. But this week was a great week for WWE TV.

It’s also nice to see the improvements in watchability translating to the ratings as well, with both Raw and SmackDown seeing an increase in viewership.

But there might be no moment that reminds of how good the shows could — and should — be as much as the five-man gauntlet match that served as the Smackdown main event.

Would anyone have been upset with any of those five men winning and getting a title shot against AJ Styles at Extreme Rules?

Rusev, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, The Miz and Big E all represented exciting opponents for Styles, who is coming off a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura that first disappointed before paying off with a great match at Money in the Bank.

It’s a reminder that even the “B show” has a crazy amount of depth on the roster.

There’s no reason for the weekly TV to be as bad as it had been for more than a month and ever reason for fans to expect the kind of efforts we saw on Monday and Tuesday night.

• We’ve got your recap & reactions for last night’s episode of NXT.
• And we’re ready for tonight’s edition of Impact, you can hang out with us in the live results tonight. And our preview of the action.
• The wrestling world was saddened by the news of Vader’s death. The wrestling world spent much of the day reflecting on his passing, as well as three of his greatest opponents.
• It was confirmed yesterday All In will be broadcast somewhere, we just don’t know where yet.
• Austin Aries is headed to Ring of Honor for the Best in the World PPV.
• Should the next WWE universal champion be Braun Strowman or Seth Rollins? We’re discussing that.

That’ll do it for today, take on the rest of the week like: