5 WWE Superstars who impressed this week - Brock Lesnar returns, former WWE Champion makes history on RAW
It was a big week for WWE, as they had heavily promoted a lot of the action for both RAW and SmackDown. For RAW, the company promoted Edge's return, and on the blue brand, it was finally the return of Brock Lesnar following his indefinite suspension a few weeks ago.
At the moment, WWE is building towards its first-ever Day 1 pay-per-view on January 1, 2022. Normally, we'd have a pay-per-view in December, but this year, WWE has decided to take a different route and start 2022 off in the biggest way possible.
As always with WWE programming, there were some misses this week, but of course, there were also some stand-out performances. With that in mind, let's take a look at five WWE Superstars who impressed this week.
#5 Brock Lesnar returned to WWE SmackDown and was the focus of the whole show
The Beast Incarnate was back on this week's SmackDown, and he certainly made the show memorable for the WWE Universe.
Of course, Lesnar was suspended following the Crown Jewel pay-per-view for having a full-blown riot in the ring and at ringside. It resulted in Lesnar attacking WWE official Adam Pearce, who ultimately suspended the former Universal Champion indefinitely and fined him $1 million.
Last week, after the Black Friday Battle Royal was held to crown a new No.1 contender for Roman Reigns' Universal Title, Kayla Braxton announced that Brock's suspension had been lifted and he would return the following week.
This week's SmackDown got underway with The Beast Incarnate and the winner of the Black Friday Battle Royal, Sami Zayn. It was a memorable opening segment, with the first time the two had significantly interacted on WWE television. Lesnar ultimately intimidated Zayn into having his Universal Title shot that same night.
Before Sami's match with Reigns in the main event, Brock appeared and sent the Canadian star to Suplex City. He delivered multiple suplexes and two F5's to Zayn and ultimately weakened the challenger before his match with The Tribal Chief. As a result, the Universal Champion defeated Zayn within seconds.
For Lesnar, he heavily influenced proceedings on SmackDown, and at the same time, came off looking smart and like the elite superstar that he is. It was a successful appearance and an impressive showing ahead of his battle against Reigns at the Day 1 event.
#4 Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio finally win on RAW
It has been some time since we saw The Mysterios have a successful week on WWE television. On this week's episode of RAW, Rey and Dominik teamed up to face Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin of The Hurt Business.
After feuding with Bobby Lashley, the father-son duo put on an impressive showing. With Rey and Dominik Mysterio in the mix, it was a high-octane match, as always. Although this week, they finally got the job done following a double-619 and frog splash.
#3 Sheamus continues his momentum on WWE SmackDown
Since The Celtic Warrior returned to SmackDown, he has been fending off all-comers and riding a wave of momentum. His new protégé, Ridge Holland, seems to have aligned himself with the right superstar. The duo are certainly a pair to keep an eye on moving forward.
This week, Sheamus faced his former tag team partner, Cesaro. Feeling confident, he told Ridge to stay in the back and watch how to handle business in the squared circle. The Irishman didn't let himself down as he delivered a victory to further his admiration from the Yorkshire native. Just how far can Sheamus go, and could he finally return to the top of the mountain in 2022?
#2 Sasha Banks puts in another spectacular performance on SmackDown
Is there anyone on the WWE roster who has been delivering exceptional match after exceptional match like Sasha Banks has? It seems that every time she steps into the ring, she just brings the magic and stands out head and shoulders above the rest.
It was no different on this week's episode of SmackDown as The Boss faced Shayna Baszler one-on-one. Despite being dominated during the contest, Banks eventually picked up the victory. Believability, endurance, and will were all on display. She should be up there in the nominations for WWE Women's Wrestler of the Year, that's for sure.
#1 RK-Bro win on WWE RAW and Randy Orton makes history
It has been quite a couple of weeks for Randy Orton. First, he broke the record for competing in the most pay-per-view matches, overtaking Kane. This week on RAW, he broke another record. He has now had the most matches in the history of Monday Night RAW.
Alongside his RAW Tag Team Champion partner, Riddle, they defeated The Dirty Dawgs (Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler). It was a history-making moment for The Viper and one that he will now remember forever.
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