Welcome to the first-ever WWE Weekly Recap! With the New Era finally beginning in full this past week, now is a better time than ever to review and analyze where the future of the sports entertainment industry is headed.

Anyone who's been watching professional wrestling for any amount of time knows that things haven't been going smoothly over these past few years. Ever since Monday Night RAW switched to a three-hour format, interest in the WWE has been slipping. It didn't matter who Vince McMahon brought on board, fans just didn't seem to care about pro-wrestling like they used to.

Cue the return of Shane McMahon and the true dawn of the New Era. By splitting the talent into two distinct rosters, WWE has given fans a reason to watch something other than Monday Night RAW — and not only has the basic format gotten better, but the individual matches and storylines have improved as well.

So, how has the first week of the New Era gone? To put it simply, things are looking great: WWE Battleground may not have set the world on fire, but if this past week's shows are anything to go by, WWE is finally headed in the right direction again.

WWE Battleground

Finally, there was the Six-Pack Challenge match between Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, AJ Styles and Bray Wyatt. Not only was it an immense step up from the Battle Royal, but everyone got a chance to shine — even John Cena, who's been mostly relegated to a come-from-behind machine lately.

In all honesty, it was great: there were worries that yet another Dolph Ziggler/Baron Corbin feud would form, but watching Crews and Corbin go at it was definitely a highlight. Plus, watching AJ Styles going up against someone other than Cena was a nice change of pace — speaking of, Bray Wyatt proved once again that he's a master of in-ring characterization and execution.

Also, Dolph Ziggler won. I'll say that again: Dolph Ziggler won, and is now the number one contender for the WWE World Championship. It almost sounds too good to be true: this is a Superstar who's worked himself to the bone for WWE, only to sit on the midcard and boost other performers. There's no telling where WWE is headed with this, but anything with Ziggler in the title picture is a huge step forward.

All in all, the first week of the New Era was a strong one indeed. Battleground was basically what most people expected it to be, but both Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live were huge improvements. There are still some kinks to work out, and there's no way of knowing if the company can maintain this kind of momentum, but for the first time in years, there was a reason to watch both of WWE's main shows — that, in and of itself, is a sign of progress.

WWE's next big event, SummerSlam 2016, is set to kick off on Aug. 21.