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With its "superstar shakeup" in full bloom, WWE's two major brands largely stuck to script this week with the image each has presented over the past year. 

Raw was inconsistent yet strong on impact moments with Braun Strowman delivering throughout the three-hour broadcast in big ways. SmackDown Live, meanwhile, was better paced and consistently entertaining throughout with a heavy focus on the in-ring product. 

With many top superstars, including Roman Reigns and The New Day, enjoying a well-deserved vacation in the aftermath of WrestleMania 33, there were many opportunities for mid-card performers to step up and shine with no superstar enjoying more of a breakout moment than SmackDown's Jinder Mahal. 

Before we take a look back at the highs and lows from this week in WWE, be sure to check out our brand new podcast, In This Corner, where once a week my co-host Adam Silverstein and I rant and rave on all things WWE. Episode No. 2 includes an interview with Alexa Bliss and our hottest takes on WWE headlines, happenings and more.

Report card

Strowman versus all: Now billed as "The Monster Among Us," Strowman had nothing short of a monster week on Raw, dominating the show from the opening dialogue segment to multiple backstage appearances and a largely unforgettable main event finish. The continued push of Strowman as a main event talent is working, as is the doubling down on his heel persona through such despicable acts as throwing Kalisto into a dumpster after dragging him by one arm and randomly assaulting anyone in his path. 

While the angle surrounding his desire for more competition is starting to feel a bit stale (with new general manager Kurt Angle fielding the same angry requests as his predecessor Mick Foley), WWE has done well to find new creative ways to showcase Strowman's unique mix of size, agility and physicality. His superplex finish of the Big Show, which imploded the ring and sent referee John Cone flying, was handled to near perfection. Grade: A

Jinder Mahal and the WWE championship: There are plenty of reasons why Mahal's push to the main event level by winning a six-pack challenge on Tuesday feels like a head-scratching one. Not only has Mahal been a career mid-carder (at best), seeing him challenge for Randy Orton's title while Kevin Owens and AJ Styles feud for the United States championship feels backwards and an outright downgrade to the company's top belt at worst. Even if his push was designed solely to boost interest for WWE in India, which some outlets have speculated, it still feels like a reach. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't well-handled. 

It's always encouraging to see hard work rewarded and no one has worked harder to transform their body and improve than Mahal during his second stint with the company. Mahal performed well in recent feuds alongside Rusev and took his game to another level in Tuesday's match. Not only was in-ring work believable, his scathing anti-American promo afterwards was impactful. Mahal's title opportunity breaks up the monotony of what often feels like the same superstars taking turns competing for the top belt. Let's reserve full judgment until seeing how the program plays out. Grade: B-

Better balance in women's divisions: Charlotte Flair's move to SmackDown not only tilted the scales more evenly across both brands for WWE women, it has potential to be the most impactful acquisition from last week's shakeup. Charlotte's debut was nearly flawless on Tuesday, including a clean pin of current champion Naomi in a non-title bout. Flair remains the top female talent in the company and her in-ring chemistry with an equally athletic Naomi has huge potential. Former two-time SmackDown champion Alexa Bliss' debut on Raw was just as powerful, winning a fatal 4-way match to become the top contender to Bayley's title. WWE's commitment to billing Bliss as a star has paid off handsomely. Grade: A

House of Horr(ible): A little more than a week out from Payback, we still have no idea what kind of match Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton are actually going to have. Forget how little it makes sense that this feud is continuing or the mind-numbing confusion of Orton, who wears SmackDown's most important championship, defending it on a Raw-exclusive pay-per-view. This week, Wyatt dropped largely unintelligible promos on both shows, talking up things like arson and nightmares. But coming off of such a disappointing turn for the rivalry at WrestleMania, it's difficult to get excited for a "House of Horrors" match when nothing has been presented to explain what it is. Despite some great special effects in recent months, very little of this feud has actually made sense, providing a lingering feeling that it has all been a misguided waste of time. Grade: F

Dean Ambrose and The Miz: Considering they just feuded for the Intercontinental title three months ago before going their separate ways heading into WrestleMania, the relaunch of this feud felt a bit forced on Monday. It also felt like it went against the spirit of what the "superstar shakeup" actually means. Their Miz TV segment still worked because of the two personalities involved but it does make you wonder why The Miz, who is coming off a career year in 2016, is back feuding for the title he already wore on multiple occasions last year. The build-up to his WrestleMania match with John Cena was so strong, it proved he's deserving off the main event level, making you question why he was ever moved from SmackDown in the first place. Grade: C

Primo and Epico get a makeover: While I'm all for the perennial mid-card tag team of Primo and Epico moving away from their comedic gimmick to compete as more serious heels, the Colons, the execution was a big clunky. Seeing the Puerto Rican duo connect with their legendary lineage, which includes WWE Hall of Fame Carlos Colon, was fine. But if you're going to rebrand someone, don't send them out wearing their old ring gear, which includes "The Shining Stars" printed on their rears. The problem for Primo and Epico, in the end, is that their new gimmick is no more interesting than their evil timeshare salesman was over the past year, meaning it's hard to see them doing anything but jobbing after this initial feud with American Alpha comes to a close. Grade: D+

Best of the best

Wrestler -- Braun Strowman: Two weeks running. Most importantly, the disappointment of a WrestleMania demotion is now forgotten. WWE has made a commitment to his push and it's paying off. 

Match -- Alexa Bliss def. Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Nia Jax in fatal 4-way match: In a week filled with strong (yet not quite spectacular) in-ring wrestling, including TJ Perkins-Austin Aries on 205 Live and Jeff Hardy-Cesaro on Raw, this women's match stood out because of how much was at stake and the flashes of pay-per-view intensity. 

Move -- Strowman's superplex of the Big Show: End of discussion. 

Promo -- Jinder Mahal on SmackDown: He sought heat and he got it by calling out American fans for not supporting diversity. This kind of xenophobic storyline presentation has long been the bedrock of pro wrestling for a century. It may feel out of place in this day and age but it still works. 

Show -- SmackDown Live: Preferring the consistency and strong wrestling to the up-and-down Raw, SmackDown takes top honors once again. 

Grade

Week of April 21: B-