Biggest Winners And Losers Of The Week — 6/23/2026

Another week is behind us in the world of professional wrestling, and you know what that means — it's once again time for the WINC staff to name some winners and losers of the last seven-ish days!

This past week was once again dominated by tournaments, as the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments continued in WWE, leading to both finals being set in stone for Night of Champions, while over in AEW, the women's Owen Hart Cup tournament continued as well, with a surprising result. Meanwhile, shenanigans on various WWE brands led to a recently-crowned champion getting pinned, a guest referee getting a world title match, and the end of a longstanding friendship. But who ultimately came out on top this week, and who fell to the bottom? Here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 6/23/26!

It may seem wild to call Zaria a loser after she just finally won the Women's North American Championship on the June 8 edition of "WWE NXT," but her victory celebration was cut short to begin last week's show, and it felt like she was cast aside in favor of the women involved in the Women's NXT Championship picture.

As Zaria was trying to cut her first promo as champion, still a heel, despite the loud chants of "you deserve it," she was interrupted by the first-ever Women's NA Champion, Kelani Jordan. Jordan basically told Zaria that she didn't "have the title she was looking for," and after briefly giving Zaria some "advice," started to cut her own promo, asking why she wasn't in the main women's title match at Great American Bash.

That brought out the promo parade of Kendal Grey, who is facing Lola Vice at the premium live event, then the champion herself, both to argue with Jordan as Zaria attempted to get a word in edgewise. It was pretty awkward to watch, and in the end, the women were paired off into heel and babyface teams for the main event of the show, despite Zaria having no involvement with the women or their title feud before the segment.

It only got worse for Zaria from there. She took the pin off Vice's 305, despite Jordan's attempts to break it up. Granted, there was no good loser with Zaria as a champion, Grey challenging Vice for the top women's title, and Jordan in contention for the gold, as well. Still, it was disappointing for Zaria to take the pin, and it didn't make her look great following her first-ever title victory.

To end "NXT" and add insult to injury, Tatum Paxley appeared from the crowd to chase Zaria after the match, seemingly setting up for another bout between the women, despite Paxley looking as though she was saying "goodbye" to the Performance Center crowd following her title loss. While Paxley is beloved, running the match back after Zaria's victory feels pretty stale.

Fans are — or were, at least — excited for Zaria to finally prove what she can do on her own following Sol Ruca's call-up to the main roster, and this week's edition of "NXT" did her no favors. She's certainly not buried by any means, but it feels like she may have to work a little harder than fans may have initially expected, thanks to WWE's booking.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Maya World is a winner for the second week in a row, and can you blame us? Last week, Maya was simply a heartwarming story of a woman getting a chance at glory, while mourning the loss of her brother. Now, Maya is one win away from winning the AEW Women's Owen Cup.

We could've listed her as a winner for the last 25 weeks, and punching her ticket to the finals would've still granted her winner status. You simply do not get Cinderella stories like this in wrestling these days. Everyone is too careful, storylines too planned, moments held back in hopes of getting a bigger response down the line. It felt like striking while the iron is hot had become a lost art, and AEW revived it with Maya's tremendous post-TNA run through the bracket.

If she wins at Forbidden Door, expect her to be back here, likely by the same writer. It's just refreshing to see a talent who, for all intents and purposes, was "another TNA departure" just weeks ago, and now finds herself the underdog of the summer.

Should she lose at Forbidden Door, she still has a claim to challenge — possibly even beat — ROH Women's World Champion Athena. No matter which way you slice it, Maya is in a position for success post-PPV.

Written by Ross Berman

GUNTHER lost and then won Friday's "WWE SmackDown" bout against Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship, opening the show with the true downfall of the man who had become myth in all the years before. 

Indeed, Rhodes appears to be kryptonite to SuperGunth, the man who had been beaten just three times before originally meeting him at Crown Jewel 2024. That match was 23 minutes, pitting GUNTHER as the World Heavyweight Champion against the WWE Champion in Rhodes, and Rhodes survived the match with just his wits and a roll-up. 

This year, after the almighty GUNTHER remained a man beaten by just a handful, righting any losses with the retirements of John Cena and AJ Styles, GUNTHER went into his second bout with Rhodes at Clash in Italy as the challenger sure to be crowned or die trying. He lost that match in 11 minutes.

So this past week's attempt at the title, the third in what may have been a legendary saga before whatever this is, looked like an attempt to right that wrong — though the writing was on the wall when the bout became a Special Guest Referee match with Sami Zayn to open the show. Zayn got involved, at first helping GUNTHER but then floating between impartiality and bias towards either competitor at a different time. And eventually when GUNTHER grew tired of Zayn's officiating, he committed the universal sin of attacking the referee and dooming himself to the screwy finish. 

Eventually Zayn returned to the fold and fast-counted Rhodes to victory after 11 minutes. But Rhodes, Paragon of the Righteous himself, returned to the ring and gave GUNTHER yet another chance. At long last, GUNTHER defeated Rhodes after one minute, a squash one might say. Alas, it was because Zayn had returned to kick him in the face, causing the disqualification. So one could say that's a loss as well. 

To make this all the more loser-y, GUNTHER has been given yet another opportunity at the title at Night of Champions, this time with Zayn actually in that match as a competitor. One powerbomb after a little scuffle with a referee, and his opportunity to avenge his defeats to Rhodes has been re-sewn into a three-way title opportunity he doesn't feel likely to win. Ouch.

Written by Max Everett

While the Undisputed WWE Championship match (or matches, technically) pitting Cody Rhodes against GUNTHER to open "WWE SmackDown" on Friday wasn't well-received by many of us here at WINC, at least the referee of that first match, Sami Zayn, emerged a winner of the night. Zayn, an agent of chaos on Friday, got so involved in not just the first match, but also when the match was restarted, that he somehow earned himself a title shot against Rhodes and GUNTHER in a triple threat at Night of Champions on Saturday.

Zayn was chosen by GUNTHER to be the special guest referee of his title match against Rhodes, but that didn't stop the borderline-unhinged Zayn from also getting in the "Ring General's" face at points. He earned a powerbomb for his troubles, and ended up pulling the second referee out of the ring, counting a fast three and allowing for Rhodes to retain in the end. One would think Rhodes would just take the victory and continue on in his feud with Zayn and be done with GUNTHER that night, but the babyface champion demanded the match be restarted. Zayn quickly got involved once again and hit GUNTHER with a Helluva Kick, causing a disqualification.

GUNTHER was irate and demanded yet another match at Night of Champions, and it was Rhodes who told General Manager Nick Aldis he "knew what he needed to do," and Zayn was also added to that match. Truly, Zayn is a winner this week due to Rhodes' babyface tendencies, as there's no way Aldis would have awarded Zayn's bad behavior unless Rhodes alluded to wanting him in the match.

Despite proclaiming he's the "Last Real Good Guy," Zayn is more so leaning into the heel side of being a "tweener," even with GUNTHER in the mix. Despite that, he's getting a title match in Saudi Arabia, where many fans have expected him to win the championship eventually and where he'll be over no matter what. If WWE doesn't want to wait until WrestleMania 43 to put Zayn over, they very well could do it here. Even if that isn't the case, adding Zayn to the match at Night of Champions makes it more exciting than just another Rhodes vs. GUNTHER match.

The "SmackDown" match where he served as special guest referee may have been overbooked chaos, but there's no denying that it somehow all worked out in Zayn's favor — which was probably his play, knowing how proud of a champion Rhodes is. Win or lose on Saturday, Zayn is competing for the Undisputed WWE Championship in Saudi Arabia, which is a big win for him, and a win for this story overall.

Written by Daisy Ruth

If you wanted to call Lyra Valkyria a winner for turning heel on Bayley and getting herself out of the stagnant WWE women's tag team division, I won't say you're wrong for that. But the real loser here is the division itself, which, with Bayley and Valkyria broken up, has now lost one of its stronger tag teams. It's all well and good to get excited about their singles feud, but where does the women's tag division go from here?

It doesn't help that the division was already thin due to other recent developments. The firing of Kairi Sane put an end to the Kabuki Warriors; Giulia and Kiana James broke up; Charlotte Flair appears to be heading toward a singles feud with Jade Cargill rather than pursuing the tag belts with her partner Alexa Bliss; The Judgment Day seems to have no interest in the tag titles anymore, as emphasized on "Raw" when Liv Morgan made it clear that Raquel Rodriguez was going after the women's Intercontinental title, leaving Roxanne Perez with nothing to do. Who's left to challenge Brie Bella and Paige? They've already defended their titles successfully against The Irresistible Forces — twice — and they even picked up a non-title win over new call-ups Fatal Influence on a recent "SmackDown." That leaves us with who, Michin and B-Fab? Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green, maybe?

It would be inaccurate to say the division has never been thinner, but it's pretty damn thin, and it's unclear who the champions will be wrestling from here on out. Breaking up Bayley and Valkyria may have been a good move for their individual careers, but it leaves women's tag team wrestling in an even rougher spot than it was before.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Jey Uso has been feeling a little more Uce-y this week.

The Bloodline has been back in full effect since Roman Reigns took the World Heavyweight Championship and beat Jacob Fatu into falling in line. With that, Jey has been tasked with winning King of the Ring and eventually taking the WWE Championship from Cody Rhodes. And after beating Je'Von Evans during Friday's "WWE SmackDown" he is just one match away from crowning himself King.

That match will be against Oba Femi, which on any other date might have been a death sentence to any chances of winning. But this final will be at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, and attached to Femi is the malignant and haunting spirit of Brock Lesnar. So there's a strong chance he gets a screwy win to add King of the Ring to his growing list of accolades. 

Outside of King of the Ring, though, Jey felt more himself this week. More like the man that amassed the following and support that yielded this run in the first place. His place as number two in the Bloodline pecking order might be under question with Fatu on the scene, but even still he feels like a character acting and reacting with what is happening. 

There's more for him to do, there's more he's getting stuck into. Whether or not you as a fan can get behind or enjoy it with him, there is no doubt that Jey was a winner this week.

Written by Max Everett