Biggest Winners And Losers Of The Week — 8/24/2026

Another week has gone by in the topsy-turvy world of professional wrestling, and as always, Wrestling Inc. are here to name some winners and losers!

While we haven't quite reached AEW All In/NXT Heatwave weekend, the past seven days contained its share of exciting events across the wrestling landscape. In WWE, Solo Sikoa emphatically refused to rejoin The Bloodline even as his cousin Zilla Fatu put pen to paper on a fresh "WWE NXT" contract. Meanwhile, Ring of Honor put on its latest major event in the form of Death Before Dishonor 2026, while TNA revived an old PPV concept to give us a modern iteration of Lockdown.

Who rose to the top of WINC's personal rankings this week, and who sunk to the bottom? That's what we're here to find out. From a former champion in NJPW to TNA's newest main event star, here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 8/24/2026!

Solo Sikoa is one of the hottest stars on "WWE Raw" right now, and last week's edition of the show saw him rise even further in the eyes of many fans. Instead of agreeing to re-join the Bloodline alongside cousin World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Jacob Fatu, and his brothers, Jimmy and Jey Uso, Sikoa hit "The Tribal Chief" with a Samoan Spike, without even giving a warning shot first.

While some fans noticed Monday's angle was very similar to Sami Zayn turning on Reigns when he hit him with a chair around three years ago, it feels like crowds, especially the one in Buffalo last week, are as invested in Sikoa as they were Zayn at the time, if not more so. Sikoa has also been crushing it in recent weeks on the microphone. There was one point in his career where Sikoa was a silent enforcer, but now his personality is shining through in a major way, and his wit is helping him connect with fans.

It also doesn't hurt that he's been aligned with "The Mega Star" LA Knight, who remains perpetually over with fans, despite not yet getting the opportunities many believe is he deserved. They competed alongside one another, with Royce Keys, at SummerSlam against Fatu and the Usos, and on Monday, Knight came to Sikoa's aid, confirming some kind of continued allyship there as Knight likely goes on to face Reigns.

While Sikoa is great on his own, pairing him alongside Knight for the moment can only continue to help him. He needs someone to assist him in the numbers game against the Bloodline, and even though Knight is just one person, he's a solid fan favorite to have alongside Sikoa as his story continues to unfold.

Ahead of "Raw" Monday night, it was noticed, and pointed out on social media, that Sikoa has not one, but three new shirts released on WWE's shop. That seems like a good indicator the company is willing to invest some more in him in order to make some more money in merchandise sales, also good for his character on WWE TV.

There's a lot of unknown in WWE right now in the second half of the year, with only Sunday Night's Main Event in between now and Money in the Bank in October. Despite it not being a very busy season, that could actually be good for Sikoa to continue to develop his babyface character on weekly TV. WWE creative loves to take its time as it is, and this could be helpful for them to figure out what's next for Sikoa if he stays as over as he is right now.

Written by Daisy Ruth

NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo is the least interesting character in the top title picture on "WWE NXT," and that's getting more and more noticeable by the week. While D'Angelo is headed into "NXT" Heatwave on Sunday holding the gold, WWE has introduced two new, hot faces into the mix for D'Angelo to face, as well as another over-the-top personality from the main roster.

While fans in the WWE Performance Center are happy to see D'Angelo, who has been on "NXT" television since October 2021, as champion, his current gimmick — no longer a mob boss leading a family — hasn't been hitting as strongly as it could. He's taken on a much quieter, more serious demeanor. It wasn't much of a problem before, back when he first returned following a hiatus in December, but now that he's up against major personalities in Grayson Waller, Cruz Montana, and now, newcomer Zilla Fatu, he's quickly fading into the background.

That was obvious on last week's edition of "NXT," especially in the third segment of the night revolving around D'Angelo's NXT Championship. The main event spot of the show saw Fatu arrive to officially sign his WWE contract in the ring with General Manager Robert Stone. While earlier in the night, Stone revealed D'Angelo would be defending his title at Heatwave in a triple threat match against Waller and Montana, the end of the show saw the announcement that Fatu's contract says his first match in WWE will be for the NXT title.

Instead of announcing Fatu would get a shot on the episode of "NXT" following Heatwave, he was added to the premium live event match, making it a four-way. Even if D'Angelo somehow walks away from Edinburg, Texas with the gold still around his waist, he'd likely go on to face each man one-by-one, and that still wouldn't help how overshadowed he currently feels. All three of his challengers have fantastic mic skills — or are at least extremely charismatic while needing a bit of work, in the case of Fatu — and Santana and Fatu are fast favorites amongst the fans in Orlando every week.

D'Angelo may be a victim of staying in the Performance Center too long, as there doesn't feel like there's much more he can do, already having gone through a major character revamp within the last year. It also doesn't feel like there's a place for him on the main roster currently, unless he's forced to join The Vision as some extra silent muscle. The former "Don of 'NXT'" is currently hanging in limbo and fading into the background, all while still holding the NXT Championship, which is certainly something odd to witness.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I have to get used to calling him Kyoki, but former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi is set to debut on "SmackDown," teaming with fellow former NJPW star Shinsuke Nakamura. It's a divisive move, as NJPW fans and WWE fans don't always cross over, but this might be one of the rare cases where the trip to the States will do the talent a world of good.

Takahashi has run out of things to do in Japan, unless he were to fully transition to heavyweight. He's been the ace of the NJPW Jr. Heavyweight division. He's faced a thousand Jr. Heavyweights. He's gone the places, he's done the things, ran around in Pro Wrestling NOAH, and simply hit his ceiling. WWE not only represents a fresh slate of opponents, but lacks the weight restrictions that kept Hiromu stuck in the Jr. Heavyweight division.

He's likely to be tagging with Nakamura, so I'm not exactly expecting a US title run right out of the gate, but the change of scenery should be good for Takahashi. He's roughly my age, and if a couch potato like me still has gas in the tank, then I'm sure someone like Takahashi has a lot left to give WWE.

Written by Ross Berman

Ask yourself this question: What is Ring of Honor?

At one point in time, it was easily the best independent promotion in the world, giving a platform to a whole host of performers that have gone on to achieve incredible things. At another point, it could make the argument of being the second biggest promotion in the United States behind WWE, and at another point, it could boast the accomplishments of being partially responsible for the first All In event and running Madison Square Garden alongside New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Now look at it and honestly try and pinpoint what ROH actually is as an entity.

The reason why ROH lands itself in the loser column this week is we are now over four years on from Tony Khan buying the promotion that looked destined to close its doors thanks to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the changing wrestling landscape. Four years, and if we're being honest with ourselves, interest in the brand seems to be at an all-time low. ROH Death Before Dishonor happened on Friday, and it had all the build and interest of that chore you keep putting off doing but you finally bite the bullet and do it so you don't have to think about it.

Did it have good wrestling? Sure. Did the crowd in the old ECW Arena have a great time watching it? Absolutely. But will there be any meaningful progression for ROH as a brand going forward? You know there won't be. 

It's so frustrating seeing a brand like ROH become just another wrestling show because it has so much potential. For years, people have said ROH could be AEW's version of "WWE NXT," a developmental or secondary brand used to build up the stars of tomorrow that will eventually take over the main AEW roster by storm. It still could be that, but Tony seems incapable of letting go of the booking sheet. Give ROH to someone who enjoys a different flavor of something and you will see it fly, and that's not to say I don't enjoy Tony's booking in AEW, but ROH is treated like that thing he has to do rather than something he wants to do.

ROH will continue to exist because Tony has money and loves wrestling so much he would feel awful just letting it die. It shouldn't die, it's valuable in its own way, but another ROH event has passed us by and I felt nothing from it. Until Tony decides to hand over the keys to the ROH books, it will just be another thing people consume for the sake of consumption, and it really shouldn't be like that.

Written by Sam Palmer

Generally we try to avoid naming too many literal winners and losers in these columns, because it's too easy and obvious to just list off people who won or lost big matches in the last week. In the case of Leon Slater, though, we'll make an exception. Slater didn't just win back the TNA X-Division Championship at Sunday's Lockdown event — he also prevented his previous history-making title reign from being scrubbed from the record books, something that felt like a real possibility going in. Slater is an exciting young talent who is widely expected to join WWE or AEW at some point in the near future; as such, some took the stipulation for this match — and the fact that Slater's first reign with the title ended at 298 days, tying Austin Aries' record but not beating it — as evidence that he was AEW-bound, and that the WWE-affiliated TNA was punishing him as a result.

Where Slater ultimately ends up remains to be seen, but at least his original reign lives on in TNA's history, instead of being sacrificed in some petty inter-promotional squabble. And then, at the end of Lockdown, TNA made another good decision by having Slater — who didn't actually need to be X-Division Champion again — cash in his title for a shot at the world championship held by Nic Nemeth. It's both a step up for Slater and a much-needed injection of youth into a main event scene that has most recently been dominated by The Hardys, and if TNA has any brains whatsoever they'll have Slater dethrone Nemeth at Bound for Glory. Keeping his record-tying title reign on the books while securing a world championship match and leaping into the top tier of the company? Sounds like a winner to me.

Written by Miles Schneiderman