Biggest Winners And Losers Of The Week — 8/31/2026

It's been one heck of a week in the world of professional wrestling, and as always, the Wrestling Inc. staff is here to name some winners and losers!

Not only did the last seven days give us our regular gamut of televised wrestling programming, but this past Sunday saw not one but two special events — "WWE NXT" Heatwave and AEW All In 2026. Now, we can hear you asking: Did we not already write about our winners and losers from All In 2026? Yes. Yes, we did. But it was a pretty major PPV, and we have lots more to say about it, so we have even more winners and losers from that show here in this column, as well as winners and losers from Heatwave and other parts of the wrestling spectrum.

Who does the WINC staff see as having truly come out on top this week, and who remains in the basement? That's what we're here to find out. From Lyra Valkyria to Mercedes Mone, here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 8/31/2026!

Lyra Valkyria may have an entirely new heel gimmick, but she remains absolutely directionless on "WWE Raw," and it seems like that could be tied to whatever is, or isn't, going on with Bayley's WWE contract. On the August 24 edition of the show, all she did was feature in a backstage segment with Sol Ruca, where she asked Ruca to give up her Women's Intercontinental Championship shot and gift it to her.

Ruca wasn't amused, and the segment just ended there, without Valkyria snapping and beating down the babyface star or doing anything interesting to further a story. The segment at least got Valkyria on TV, however, something that hasn't happened too consistently often following her Saturday Night's Main Event victory, and following beatdown, of Bayley, on July 17.

The week before her backstage segment with Ruca, Valkyria had her first televised match since the SNME victory, almost a month to the day since "driving Bayley away," as she claims. She took the loss to Ruca in that match. Sure, Valkyria has scored two victories on "WWE Main Event" since the Peacock special in July, but not many fans are keeping up with that show, and it's difficult to count victories over current "NXT" stars as anything worthwhile for her right now.

During last week's segment, Ruca did tell Valkyria to earn her title shot. Valkyria is likely to get involved during the Women's Intercontinental Championship match on Monday's edition of the red brand, but that's not exactly earning anything. She remains winless since SNME, and before that, her last victory on "Raw" was in May, in a tag match alongside Bayley. Her last singles victory on the show was just before WrestleMania. She needs to start stacking some brutal victories with this new, unhinged character.

WWE seemingly booking, or not booking, Valkyria around Bayley's future is making Valkyria's character seem like a loser, and right now, it's keeping her directionless. She should be depicted as a crazed heel terrorizing the division at this point, taking out everyone she can to get back at her beloved Women's Intercontinental Championship.

It's also been long enough since her win over Bayley that if WWE would stop having her, and commentary, acknowledge it, Valkyria could move to a new feud much quicker. If the issue is Bayley re-signing a contract, and she does, that's something that can easily be brought back up again if she returns. For now, however, Valkyria needs a direction on the red brand, and hopefully, she's headed toward a bigger story with Ruca and the No. 1 contendership for the Women's IC title.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Damn is it good to have Kofi and Austin Creed back on TV. 

In one of the worst kept secrets of 2026, the artists formerly known as the New Day debuted at the beginning of AEW All In, stepping up to a New Level and winning gold on their first night. 

There couldn't be a better way to debut in a trio, unless Big E was going to be riding in on a unicorn, than to do it alongside Swerve Strickland. One of the best wrestlers in the world and one that's woven into the fabric of AEW, one of the true pillars of the company and one that has star power that immediately puts the New Level on their namesake. 

They didn't debut as just another tag team. They debuted as legitimate stars that another legitimate star called on to get the job done. And they did.

No more underrated, underviewed, understated yet emotive and compelling promos on commercial breaks. No more confinement to an already gutted and clamped division. The New Level came in as a duo who want it all. 

They exemplified that with their later appearance in what can only be called a summit of tag team legends, confronting fellow challengers and icons in the Young Bucks, FTR, and Motor City Machine Guns, as well as the reigning Tag Team Champions and undisputed legends in singles and tag team wrestling, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage.  

They arrived and took gold from beneath the noses of some of the best trios, a clean sweep with not a single elimination to their side. Then they returned to make it clear that wouldn't be all. All of that is to say that the New Level were undoubtedly winners in every respect that matters this week.

Written by Max Everett

Man this one hurts, because in reality it isn't entirely Eddie Kingston's fault that he's landed here. However, after calling him a winner just a few short weeks ago, a lot has changed.

The main reason Kingston is in the losers column for this week is very simple. His CMLL World Heavyweight Championship match at Arena Mexico on Friday night against Hechicero was bad. Very bad. It started alright, nothing crazy but it wasn't anything to rave about, but as the minutes went by it was just a chore to get through. It was only 10 minutes in length but it felt longer for how bad it was. Hechicero looked about as interested in this match as most people are when they are standing in line at the Post Office, and Kingston just looked lost at sea.

CMLL is a company that has done well in recent years, from breaking the record for most tickets sold at Arena Mexico to months of consistent sell-outs, right up to international interest thanks to the partnerships with AEW and NJPW. When that hardcore Arena Mexico crowd is not only booing a main event match, but actively walking out of the building before it's over, that is a truly unwanted achievement. Of the two men involved, Kingston was the guy who looked out of place the most, and while the matchmaking was an issue to begin with on this one since it was never going to reach a certain level, it was far from his best night at the office.

When Kingston defeated Jake Doyle in the AEW Continental Challenge Cup at the beginning of August, he looked like the Kingston of old. It had me excited that he could potentially go on this magical run to the final where he would get that Wembley moment against his old friend Jon Moxley. But then he had a health scare and pulled out of the tournament, and while the rest of the roster had the time of their lives in London, he was having a nightmare in Mexico. Had he stayed healthy, there was a chance he could have featured in the Casino Gauntlet or even taken Nigel McGuinness' place at Wembley, but no.

It's getting to the point where maybe calling it a day wouldn't be the worst decision for the "Mad King." He has nothing left to prove, he's already achieved so much and will always be adored by the masses. But he is now reaching a point where you aren't sure what Eddie Kingston you're going to get when he's booked and that can lead to real trouble if he has another poor performance on TV.

Written by Sam Palmer

While there were a few surprises expected at AEW All In: London, there were quite a few that weren't, and there were some exciting appearances that made the show all the more spectacular, whether you were watching from Wembley Stadium or from home.

The first debut, albeit one everyone expected, was Kofi and Austin Creed, the New Level, the former New Day in WWE. They debuted alongside Swerve Strickland in the trios championship roulette royal to the delight of everyone, and they captured the AEW Trios Championships. This was by far the biggest debut that could have happened, even if it was basically common knowledge, and doing it at the very beginning of the main show to set the tone of the night was a major victory for AEW. As much as many fans wanted to see the former Ilja Dragunov in WWE appear in the Casino Gauntlet match, New Level being the only debut of the night made them feel like an even bigger deal.

Before the show even got underway, Britt Baker made her shock return to the company after nearly two years away. No matter what fans may think of her, Baker's appearance during Persephone's TBS Championship victory over Maya World was a genuine surprise. It hadn't been reported beforehand, and in these days, that's something quite rare in the professional wrestling world, and it was cool that AEW was able to pull it off at all without something getting out on social media beforehand.

The other surprises, perhaps little more expected and not too major, but still fun that added to the show, revolved around other matches a little later on the card. Following Adam Copeland and Christian Cage retaining the AEW World Tag Team Championships over the Young Bucks, the Motor City Machine Guns made their first appearance since debuting in the company on "AEW Collision" in Detroit. Fans online had been clamoring to see them, and some were worried about where they may be placed on the card, but those worries were seemingly put to bed when they inserted themselves in the title picture. Fans also saw the return of FTR, and New Level came out once again, showing everyone just how solid the AEW tag title picture is.

Finally, there was a surprise appearance from the legendary Sting to help out Darby Allin in his TNT Championship match against Kevin Knight. Sting had a nice passing-of-the-torch moment with his son, Steve Borden, where his son did a big ladder spot in his place. This was overall an exciting show, packed full of surprises, big and small, which made it all the more fun for everyone, and perhaps AEW's best pay-per-view of the year.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Heatwave saw Tony D'Angelo drop the NXT Championship after 148 days, taking the pin from Grayson Waller in a fatal four-way also involving Zilla Fatu and Cruz Montana. 

A title loss is one thing, but being the one to take the pin is adding insult to injury. D'Angelo's title reign had been something of a mixed bag, winning it in a four-way at Stand & Deliver and completing five defenses against Ethan Page, Kam Hendrix, and Naraku twice over on TV and PLE, as well as a defense against Rayo Americano (Pete Dunne) at WWE World at WrestleMania. It was quite a weak run, truth be told. 

Now to have that run end in defeat that cannot be disputed, being the one true loser in the contest, does one of two things: D'Angelo is either on his way up from "WWE NXT," or he doesn't really have a place. He is now objectively the third in line, at best, from the NXT Championship, with this entire title run having been framed as his last hoorah in developmental. This entire character had been built around competing for the one title that eluded him as an "NXT 2.0" original. 

Having been the one to take the pin to lose the title, there's little left in the tank to justify his presence in the title picture. All in all, he comes out of Heatwave as the fourth runner-up in his title contest, losing said title and thus, earning a spot in the Loser column this week.

Written by Max Everett

I think it's about time some people sat down and had a serious conversation about Mercedes Mone, because as much as it must sting to hear this for some of you, she might be the greatest women's wrestler of all time.

"The CEO" finally reached the promised land in All Elite Wrestling over the weekend as she defeated Willow Nightingale at AEW All In London 2026 to become the new AEW Women's World Champion. With her victory, she becomes the first women's wrestler in history to win the top prize in AEW, WWE, CMLL, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, something that is more than likely not going to be matched for a very long time. Combine that with all of the titles she won during her "belt collector" run from places like RevPro, Ring of Honor, and even the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship that kickstarted the whole run, what else is there for her to do? She's literally achieved and won virtually everything.

Not only has she won basically every title available to her, but she has done it by wrestling in some of the best matches in recent memory, regardless of gender. Take the match with Willow on Sunday night. I know it was a complete accident, but the fact that we finally got a little bit of the red stuff out of Mone due to Willow breaking her nose really added to the entire match. She became deranged at times and tapped into that nasty side that Willow wasn't able to overcome. Mone really went above and beyond to win the one title that has alluded her until now, and the overall presentation was fantastic.

On top of Sunday night, just look at Mone's catalogue for this year alone. Willow at Wembley, her entire Owen Hart Foundation Tournament run against Alex Windsor, Hazuki, and Maya World, even the match where she lost the CMLL World Women's Championship to Persephone in March. Five matches that would be all-timers in anyone's catalogue, and she has done that in the space of a few months. Then you look back at the matches before she took time away at the start of the year — she is becoming the most dependable women's wrestler in the world as she can get a good match out of anyone.

Now she's the champion and we are looking even more likely to get that long-awaited AEW women's pay-per-view main event, and to be honest, if there is anyone who deserves that spot, it's "The CEO." Love her or hate her, there's no denying that she is in that GOAT conversation.

Written by Sam Palmer