Another week has gone by in the world of professional wrestling, and it seems like somebody in WWE was really into our focus on talent releases last week, because they went ahead and released the New Day on Saturday! We'll be talking about that here in this column, as well as various other things that went down over the course of the last seven days, both on and off TV.How do we feel about Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods now that they no longer work for TKO? How do we feel about TKO, for that matter? And what about the things that happened on screen rather than off? From Jacob Fatu's Tongan Death Grip to Sami Zayn's deadly attack on a gingerbread man, here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 5/4/26!
Jacob Fatu may have challenged his cousin, World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, to a match at Backlash last week, but this week, the "Samoan Werewolf" really stepped up his game. Starting with last Monday's edition of "WWE Raw," where he was absolutely not playing around.By the end of the segment, Fatu broke out the Tongan Death Grip, something that hasn't been seen in WWE in awhile, first prominently used by Fatu's uncle, Haku, which was really cool and a poignant end to the main event segment on Monday. He clocked Reigns with the microphone right after Reigns mentioned giving him an opportunity would be "nepotism."While Reigns told Fatu he'd "see him at Backlash," Fatu made a point to say that he'd see Reigns next Monday, which the camera made a point to pick up to end the show. It further proved Fatu means business, something he also showed on "WWE SmackDown" on Friday when he showed up to confront the Usos and Solo Sikoa. It was mentioned by the Usos during a backstage segment that Fatu used a "sacred move" in the Tongan Death Grip, which was an excellent line to further add to the story.Fatu actually was a major part of the blue brand, as he had a backstage segment with newcomer Royce Keys, a real-life friend and former tag team partner, adding a bit of intrigue to things. Keys is currently kind of directionless, so him helping Fatu would be interesting. In the main event, he took out Sikoa and Talla Tonga.While there's a lot of discourse floating around online, with many unhappy that the Bloodline is getting yet another major story, the fact Fatu is getting the title opportunity is a major win for many reasons. It gets Reigns on the next pay-per-view, with him not taking a break from television following WrestleMania. It also adds a fresh challenger to the main event picture at a time it's desperately needed. Fatu seemed like he was headed for a top title at this year's WrestleMania, and now, he's finally getting that opportunity.The "winning" aspect of this all may change with Monday's edition of "Raw" when the pair are set to sign their match contract. The reported stipulation for the Backlash bout may change things, but at least it could add a fresh angle to the Bloodline story moving forward. And, with recent reports that Reigns is no longer scheduled for "Raw" for all of June after declaring he'd be full time through the summer, it seems like the match at Backlash could be anyone's game.Written byDaisyRuth
The gingerbread man angle on "WWE SmackDown" was funny for a while, and it kind of brought out a subtle, silly Attitude Era vibe. Trick Williams started calling then-United States Champion Sami Zayn a "gingerbread man" in their feud leading up to WWE WrestleMania 42, even going as far as releasing a diss track alongside Lil Yachty with the same title, all making fun of Zayn's hair color and build.Williams brought out a person in a life-sized (or man-sized?) gingerbread man costume to continue to egg on Zayn, but the second time the costumed person accompanied Williams and Yachty to the ring, it was, of course, Zayn, beneath the gingerbread head. He beat them both down while wearing the costume, and it was funny. Of course it was Zayn in the costume, as anyone who has watched WWE for a long period of time would realize, but it was still cute and amusing. And that's where the entire thing should have ended.On Friday's edition of the blue brand, in some of the most Vince McMahon-esque booking I've seen in a hot minute, Zayn cut a promo on the empty gingerbread man costume in the middle of the ring, then attacked it. Okay, that's also fine, I guess, as I realize they're trying to turn Zayn fully heel, but then WWE just had to take it even further, and that's when things got ridiculous. Medical staff checked on the, again, EMPTY, costume in the ring and took it back to the trainer's room.We then saw a serious update with Cathy Kelley backstage, accompanied by Williams, who was informed the gingerbread man is dead. At that point Williams vowed to take on Zayn for the title he won at WrestleMania, this time at Backlash. It was then further revealed that a funeral will be held for the gingerbread man on "SmackDown" next week. Yeesh.This is a prime example of "SmackDown" not needing its current three hour runtime, which thankfully, reportedly, comes to an end at the end of the month. The "funeral" is obviously going to lead to a brawl before Backlash between Williams and Zayn, but WWE creative beating the gingerbread man angle into the ground is pretty lame. It also makes Zayn look like a very silly heel, rather than a serious one, which in turn doesn't make him look like any kind of serious contender to get the United States Championship back.Zayn's character direction was already murky as fans started to boo him, and now it's even more confusing, and overall, kind of lame. WWE creative is the real loser this week.Written byDaisyRuth
It can't be the best feeling in the world to give your body to a company, the company to agree that you are worth a number, only for that same company to renege, and be faced with the prospect of taking a lesser number for reasons that don't exactly stand up to scrutiny. So all the respect in the world goes out to Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods for telling them where to stick that number and recognizing the immense value they carry.For years on end, the New Day went from a trio of thrown together talent seemingly destined for the cutting block, to a merchandising powerhouse that brought legitimacy to the Tag Team Championship picture. Kingston went on to leverage that popularity into a WWE Championship win at WrestleMania, and Woods advocated so long for the return of King of the Ring and won the rebooted version.They cut far and away one of the best promos of the 2020s to break away from Big E after his neck injury, and that's without taking into account the work Woods had done with UpUpDownDown outside of the ring, in many ways serving as a proof of concept for the reach talent can have outside of the traditional WWE setting.Simply put, they're aware of their value. They're aware that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods Austin Creed are bigger than just the three letters they represent. And in a market swiftly moving back towards monopolization, they are bold enough to carve their own path forward. There is not a wrestling or entertainment company in the world that wouldn't be improved by having them in and around it. In a world where Ari Emanuel can take $67 million and Mark Shapiro can take $42 million for a single year, it's plain and simple greed to renege on an agreed contract with two locker room leaders and icons with the fans.WWE has, for all of its faults, always been a family business. Talent, for all of their faults, have always spoken about that feeling backstage, a belonging. That's since been hollowed out and departures of names like Kingston and Woods are indicative of that. They're betting on themselves when the company believes they've been overvalued to some extent, and that is just a winning mentality in this world of company-first sentiment.It is my sincere hope, and belief, that they will land on their feet wherever they choose to. TKO will still likely continue to make money hand-over-fist, but the loyalty is gone. And WWE was a business built upon loyalty to a fault.Written byMax Everett
I am not going to go into some emotional diatribe about how TKO Group Holdings essentially threw away two loyal, popular stars, when they let Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston leave the company unceremoniously. Instead, I am going to put this into fairly basic business sense.The New Day, a merchandising powerhouse for the WWE, was not granted the kind of retirement tour that could've spawned a million "One Last New Day" t-shirts. "One final pancake." I think you get the idea. Before being turned heel, New Day were pretty much guaranteed to sell a t-shirt or two, much like John Cena before them. Where John Cena got monthly updates on his "After This, U Can't See Me" merchandise during his year-long retirement tour, The New Day are gone with a Saturday news update and a couple of goodbye tweets.That is, quite simply, loser s***, and that loser s*** is all over TKO's shoes. Considering how others like Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles have so swiftly retired, I would not be surprised if they were railing against similar negotiations. The corporate ens***tification of WWE has been rapid and noticeable. First WrestleMania was more ads than wrestling, and even then contained very little Mania. Now 20-year veterans of the company are being shoved off like Kirk Van Houten at the cracker factory because they know their worth.I have a feeling they'll meet resistance similar to Woods and Kingston. TKO is not dealing with UFC fighters, they are dealing with mercenary wrestlers, at the top of the industry, all of whom either had to squeeze money out of guys like Paul Heyman, Gabe Sapolsky, or Jeremy Borash, or are, in fact, Paul Heyman, Gabe Sapolsky, or Jeremy Borash. It's going to be sharks vs. sharks, and while it's yet to be seen whether or not WWE superstars are more vicious than TKO executives, the executives are certainly outnumbered.Written byRoss Berman
