Another week has gone by in the wacky world of professional wrestling, and while there wasn't a PPV or PLE this week, that won't stop us from naming some winners and losers! After all, plenty of things went down on TV this week, from Mercedes Mone's big return on "AEW Dynamite" to a surprising King of the Ring loss by Seth Rollins on the Paris episode of "WWE Raw" that ended mere hours ago as of this writing. And those aren't the only notable things that took place over the last seven days.Where does Mone's return leave the AEW women's division? What opportunities present themselves now that Rollins has bowed out of KOTR? And why does WWE inexplicably hate New Orleans? These and more questions will be answered below here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 6/8/26!
Kevin Knight may not be a loser in the sense that he lost a match on last week's "AEW Dynamite." In fact, he successfully defended his TNT Championship against former friend "Speedball" Mike Bailey. But what happened earlier in the episode plants him firmly in the "L" column. If you didn't expect Knight to be revealed as the newest member of the Don Callis Family, join the club; we're all sad and exasperated here, as the reaction to the move online was overwhelmingly negative."The Jet" is by no means a loser when it comes to fan perception, either, even though he dramatically turned heel at the very end of Double or Nothing, taking out an already injured Darby Allin. Fans have been so glad that he's getting a bigger shot in AEW, after winning the TNT Championship in the Casino Gauntlet Match at AEW Dynasty, and ever since, he's also been gunning for the AEW World Championship. His "JetSpeed" tag team with Bailey was also beloved, and when he was brought out as a member of the DCF, watching from home, at least, it felt like some of the air was sucked out of the arena.Fellow Family member Andrade El Idolo had just squashed Vandu in a match, then called out MJF for his shot at the top title, when Don Callis and Jake Doyle came down to the ring. Rather than support Andrade in his quest to topple MJF, or mention anything about the newly-returned Doyle at his side, Callis instead brought out the "newest member of the Don Callis Family." That's when Knight's music hit, and AEW fans around the globe collectively groaned.Outside of the fact the stable has far too many members to begin with, to the point it's been a meme for a few months now, Knight should have been given more opportunity to make it on his own as a heel. Outside of a few top heels, like MJF, FTR, and Tommaso Ciampa, every other bad guy on the roster, it seems, is a member of the DCF. Knight was given all of two weeks to be a heel on his own before he was randomly thrown into the faction.His explanation for joining is that he wants to become "Kevin Two Belts," but he was already going after MJF before joining the faction. He had also been positioned to align with Swerve Strickland in the months prior, when Knight's heel turn was only just starting to be teased. Now, it feels as though Knight will be lost in the shuffle when it comes to the monstrous DCF, and the move was something fans all across social media criticized.Written by Daisy Ruth
"The CEO" Mercedes Mone made her return to AEW television, appearing for the first time in 2026, on "AEW Dynamite" on Wednesday as the wild card in the Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Mone took the place of the injured now-former TBS Champion Willow Nightingale, and defeated Alex Windsor to move on and get one step closer to challenging for the AEW Women's World Championship at Wembley Stadium. Between her return and the major victory, Mone is a big winner this week.Despite appearing toward the middle of the show rather than in the main event, Mone still got an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the Richmond, Virginia crowd, even up against a babyface like Windsor. Mone moved like she hadn't missed a beat in AEW, despite her last match for the company taking place on New Years Eve last year and her most recent match overall coming a little over two months prior to her getting back in an AEW ring. She looked great and she scored a decisive win over Windsor, who she tapped out with the Statement Maker after hitting her with a backstabber.The AEW Women's title is one belt that has eluded Mone throughout her time in the company. With the positive reaction she got upon her return, with the clean victory she scored over Windsor, it could have been time for AEW to run with a babyface "CEO" to challenge Thekla at All In: London in August. However, the win wasn't enough for Mone, and she made her presence known on "AEW Collision, as well.On Saturday, Mone racked up another "W" for the column, this time in a more heelish manner, when she attacked both rival Persephone, who defeated her for the CMLL World Women's title back in March, and her next Owen opponent, Hazuki. After the match when Persephone and Hazuki embraced, Mone nailed Persephone with the Owen title and locked in the Statement Maker. She attacked Hazuki as well, but it was Hazuki who got the last laugh in the end when she took out Mone after they had been separated by security.Even if Mone is back to her heelish ways, fans of women's wrestling win this week, as she's desperately needed in AEW with both Nightingale and "Timeless" Toni Storm on the shelf. Her character is so different from Thekla, that match for the women's title could still work really well, if that's the way AEW is going for All In. Either way, the "CEO" is back and ready to dominate, and the women's division in AEW already feels much stronger because of it.Written byDaisyRuth
Every man has known a beautiful woman with a bad boyfriend. A shining beauty, with a sparkling personality, whose doofus, chud boyfriend treats her like s***. Not abusive, just neglectful. You can't intervene, it's not your place, you just hope that some day she'll understand she deserves better for herself.Such is the city of New Orleans. One of America's greatest cities, home to Professor Longhair, Dr. John, and Trombone Shorty. The city that gave us Mardi Gras, and that magical concoction of rum, pineapple juice, and passionfruit known as "The Hurricane." An unsinkable city that wrestled with nature and compromised levees and won, still standing as the floodwaters receded.It is a singular place in the rich tapestry that is the United States, and WWE is treating it like dirt.First, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced that WrestleMania would return to the city, only for the company to change course, and give WrestleMania to Las Vegas for the second year in a row. They then gave the next WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia, and let New Orleans settle for an unseasonably late Money In The Bank in September. Now they've moved the event to October, and it just feels like WWE is doing everything it can to kick the can down the road, and not deal with the fact that they just don't seem to think that New Orleans is all that worth it.WrestleMania 30 and WrestleMania 34 were both rollicking parties, in and out of the arena. There is simply no city with the atmosphere for wrestling like New Orleans. Vegas might have glitz, and Saudi Arabia might have a garden in the desert, but New Orleans has bonafide soul, and it is crushing to see it treated like any third-rate college town.Written by Ross Berman
Sucks to be Seth Rollins ... this week.The 2026 King of the Ring had found its first two semi-finalists in Oba Femi and Dominik Mysterio heading into Monday's bout pitting a field of Rollins, Je'Von Evans, Talla Tonga, and Ricky Saints. And with Rollins having never actually lost the title now held by arch-rival Roman Reigns, one would have expected him to be making a play at renewing their acquaintance at the biggest party of the summer.In fact, there had been rumors circulating that Rollins and Femi were being eyed as major Reigns programs in the coming future. Thus lending to the idea that, even without winning it all, Rollins would have been somewhere in and around the finals. That proved not to be the case when Evans ultimately pinned Saints to qualify for the next round, where he will meet the winner of a four-way between Jey Uso, LA Knight, Finn Balor, and Royce Keys.Rollins will instead continue to be stuck in the Vision Vortex of his own making, as his former pupil Bron Breakker and Austin Theory emerged to cost him the match. Heaven forbid the Tag Team Champions focused on being a tag team for a little while.But, as one door closes for just one person, a few others have remained slightly ajar. Evans is the pick of the bunch, getting his win in spite of Rollins and advancing to keep a "WWE NXT" rivalry renewal possible for the final. Oba Femi has one less main event caliber talent and proven winner standing in his way, even if Brock Lesnar's shadow looms over his entire run.Dominik Mysterio will either benefit from that shadow or withstand a beating from Femi but he has a chance, and that's more than can be said about Rollins. And the other four potential semi-finalists will be facing Evans, which given he is a young up-and-coming talent on the WWE main roster, is about the best chance they can have of going to the final.The tournament seems a little more open now. The seal has been broken and interference has already cost one of the favorites to win dearly. Mysterio is someone that can only benefit from that type of precedent, considering the Judgment Day always waiting in the wings. But so can the likes of Jey Uso, given his Bloodline backing, and knowing he will be facing Evans in the semi-final would in the realms of kayfabe lean towards him having better chances than against Rollins.Sucks to be Rollins, sure, but the others will surely be sighing a breath of relief that he is out of the running.Written by Max Everett
