It's been quite the week in the wide world of professional wrestling and there wasn't even a major event on the docket! The last seven days featured two world title changes on TV, as WWE and AEW both have new top champions after last week's "Raw" and "Dynamite," respectively. We also saw some lesser title changes, plus major returns on both sides in the form of Baron Corbin and "Hangman" Adam Page.But 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 Kenny Omega to Sami Zayn, here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 7/13/2026!
It was clear to anyone paying attention that Sami Zayn was going to be a transitional WWE Champion, but even so, a nine-day title run was a bit of a gut punch for the Ride-or-Dies. Not only did Sami lose in his very first title defense, he didn't even make it to Saturday Night's Main Event, let alone SummerSlam. Instead, Sami's reign came to an end on "Raw," at the hands of CM Punk, of all people (Zayn and Punk have had real-life issues in the past, though Zayn has claimed they buried the hatchet after Punk returned to WWE).Not only did Zayn's stint as champion not even get into double digits, he didn't appear on "WWE SmackDown" and his SummerSlam direction is unclear. Punk will defend against Cody Rhodes at the two-night event in Minneapolis, and they'll team up to take on Zayn and GUNTHER at Saturday Night's Main Event in Madison Square Garden, but unless GUNTHER ends up being his opponent, there isn't an obvious one lined up and it looks an awful lot like "The Career Killer" is going to pull Nick Aldis out of retirement for a SummerSlam match. Where does that leave Zayn?Punk became Undisputed WWE Champion in his hometown of Chicago. He and Rhodes waltzed into their SummerSlam match like a pair of old lovers. GUNTHER choked out the "SmackDown" general manager. Zayn lost his title, took a "mental health break," and looks to be out of the main event picture after SNME. Even for those of us who still ride or die for "The Last Real Good Guy," he can't be anything but a loser this week.Written by Miles Schneiderman
There were a lot of clear winners this week, but one sleeper was the Bloodline storyline for getting a much-needed, albeit small, shot in the arm with the inclusion of Royce Keys into the secondary angle surrounding the stable. Keys had been involved in backstage segments with both Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu over the last few months, so him confronting Fatu and Jimmy Uso on Friday's edition of "WWE SmackDown" was logical on WWE's part, for once.Uso and Fatu called out Sikoa, who has been targeting Uso with his Samoan Spike for the last few weeks, on Friday, but they were confronted by Keys, instead. Keys tried to reason with Fatu, saying the infighting within the Bloodline family was ridiculous as he wished he could call up family members he no longer has. Keys tried to get through to Fatu, and said blood doesn't make someone family. He called Fatu his "brother," and the "Samoan Werewolf" said he was "out" before leaving the ring, leaving Uso to deal with Keys in a match.That match saw interference by Sikoa, who was then beaten down by Fatu after Uso beat Keys in the ring. While Keys didn't want to link up with Sikoa and the MFTs in various backstage segments in the past, now that Sikoa has no family, it seems like the story could be headed in the direction where the men team up. Though that's not likely to work with Keys trying to "save" Fatu, and Sikoa looking for retribution, though he has also tried to reason with Fatu, in a more heelish way. If that's the direction WWE is headed, it's interesting, and a big win.It doesn't seem like many fans are too excited with World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns' story with SummerSlam opponent, and lest anyone forgets, former Shield stablemate Seth Rollins, so the Bloodline angle needed a little something extra for its secondary members. Rollins and Reigns' build seems like it's going to be based entirely around Shield lore, so the others in the Bloodline really needed something to do for the next few weeks.Brand split aside when it comes to "WWE Raw" stars Fatu and the Usos, "SmackDown" desperately needs some fresher stories. Keys' involvement with the Bloodline, perhaps heading toward a SummerSlam match against Fatu, feels like just the thing the blue brand needs right now.Written by DaisyRuth
This past week hasn't been the best for "The Alpha"Konosuke Takeshita as he is not only down a belt, but he's already off to a rough start in wrestling's toughest tournament.Starting with All Elite Wrestling, Takeshita looked to finally settle the score between himself and Kyle Fletcher on the Beach Break edition of "AEW Dynamite." Takeshita put his AEW International Championship on the line in a match that many were surprised to see take place on free television, but when you consider Takeshita's upcoming schedule, it's a lot easier to understand why Wednesday didn't go his way. Fletcher ended up beating Takeshita to become the new champion, and considering Takeshita's level of talent, his second reign as AEW International Champion really didn't have anything going for it.Sure, he beats Kazuchika Okada at AEW Double or Nothing 2026 to win the title, but after that, he ended up getting involved in The Conglomeration's business where he ended up being more of a background character. Successful title defenses against Daniel Garcia, Ricochet, and Lee Johnson were good, but nothing to get too crazy about, just solid work that needed something extra to make people get excited. To see his reign end like this is a shame because it could have been so much more.However, with no AEW gold around his waist, that frees him up to have a big run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, right? Not necessarily.On Saturday, July 11, the opening night of NJPW's annual G1 Climax took place just outside Chicago Illinois. Takeshita had the daunting task of main eventing the show against the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and known AEW hater Yota Tsuji, but he won the G1 Climax last year so surely he was going to kick on and get his 2026 campaign off to a great start, or so we thought. Tsuji was on fire in Chicago and after a 20-minute encounter, he got the win and kicked off his campaign with two vital points. What makes the loss even tougher for Takeshita isn't just the fact that it's his second loss to Tsuji this year, but the fact that he was beaten by Tsuji's new finisher, the Fire Blaster, a move that looks impressive but might not be as good as his original finisher.Takeshita will likely make up the lost points against Tsuji in the coming weeks, and is still one of the favorites for this year's G1. With that said, with two major losses back-to-back, it's going to be an uphill struggle for "The Alpha."Written bySam Palmer
Baron Corbin is made to be a WWE superstar. Professional wrestling was made for big, loudmouth pro football players, who are too hurt for the NFL, but can still talk some trash and throw a guy around. The fact that WWE ever let him go is ridiculous.I have many issues with Corbin's return booking, but I have a lot of issues with WWE booking right now in general. That doesn't change the fact that Corbin is a big ass-kicker, at a time when the company is bleeding off big ass-kickers like Sheamus. He is simply the right mix of personality and size for WWE's weird circus.It's always felt like a forgone conclusion that he'd be back. Like Matt Cardona before him, his indie wrestling/MLW character was basically a guy who was waiting for the call from WWE to come back. It didn't take Corbin nearly as long as Cardona, either. Whether they decide to make him Danhausen's heavy or whether they decide to pay off on his potential as the man who retired Kurt Angle, Corbin is back where he belongs.Written by Ross Berman
AEW highlighted just how many championships there are in the company, and not in a good way this week. Kenny Omega's AEW World Championship victory on free television aside, there were many examples of how there is just too much gold on too many men in AEW. That started on "AEW Dynamite" before Omega's victory.Konosuke Takeshita took on Kyle Fletcher and dropped his AEW International Championship to the "Protostar." Takeshita's championship victory over Kazuchika Okada at Double or Nothing was so hyped up, and Fletcher's heel turn afterward was incredible. But that was just at the end of May, and it seems like their feud isn't over, and this title change could have been prolonged. However, Takeshita is once again in NJPW's G1 Classic, so it seems like AEW had him drop the title to Fletcher because he'll be presumably away from the company for around a month. That seems a bit ridiculous, as some of these championships are rarely defended anyway (looking at the Conglomeration's trios titles). Takeshita could have easily been off TV while still holding the championship.Elsewhere on the show, Andrade El Idolo decided instead of challenging for the AEW World Championship, which he's been after for quite some time now, he's going to focus on the two titles within the Don Callis Family. This week, he'll challenge Jake Doyle for the shot to get to Mark Davis and the National Championship, which is a major step down from the world title picture. That's likely because the title is back in the hands of another babyface, one who is set to take on Will Ospreay in a huge match at Wembley Stadium next month, but it just feels so odd for the mega-hot Andrade after he was reminding Callis, when he was still in the faction, for weeks that he wanted a world title match.On "AEW Collision," "Hangman" Adam Page made his much-awaited return to the company. In his promo, he acknowledged the fact he can no longer challenge for the AEW World Championship, after losing to MJF at Revolution. He then listed the titles he can challenge for, in yet another reminder there are a ton of titles within the company. He mentioned the TNT Championship, the National Championship, Jon Moxley's Continental title, and the International Championship.AEW having five singles men's titles, with the ROH Champion Bandido sometimes defending on the show, as well, along with two other singles ROH belts, is a lot. Right now, the only title that feels remotely special is the AEW World Championship, a title with competitors currently set through All In: London. That match is so big that the copious amount of other titles feel inferior.Written by DaisyRuth
He was a winner last week, but this week, he's THE winner!Nearly five years on from the last time he had the AEW World Championship around his waist, Kenny Omega has once again reached the mountain top of All Elite Wrestling. His win over MJF at the Beach Break edition of "AEW Dynamite" was one of the biggest feel-good moments of the year, and considering how much of a roll AEW has been on in 2026, that is a big achievement.Obviously, winning a world title is a natural reason to be included as a winner for one of these pieces, but the match itself needs to be given some flowers as well. For the past few years at least, it has seemed that AEW has been trying to get the NJPW version of Omega to show up for the big occasions, forgetting the fact that Omega's rise to the top of that company happened nearly 10 years ago. He's not the same guy anymore, he can't do a lot of the stuff he did in the mid-2010s because he's been beaten from pillar to post since then. That has led to some people feeling a bit let down when it comes to watching Omega wrestle in the big 2026, but this recent win was a prime example of how he's evolved.While he's lost a step in terms of pace, he's gained a step in terms of creating those big moments that he was already brilliant at in Japan. The whole "kicking out at one when he feels disrespected" schtick he has now arguably gets a bigger pop than most finishing moves on any wrestling show, and only Omega knows how to get it done right everyone else just seems to jump the shark on that one. He's more vicious in exchanges and he understands the age factor causes him to be on the back foot from the start, so when he's able to get down and dirty in the dying embers of the match, everything he does has that extra punch to it.Now that he is the champion, the exciting period of speculating what his reign could look like begins. Who will he face at AEW Redemption 2026? Will they have him beat Will Ospreay at AEW All In London 2026? How long will Tony Khan have Omega as champion? If things go well over the next few weeks, maybe having Ospreay lose at Wembley Stadium wouldn't be such a bad idea. The possibilities really are endless with Omega on top, so let's enjoy this ride while we can. Given the diverticulitis battle, we're lucky to be on it at all.Written by Sam Palmer
