Another week has gone by in the crazy world of professional wrestling, and you know what that means it's once again time for Wrestling Inc. to name some winners and losers!This past weekend was dominated by WWE Crown Jewel 2026, which controversially took place in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia, but we already went over our winners and losers for that particular event. That said, a lot more went down than just Crown Jewel over the past seven days, including Cruz Montana joining 946, JohnCena revealing more details of the JohnCena Classic, and a star-studded "WWE NXT" going up against "AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts" in a one-night return of the Wednesday Night Wars.Who came out of this week's wrestling wars on top, and who fell in the WINC crew's estimation? That's what we're here today to find out. Here are your WINC winners and losers for the week of 11/9/2026!
Cruz Montana, the former Mike Santana in both AEW and TNA, had himself one heck of a week. First, he was revealed as the sixth member of 946 on "WWE Raw," going face-to-face with World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns himself. The faction then backed him up, to a huge babyface reaction in the WWE Performance Center, during his final match on "WWE NXT," and then he showed up on the blue brand on Friday to help beat down Jimmy Uso.For someone who just officially debuted on "NXT" back in July,departing TNA after losing the promotion's world championship, Montana is now set to seemingly main event one of WWE's big five premium live events when 946 faces off against the Bloodline at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames. Some fans were surprised to see Montana up on the main roster so soon, and it is a bit surprising given the state of the "NXT" men's division and top title picture, but he's got the experience necessary to thrive on "Raw." Montana received plenty of screen time on "NXT" last year, when the developmental brand's partnership with TNA first started, and according to reports, Royce Keys picked him, specifically, to become part of the stable.Keys and the rest of 946 helping him in his final "NXT" match against DarkState's Dion Lennox was a big win on WWE's part this week, as well. Following Montana's debut on the main roster, it seemed up-in-the-air as to whether WWE would keep storyline consistency between "Raw" and "NXT." The involvement of the faction made sense to take out Lennox's stablemates, Cutler James and Osiris Griffin. Montana and 946 stood tall to end the big episode of "NXT," which went up against "AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts," and while the episode didn't win out in the ratings for the big night, it was a cool final shot for the episode, and Montana's "goodbye" to the developmental brand. The Performance Center crowd absolutely loved it, making up their own chants and popping big for the star and 946.Montana bet on himself as a singles competitor when he left AEW in March 2024, after his team with Ortiz fell apart in 2023 as he recovered from a torn ACL. He's also nearing four years of sobriety, after celebrating three back in February. The star has only been on the up-and-up, both personally and professionally, since his AEW departure, and his recent main roster call-up cements that fact.Written by DaisyRuth
Last week on "WWE Raw," John Cena made an appearance to clarify things surrounding the John Cena Classic, the event he previously revealed back at WWE Backlash in May. While some things were indeed clarified, a bit, there's still not a lot that makes sense surrounding the entire thing.One of the only things that is crystal clear surrounding the Classic is its location. It's set for the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. While the event isn't being hosted on Main Street of Magic Kingdom or anything, it still gives the company the headlines of "WWE hosting event at Disney World," and WWE expanding its partnership with the Walt Disney Company is nothing to scoff at.The date of the event, however, is a different story. Cena revealed that the Classic will take place on Monday, December 14. Many fans expected it to be a premium live event, or at least a special, like Saturday Night's Main Event, to counter-program AEW Worlds End. Cena announced that two episodes of "WWE Raw" will take place on the 14th, with the first set to emanate early, in the United States, at least, from Perth, Australia, where the company will be following Wrestlepalooza that weekend, and the second, presumably at its usual time, in Orlando. Two "Raw" episodes in one day doesn't make a lot of sense, as one's rating is likely going to suffer. For a company that loves to counter-program its competition, this seems like a missed opportunity.One of the main unique factors behind the John Cena Classic is that fans get to vote for their favorite, standout star, but the voting is paywalled. You have to be a member of Club WWE (for $100 a year) to cast your vote. A simple vote isn't going to convince a mass amount of people to sign up for that service, especially in the US, where many already have to pay more for ESPN to watch WWE PLEs.The first star announced for the event was Cody Rhodes, and many bewildered fans took to social media, confused, believing the event was meant to highlight younger talent. And it is, but Cena could have done a much better job driving that point home, revealing Rhodes' competitor from "WWE NXT" at the same time.Cena also revealed that the Classic isn't a bracket-style tournament like many presumed, but rather, a series of showcase matches, like at his retirement event last December. That seems like something he could have easily addressed on "Raw," or "NXT," rather than in an interview. For something that was meant to be clarified, the John Cena Classic remains a bit of a mess.Written byDaisyRuth
In hindsight, maybe we were quick to judge Mick Foley for constantly getting on his knees for Megan Bayne.The November 4 episode of "AEW Dynamite" saw the return of All Elite Wrestling's take on the classic WarGames match, Blood and Guts, and it's safe to say that we saw a lot of blood in both matches. I initially wrote about how much I enjoyed the men's match in our Loved and Hated column on that Wednesday night, but as time has gone on, the women's match has stuck with me more and more, and a major reason for that is the performance Megan Bayne put in during that match.The "Megasus" started things off for her team and all looked to be going well for Bayne as she faced off with Kris Statlander, especially when Persephone entered second to give her team the advantage. However, it was while Persephone and Statlander were working over each other that a enormous red puddle could be spotted on the other side of the ring. Statlander wasn't bleeding yet, Persephone had only just arrived, which could only mean that Bayne was busted open, and when I say she was busted open, I mean she looked like she put her face inside of a blender and turned it on just to see if it was working or not.Bayne was bleeding so much that nearly all of the blood that covered the two ring canvases by the end of the match was hers. She was in this match from the very beginning, gave us some of the best visuals of the match, including when Willow Nightingale showed the entire world what Bayne looked like and probably turned a few stomachs in the process, and was still powering on even as her team ended up losing. You know you've put on a blood-soaked masterpiece for the ages when a man once named the "King of the Deathmatch" claims it was a "career-defining performance."There's little chance she becomes a babyface after this match, but much like Skye Blue last year, this was the night where everyone saw Megan Bayne for who she really was, an absolute beast. Long-time fans of hers knew what she was capable of, but after Blood and Guts, Bayne really should be the woman to beat whoever beats Mercedes Mone for the AEW Women's World Championship. Everyone in the women's Blood and Guts match knocked it out of the park, and looking at it now it definitely was better than the men's match, but Bayne was a big reason for the match's success. I will be bowing down to her at all times from now on.Written by Sam Palmer
The current AEW World Champion finds himself in the losers section this week through no fault of his own, but rather the people he trusts the most.Coming into this week, Will Ospreay had the chance to not only make himself a double champion, but solidify himself as the fighting champion in wrestling today. On November 3, he traveled to Japan to compete at NJPW Power Struggle 2026 as he looked to win the IWGP Tag Team Championships with his long-time friend Callum Newman. Then he wanted to hop on a plane back to the United States to be the unofficial captain of his Blood and Guts team for the November 4 episode of "AEW Dynamite," where he, Adam Copeland, The Young Bucks, Darby Allin, and Steven Borden faced off with The Don Callis Family.Ospreay won neither of those matches, and now his AEW World Championship is in more jeopardy than ever.At Power Struggle, Newman got himself disqualified which resulted in The Knockout Brothers retaining their titles. Ospreay and Newman then got into a huge brawl that has led to the two men being booked in a match for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 21 on January 4. One day later, Ospreay found himself inches away from being stabbed in the face with a screwdriver by Kyle Fletcher, the man who will challenge him for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear this weekend, leading to Adam Copeland surrendering on behalf of his team.Two major losses in a two day span would be bad enough, but the possible implications for his title are major. Not many people predict Fletcher to beat Ospreay at FullGear, but because NJPW see Newman as a future top guy, Ospreay being the AEW World Champion leading into that match would cause serious political problems as neither AEW or NJPW would want their respective guys to lose. To make the Wrestle Kingdom match work, Ospreay may have to drop the title before the end of the year, giving Fletcher a golden opportunity.Then there's Copeland, who is already in his final year as a professional wrestler, and we all know Tony Khan can't help himself when it comes to retiring wrestlers. The rift between Ospreay and Copeland following Blood and Guts will inevitably lead to a match between the two if Ospreay retains at Full Gear, and you just get the sense that Copeland could win that, especially if fans lose confidence in Ospreay. It hasn't happened just yet, but Ospreay being so willing to lose as champion could see his reign cut short sooner rather than later.Written by Sam Palmer
Brady Booker might've lost part of his thumb and been eliminated from the 51st season of "Survivor," but it appears his time away from AEW and ROH programming has done him some good. With TBS, TNT, and all the rest of AEW's WBD distribution getting taken over by Skydance, the promotion was happy to hype up the controversial contestant from the Skydance-owned CBS show.Before he went on "Survivor," Brody was, objectively, not a big name. He had wrestled a slew of dark matches in AEW and ROH, and even a couple of matches that made it to ROH on HonorClub. Before that, he was one of the many Chase U members in "WWE NXT." But the way AEW presented him in the video, it sounds like a lot more of his matches are going to make ROH broadcasting, probably even AEW broadcasting. He has done what so many wrestlers try and fail to do with reality television: He got himself over with a promotion.Yes, part of that is good timing, but timing is everything. Change one decision by a second and your whole life will look completely different. If there's no Paramount-WBD merger, I honestly doubt his time on a CBS show would matter quite so much to a Turner property, but there is a merger, and AEW is striking while the iron is hot. The winner of the situation is unquestionably the guy who's in the right place, at the right time, even if he had to lose a chunk of thumb to get there.Written by Ross Berman
