On a night that saw CM Punk wrestle AJ Styles (to a DQ) here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/26/26 episode of "WWE Raw!"
Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where we might have had a new World Heavyweight Champion if not for that meddling Irishman! Yes, Finn Balor interrupted a world title match between CM Punk and the possibly-retiring-soon AJ Styles this week, and boy do we ever have thoughts about it! In fact, fully half our column is devoted to that match and its aftermath, simply because the WINC staff had such strong feelings — but don't think we're neglecting the rest of the card! We might not be talking about Alpha Academy's big win, but we will certainly discuss the entire Vision making it into the rapidly-filling Royal Rumble match, as well as the follow-up from Natalya's heel turn and the six-woman tag team bout that served as the show's in-ring opener.
If you missed Monday's festivities in Toronto, feel free to catch up via our "Raw" results page. If you want to know what the WINC crew thought of the show, this is the place to be. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 1/26/26 episode of "WWE Raw!"
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Hated: Nattie should've cut her heel promo in front of a Canadian crowd
Last week, Nattie unceremoniously turned heel when she put Becky Lynch's foot on the rope to screw Maxxine Dupri. Why Nattie, why? We found out *checks notes* in a video that aired during "Raw."
In the video, Nattie says Maxxine failed her. "You think because you rolled with a legend, you could roll like a legend?" She says that'll never happen because she's "a whole new me." The former "Queen of Harts" declared that when she's done with Maxxine, she's coming for everything as it cuts to a clip of Becky Lynch holding the Women's IC title. The video ends with "because Natalya elevates, Nattie dominates." That's a really great line and I love that we've been getting the "Low Key Legend" on WWE programming, which is what makes this even more frustrating.
The heel turn was done hastily. If you want to sell people on the heel turn, why would you have the follow up be in a video? That should have been an in-ring segment, especially because they were in her home country of Canada. Imagine the heat she could've gotten from her fellow Canadians if she said all of this in the ring. She should have said it directly to Dupri and the fans could've deduced that Nattie was coming from the IC title since that was the title on the line during the match that she interfered in. This version of Nattie is the most compelling she's been in a while and it would better be served in the ring now that we've had all the vignettes of her training Dupri. At the very least, it could've been a backstage segment with Jackie Redmond questioning her actions.
Written by Samantha Schipman
Loved: SNME but better
At Saturday Night's Main Event this past weekend, Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY defended their women's tag titles against Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez. It was a very good match that some might say was marred by interference from Raquel Rodriguez and Stephanie Vaquer. So naturally, on "Raw," all three female members of The Judgment Day teamed up against Ripley, SKY, and Vaquer in a six-woman tag match.
While the SNME match had the advantage of having stakes, the "Raw" match was overall better, essentially being run as the exact same thing but without the interference and with Vaquer (always a delight in the ring) and Rodriguez, who is thriving in her current role as TJD's heavy hitter. Sure, Perez took the fall this time instead of Morgan, but the finish was essentially the same beyond that, and it was an overwhelmingly fun match with a clean ending on a show that didn't have a ton of that. Two really good matches in three days? Not sure how much more we could reasonably ask for from these six.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Hated: A disappointing meeting
Well, it looks like WWE is indeed not planning on running any kind of match between Bron Breakker and "Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce anytime soon.
Given that things between Breakker and Pearce have become incredibly heated on multiple occasions, I expected their face-to-face tonight to be much more tense than it actually ended up being. All that really happened during this several minute segment was Adam Pearce briefly apologizing to Breakker, announcing The Vision all had spots in the 2026 Men's Royal Rumble, and setting up the subsequent match between Austin Theory and Rey Mysterio. It felt like it was a major let down when all was said and done, especially considering that it was one of the bigger segments on tonight's show amidst the few segments that was properly advertised ahead of tonight's show. I know that we're talking about WWE and I've learned to not get my hopes up after watching this company week in and week out, but I still expected more from this segment and was vastly disappointed by what came out of it.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Loved: A dream match main event
Well, this weekend is sure being built as though it's going to be AJ Styles' last hoorah in WWE. Monday's show saw him come out to address the crowd before being interrupted by World Heavyweight Champion and fellow indie darling-turned-WWE legend CM Punk.
The two then did essentially an improv skit, teasing the crowd with the idea of them having their first and potentially only ever singles match in the near future, only to then bemoan the fact that they may not be able to if Gunther wins; with a big old grin on his face Styles feigned offense at the idea he couldn't beat Gunther, saying he could beat Punk and thus after a lot of self-indulgent, "Yeah we know this is the match you want," back and forth it was finally announced they would face each other in the main event.
The main event itself was unfortunately a shell of what it would have been 20 or even 10 years ago. But that's by no means intended to say it was bad. It was what you would expect from two of the greatest wrestlers in the world throughout the 2000-10s in 2026. I was born in 2000 and grew up with Styles and Punk as two of my favorite wrestlers, and while watching Styles in TNA and Punk in WWE there had always been that question over if they would ever step in the ring together.
That sentimentality helped to bridge any form of gap in terms of the match quality. This was a moment both in each man's careers but for me as a wrestling fan. Even if it was a moment that very could and maybe should, in another life, have been on the marquee for WrestleMania.
Punk and Styles exchanged their greatest hits and the story was there, once again teasing the audience with the idea that Styles could win his third World title just days before a career threatening match. There was a really close near-fall on a Styles Clash, Punk had Styles almost counted out with a GTS on the floor, and everything was building to a great climax. That was until...
Written by Max Everett
Hated: Dream match disqualification
...Finn Balor showed up after teasing a babyface turn to cause a disqualification in the main event between Styles and Punk. And that's just annoying, because nothing good can ever not come with a bait-and-switch.
Balor was Punk's last challenger when "Raw" hit Northern Ireland, wrestling what was, for all intents and purposes, a pretty babyface performance. Go figure, since it was an Irish crowd and he is an Irish star. It's not as though we haven't seen the home hero play up to the crowd for one night only, but then during this week's show he walked up all respectful and potentially turning a new leaf as he thanked Punk for the night and the opportunity. Punk then said he should consider leaving the Judgment Day, because Punk clearly watches the product as well, and Balor looked to be genuinely considering it. Progress.
Another backstage segment rolled around, and Balor was looking to continue turning that leaf with an entry into the Royal Rumble. Adam Pearce said that the Rumble was full, which is hilariously odd considering the very nature of the Rumble. That sent Balor into perhaps the most reasonable crash out in WWE history. And then Liv Morgan hit Balor with the "I heard what Punk said" and then that appeared to be all she wrote. But no, Balor turned up during the main event to attack Punk while he had Styles on his shoulders. One thing. Can we not just have one stinking thing? I get that Balor should continue his world title program, and I am a massive fan of Balor's work in the ring, but it didn't have to come at the detriment of yet another main event and the only bit of progress WWE had made in Balor's arc of late.
Balor could very well have done the attack on Punk after the match had concluded to close the show. To the presumed counter-argument that Styles couldn't lose before facing Gunther, there are a few prepared responses: Styles losing would add an added sense of jeopardy to the match that has his career on the line; Styles losing wouldn't exactly make a difference to the significance of this weekend; Styles losing to Punk is not a major loss even if he is planned to beat Gunther, Punk is World Champion presumably heading into WrestleMania; Styles did lose, he lost by disqualification.
It's just annoying to be given something in a way that says, "Hey, we're throwing this dream match out on TV because we don't know if we will have another chance," and it wind up with, "Sike, you'll get what you're given and what you're given is the exact same every week."
Written by Max Everett
Loved: Finn Balor character arc remains babyface or heel mystery
I can't say I expected a big main event push, especially a pretty interesting one, for Finn Balor in the year 2026, but I also can't say I'm disappointed by it, as a fan of his. I didn't think any more would come of Balor and CM Punk's story in the ring after Balor lost to the World Heavyweight Champion in his home country of Ireland a few weeks ago, and I'm glad to be wrong. Balor's story tonight was kind of a rollercoaster, and I really enjoyed it.
It started off with babyface turn tease in a backstage segment with Punk, when Balor thanked him for what he did at the end of their match last week, when Punk raised his hand to celebrate in front of the Irish crowd. Punk then told Balor if he wanted to become champion, he needed to leave Judgment Day. The faction's breakup has been an ongoing story for what feels like forever now on "Raw," I thought we actually might be headed toward it this time. Liv Morgan wasn't a huge fan of that, as we saw in another backstage segment, which did further the power struggle storyline between the two of them, which I thought was good no matter what Balor decided to do.
Balor then went to do the right thing and ask "Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce if he could enter the Royal Rumble, doing the honorable thing to try and get another title match, and Pearce told him the Rumble match was full. That's when I started to think Balor wasn't actually turning face like they'd be teasing, because now, he has to whip some a**, perhaps maybe even pulling out The Demon, to get into the match. Or, he could just go out there and attack Punk during his main event match with AJ Styles, like we saw at the end of the night tonight. If "Raw" was going to end in yet another DQ, at least it was Balor doing something rather than The Vision.
If we're not just speed running Styles' retirement tour, I think he gets a match against Balor. WWE would never acknowledge the meeting of the former Bullet Club leaders, but fans would sure know. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, because I do think Styles retires at the Royal Rumble, but a Styles vs. Balor short storyline and number one contender's match would be really good. The Royal Rumble is certainly shaping up to be an interesting PLE for many different reasons, and I'm excited to see what happens for Balor moving forward.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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Category: General Sports
