This week’s WWE Raw results took place at Scotiabank Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An epic card was billed, with so much on the line in the final episode before Royal Rumble. There were titles on the line, and championship opportunities to be earned.
“The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles opened the show with some pyro before heading to the ring for a promo. Styles puts his career on the line against “The Ring General” Gunther. Styles first teased his career would indeed end in 2026, but he wants to go on a John Cena-like run. The mention of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship brought out none other than the current champ, CM Punk. After a lengthy verbal exchange, the title match was made for later in the night.
The first action of the night was a six-woman tag match. The WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer teamed with the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley, to take on the women of Judgement Day. The match was straightforward. It was a couple of moments where the heels were in control, leading to various hot tags. Ripley pinned Roxanne Perez for the finish.
Punk and Finn Balor had a brief backstage segment. Balor gave the champ his respect after beating him last week, before the Chicago native made ears in the WWE perk. Is Balor being booked to leave Judgement Day?
The Vision filled the ring for a promo in the next segment. Paul Heyman blamed general manager Adam Pearce for their loss last week, and called him to the ring. Pearce apologized and placed all four wrestlers in the factions in the Royal Rumble this weekend. All this talk set up Austin Theory versus Rey Mysterio.
It was a stereotypical modern-day Mysterio match, before The Vision started fighting Penta and Dragon Lee on the outside. This distraction led to Theory stomping his opponent’s skull into the ring, leading to the pinfall. The faction took out everybody after the bell, getting some heel heat added to the win.
The next match was a fatal four-way number one contender match for the WWE World Tag Team Championship. The four teams were Alpha Academy, Los Americonos, the Creed brothers, and New Day. All teams had their moment to shine, and all four looked good in their own ways. The finish featured Akira Tazawa taking out all three teams before climbing to the top rope. From there, he hit a massive senton before picking up the surprise victory.
It was finally time for one of the biggest main events in recent history. Styles vs. Punk, two name-brand talents fighting for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It was apparent that both men wanted to make it special. The stiff blows and false finishes were on point. Balor got intense heel-heat by ruining the match, before beating the life out of the champ to end the show.
It’ll be interesting to see how NXT and SmackDown wrap up the road to Royal Rumble. Who else will declare for the rumble, and who could make a surprise appearance this Saturday?
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