Monday Night Raw Review - January 19, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Gunther Challenged AJ Styles to a Career-Threatening Match at the Royal Rumble

Gunther declaring for the men's Royal Rumble was hardly surprising, but I wasn't expecting him and Styles to run it back as soon as the Rumble event. They had a good exchange here and it made sense for Gunther to offer that up as the stipulation considering he already beat Styles last week. I also loved that Gunther gave him until the end of the night to accept as it provided the rest of the show with a strong hook. Styles ultimately accepted in a backstage segment, so it's set for the Rumble.

Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch def. Maxxine Dupri

Being an Ireland native, Lynch was the clear fan favorite here, so I don't think this had the same underdog dynamic for Dupri that the other encounters did. Plus, they've had so many matches by this point that I think people are just ready for this rivalry to be over. This was decent, but you had to know Natalya was turning on Dupri from the moment it was established she'd be in Dupri's corner. It's been a long time coming, but hopefully this means we'll be getting her Nattie Neidhart persona from the independent scene imminently.

World Tag Team Champion Jey Uso Declared for the Men's Royal Rumble Match

This was so short that it almost wasn't even worth devoting an entire section to, but it was notable with Jey declaring himself for the men's Rumble. Of course, you had to expect that with him having won last year's men's Rumble, but at least it's now official. This was quick and inoffensive, so I have no complaints. Interestingly, the commentators mentioned that Jey probably should have run this by Jimmy first based on conversations they've had in recent months where they weren't on the same page.

Penta, Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee def. The Vision (Austin Theory, Bronson Reed and Logan Paul)

This was essentially an extension of last week's tag team match with Penta and Lee taking on Reed and Theory, except this had an actual finish. It was well wrestled and had enjoyable action, so I appreciated that. What I didn't appreciate was Theory eating the pinfall. I know it made more sense than Reed or Paul taking the loss for their team, but I'm worried that being the fall guy will be Theory's role in The Vision going forward. If so, this latest "push" of his is doomed to fail.

The Judgment Day Attacked WWE Women's Tag Team Champions RHIYO

Yes, WWE is indeed referring to Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY as RHIYO now and that's their confirmed team name, which is cool. This was a simple segment to hype the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship clash for Saturday Night's Main Event as well as the women's Rumble that all four women have announced their participation in. Morgan feels like the biggest contender to win the Rumble right now, especially if she's getting the tag team stuff out of the way this weekend.

El Grande Americano def. Je'Von Evans by Referee Stoppage

Evans has knocked off Bravo Americano and Rayo Americano in the last few weeks, so this was a logical match to do. What we got was fine, but Evans was apparently injured during the commercial break and the contest had to be called off. I really hope this was a case of them being cautious and that it isn't anything serious because he just debuted on the main roster.

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk def. Finn Balor

First of all, Balor coming out to his old entrance music was awesome and made him feel like a big deal for a change. Bring it back permanently, please! I'd love to see a renewed push for a babyface Balor, but I'm not at all optimistic that's going to happen. Nonetheless, this was a very entertaining main event. Punk and Balor had great chemistry together, and although there was no reason to think Balor would win, I thought he had a strong showing in defeat.

Overall Show

Like I said last week, the earlier start times for these international shows are always refreshing. Even putting that aside, this was still a thumbs-up edition of Raw. I didn't care much for the latest round of Lynch vs. Dupri, but I'm glad Natalya finally betrayed her. The World Heavyweight Championship main event was above average and we're got overdue developments for the Rumble, so I'd say it was a successful show on the whole.

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