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WWE Raw Results (1/19/26): Punk & Lynch Retain, Styles To Put Career On The Line

CM Punk and Becky Lynch both left Belfast, Northern Ireland with their respective championships, AJ Styles will put his career on the line at the Royal Rumble, Nattie turned heel and Je'Von Evans suffered an injury. Here are all the results from WWE Raw.
Rick Ucchino|
CM Punk
CM Punk | WWE

WrestleMania season started early in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday afternoon.

Finn Balor returned home to his island and he brought his old theme music with him. The Balor Club was fully behind their guy as he wrestled a banger main event match against CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, but unfortunately for all of Ireland, he came up short.

Nevertheless, Finn put on the type of performance that should give fans hope that the PrinXe still has what it takes to be a world champion again. Even Punk had to give Balor a tip of the hat after their match was over. 

Don't fret, though, Ireland, Becky Lynch is still your Women's Intercontinental Champion. The Man successfully defeated Maxxine Dupri after her mentor Natalya shockingly betrayed her. Meanwhile, several women's superstars declared themselves for the Women's Royal Rumble Match, and AJ Styles may be retiring at the end of this month.

Desperate for a rematch against Gunther, the future WWE Hall of Famer agreed to put his career on the line against The Ring General at the Royal Rumble. Here's everything you may have missed on Monday afternoon's episode of WWE Raw on Netflix.

WWE Raw Results:

Gunther
Gunther | Netflix

Gunther kicked off the show to loud chants of "you tapped out," but his smile never wavered. The Ring General said that AJ Styles made a big mistake last week by not realizing that he was in the ring with the greatest wrestler in WWE.

Following his victory, Gunther said he was ready to get back on the road to winning the World Heavyweight Championship and officially declared for the Men's Royal Rumble Match. Styles had other plans in mind.

The Phenomenal One came down to the ring and said the only mistake he made last week was when he showed Gunther mercy. Styles said he should have ripped off his leg and beat him with the bloody end. Styles then challenged him to a rematch at the Royal Rumble.

The Ring General said that had no interest in pulling double duty and that there was no incentive for him to wrestle Styles again, unless he was willing to put his career on the line. He gave him until the end of the night to give him an answer.

Maxxine Dupri was shown warming up for her upcoming title match when she noticed that Natalya was backstage. Nattie said she came all the way to Belfast to make sure Dupri's fight with Becky Lynch was fair.

Becky Lynch defeated Maxxine Dupri to retain the Women's Intercontinental Championship after Nattie turned on her former protégé. Maxxine should have won her title back. After a strong back-and-forth contest, a desperate Lynch pulled the padding off the top turnbuckle, but it was her face that ended up connecting with the exposed steel.

Dupri then dropped her with a big spin kick and had The Man beat, but Natalya put Becky's foot on the rope. A dumbfounded Maxxine turned around into a Man-Handle Slam and Lynch retained the title.

After the match, Nattie relentlessly attacked Maxxine and locked her in the Sharpshooter.

Raw GM Adam Pearce was shown chatting with AJ Styles backstage and he made sure that he knew he didn't have to accept Gunther's challenge. Styles said he was going to go call his wife and Paul Heyman stepped into frame. Pearce informed The Oracle that he would personally be sitting ringside for The Vision's six-man tag team match to ensure that chaos didn't erupt this week.

Inside the Judgment Day clubhouse, Raquel Rodriguez revealed that Stephanie Vaquer is still not cleared to wrestle, but she promised to win the Women's World Title once La Primera is healthy enough to defend it. Liv Morgan then hyped up everyone ahead of their respective title matches, and Finn Balor vowed not to leave Northern Ireland without the World Heavyweight Championship.

Jey Uso was flying solo on the night and he made his trademark entrance in front of a fired-up Belfast crowd. Jey sent love back home to Jimmy and his wife Naomi and then declared his intentions on becoming a back-to-back Men's Royal Rumble winner.

The New Day ran into Adam Pearce as he was on his way to the ring. They wanted to know what was going on with the World Tag Team Championship and Pearce informed them that there would be a Fatal 4-Way Number No. 1 Contender's Match next Monday night in Toronto.

Penta, Dragon Lee & Rey Mysterio defeated Austin Theory, Logan Paul and Bronson Reed. This was an absolutely fire six-man tag team match, but it did not end cleanly. Logan Paul attempted to slide his brass knuckles to Austin Theory, but they were intercepted by Adam Pearce.

Paul Heyman and Pearce then began to argue at ringside, and the Raw GM placed the knucks on the ring apron for Rey Mysterio to find. The WWE Hall of Famer clocked Theory with a loaded right hand behind the referee's back, and Penta followed up with a Mexican Destroyer for the win.

Paul Heyman chased down Adam Pearce backstage and called him the greatest General Manager that Raw has ever seen. But he said he was going to miss Pearce after he was removed from the show and told him that he may want to answer an incoming phone call.

Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY cut an in-ring promo where they promised to successfully defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship this weekend at Saturday Night's Main Event, but that's not all. They became the first two women to declare for the Royal Rumble, and that announcement brought out Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez.

Liv vowed to win back "her" Women's Tag Team Titles in Montreal this Saturday and then informed Rhiyo that all three women from Judgment Day will also be in the Women's Royal Rumble. Raquel Rodriguez snuck into the ring and decked Rhea with a big boot before dropping IYO with a Tejana Bomb. Ripley tried to fight back, but Morgan took her down with an ObLIVion to stand tall.

We saw Bayley backstage and she was having a heated conversation with herself about coming up short in last week's No. 1 Contender's Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles. Lyra Valkyria interrupted and said she couldn't help but think she was letting her friend down. The Role Model then got a big smile on her face and said Lyra could never let her down. They have all year to win the tag titles, but first, one of them could win the Women's Royal Rumble.

El Grande Americano defeated Je'Von Evans via referee stoppage. This match unfortunately didn't have a chance to get out of first gear as Evans seemed to injure his shoulder during a commercial break and the match was called off.

Adam Pearce approached The Vision backstage and asked Paul Heyman if he can bring Bron Breakker to Raw next week so they can hash things out. He made it clear that his request had nothing to do with the phone call he received earlier in the evening.

After The Vision walked away, AJ Styles met up with Pearce and said he and his wife are on the same page. He's going to kick Gunther's ass in Saudi Arabia. Pearce made it official: AJ Styles will put his career on the line against The Ring General at the Royal Rumble.

Back in the locker room, we saw Asuka blaming Kairi Sane for losing both the Women's Tag Team Titles and the No. 1 Contender's Match last week. The Empress said that Kairi embarrassed her, and Sane said she would make it up to her by doing everything she could to help Asuka win the Women's Royal Rumble.

CM Punk defeated Finn Balor to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Balor came out to his old theme music and received a thunderous ovation from the Northern Ireland crowd. The PrinXe gave an all effort to dethrone Punk and win his first world title in a decade, and he nearly pulled it off on multiple occasions.

Balor was able to kick out of a GTS, and he battled back to deliver multiple shotgun drop-kicks. Finn then went top rope and delivered a picture-perfect Coup de Grâce, but Punk was able to kick out at two. Balor scored another nearfall on a cradle attempt, but he got caught in another GTS afterward and was down for the count.

In a show of respect, Punk raised Balor's hand after the match before celebrating with his title to close the show.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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