WWE Raw 1/26 Results: Balor attacks Punk, causes DQ in World title match

January 26, 2026 John Kleinchester NEWS, RECOMMENDED, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: WWE

January 26, 2026
Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, Ontario

By: John Kleinchester

WWE Raw Results

  • Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, and Stephanie Vaquer over Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, and Raquel Rodriguez via Riptide in 12:53
  • Austin Theory over Rey Mysterio via Stomp in 11:23
  • Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders Match: Alpha Academy over The Creeds, The New Day & Los Americanos via Senton in 10:52
  • World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk over AJ Styles via DQ in 18:10

 

AJ Styles & CM Punk

WWE Raw from Toronto kicked off with AJ Styles cutting an in-ring promo saying that 2026 will be the year of AJ Styles, and he wanted to be World Champion one more time. This brought out World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, who asked why Styles was putting his career on the line against Gunther.  The crowd chanted “fight tonight” as Styles said he knew he could beat both Gunther and CM Punk. Styles posited that if he beats Punk and Gunther, he becomes the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Punk agreed, and it appeared it would happen later, pending Adam Pearce’s approval. 

Six-Woman Tag Match

The first match of the night saw Judgment Day’s Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, and Raquel Rodriguez taking on World Champion Stephanie Vaquer and Tag Team Champions Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. The Judgment Day got the heat on Vaquer into the commercial break, and upon return, built to a hot tag to Iyo Sky. Sky went for Over the Moonsault, but Liv Morgan pulled Perez to safety. This led to another hot tag, this time to Rhea Ripley, much to the crowd’s delight. Things broke down from there, with all six women brawling in the ring. This led to Ripley hitting the Riptide on Perez to pick up the win for her team. 

Backstage, Finn Balor approached CM Punk and thanked him for being part of the most memorable night of his career. Punk suggested Balor ditch Judgment Day and stop hanging around “garbage like Dom Mysterio”. 

The Vision Speaks

The Vision was out to the ring next, including Bron Breakker returning to the show after being invited back after an auspicious phone call to Adam Pearce. Heyman played footage of Pearce putting his hands on Breakker two weeks ago and leaving the brass knuckles for Rey Mysterio last week. Pearce apologized to Breakker and pledged it would not happen again. Breakker’s suspension was lifted, and all members of The Vision were officially added to the Royal Rumble match. Finally, he granted Austin Theory a match against Rey Mysterio, and that was happening now.

Mysterio was out with Penta and Dragon Lee in his corner as the match began during an ad break. Theory gained an early advantage as Mysterio was forced to fight from underneath. As action spilled onto the outside, The Vision got involved, and Penta/Lee evened things out. The match went into another commercial break, and afterwards, Theory hit Mysterio with his new Ataxia maneuver, but Mysterio kicked out. The other members of the teams started brawling on the outside, distracting Mysterio and allowing Theory to hit a Stomp for the win. The Vision decimated the face team after the bell, leaving them all lying. Michael Cole wondered why Adam Pearce and WWE Officials didn’t stop this attack.

A Natalya promo package aired with her stating that Maxxine failed her. She concluded by suggesting she was gunning for the Intercontinental Championship once she was done with Maxxine, saying, “Natalya elevated, Nattie decimates.” 

More Promos, Less Wrestling

Raquel Rodriguez was screaming backstage when she ran into Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, but Stephanie Vaquer swiftly jumped her, and a brawl ensued. WWE Officials quickly jumped in to break it up. 

Je’Von Evans was interviewed, saying he just got a little too excited last week, and he was good. Evans declared for the Rumble this Saturday. 

The Michael Cole sit-down interview with Gunther aired, with Cole asking pointless questions like “why rob the fans of Styles getting to face his best rivals for the rest of 2026?”. Gunther obviously shot down that line of questioning, saying the moments belonged to him. Gunther called Michael Cole an “old timer” as well and threatened to end his career, too. But instead, he wanted to hear Cole say “the career of the Phenomenal AJ Styles is over” this Saturday. 

Adam Pearce was seen backstage on the phone, saying he had everything under control, when Finn Balor entered and declared himself for the Rumble. Adam Pearce said the Rumble was now full, and he didn’t have a spot. Balor ran into Liv Morgan, who ran him down for giving CM Punk respect. Morgan called the Judgment Day Finn’s family, and Balor said he needed to figure things out. 

Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders Match

Next up was The Creeds vs. Los Americanos vs. The New Day vs. Alpha Academy for a shot at The Usos’ World Tag Team Championships. Jey Uso watched on from ringside as Michael Cole said Jimmy Uso was not there due to “personal issues,” so hopefully everything is okay with him and Trinity. Early in the match, Xavier Woods chastised Michael Cole for not knowing who Kingston was (a reference to Cole calling Je’Von Evans “Kofi Kingston” last week), but neither Cole nor Graves understood the joke. 

Again this week, Michael Cole called out “familiar” moves from Rayo and Bravo. Meanwhile, the match was built towards a hot tag to Otis and hitting the Catepillar. Things broke down from there with Tozawa hitting dives on all three other teams. Grayson Waller got involved behind the referee’s back despite no DQs in a fatal 4-way. The Referee was about to eject him when Otis took him out, followed up by Jey Uso hitting him with a superkick. Alpha Academy picked up the win after a Senton from Tozawa. 

Backstage, Becky Lynch announced she was entering the Royal Rumble when she was interrupted by the Kabuki Warriors. Asuka screamed at Kairi as she lunged towards the Intercontinental title. 

Elsewhere backstage, Je’Von Evans wished AJ Styles luck on his matches tonight and on Saturday, saying he wanted to see him on his “farewell tour”. AJ Styles responded, “That means let’s do it.” And then Evans awkwardly walked away.

Stephanie Vaquer asked for a “fight” against Raquel Rodriguez, and Adam Pearce made a Philadelphia Street Fight between the two for the World Championship next week.

The Vision was backstage discussing their strategy for the Royal Rumble, and Logan Paul suggested they rally around Breakker and make sure he wins. 

 

World Heavyweight Championship

The main event was the aforementioned title match between AJ Styles and CM Punk. Before the match began, Michael Cole made veiled references to their time in Ring of Honor. It was also noted that it was the first time these two had faced off in a WWE ring. Styles and Punk started the match, attempting to hit their finishers and submissions on each other to no avail.  After a commercial break, momentum swung back and forth until Punk hit a GTS on Styles on the outside.

Styles recovered and made it back into the ring, hitting Punk with a Styles Clash for a two count. Out of nowhere, Finn Balor appeared, attacked Punk, and caused the disqualification. Balor continued the assault on Punk, hitting three Coup de Graces, and the show went off the air. 

 

About John Kleinchester 292 Articles
John Kleinchester is a New Jersey–based wrestling reporter, primarily covering WWE and AEW. He can be reached at [email protected].
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