It was this time last year when the streaming era of WWE’s flagship show ‘Monday Night RAW’ left the USA Network, the company’s longtime on-again off-again broadcasting partner, for the sake of keeping up with trends likely to dictate the future of live entertainment—NETFLIX. Tonight, WWE celebrates its first full year under the umbrella of the ‘leader in streaming,’ and they have produced an action-packed anniversary show complete with three title matches, including the main event featuring CM Punk defending his heavyweight title against Bron Breakker.
There are many rumors ahead of the show, chiefly the prospects of Chris Jericho, who was only recently made a free agent with his AEW contract expiring on the last day of December—meaning Jericho was free to sign with anyone as of Thursday, January 1st. However, it is important not to forget the lessons learned a year ago when the first RAW on Netflix was booked as a ‘mini mania.’
To open the show, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came out and gave a one-part ‘thank you’ speech and 2-parts ‘rah rah’ good-guy stuff (he had been portrayed as a heel in all of 2024). In that speech, he thanked Cody Rhodes, the man he had a blood feud with, which became toxic in a familial way.
Truthfully, The Rock did not come out that night, and instead, it was TKO board member Mr. Johnson delivering a political speech meant to express gratitude to the bigwigs that made the night possible. Creative had nothing for him, and Trips never intended to use him beyond the RAW cold-open.
And that is the fear of using Jericho: the current RAW itinerary leaves little opportunity to bring him in through rational storytelling. Instead, tonight should be about the action booked.
WWE RAW X ‘STRANGER THINGS’
Many wondered what a WWE/Stranger Things collab would look like when it was first announced. Themes for WWE shows are typically not appreciated by hardcore fans, but the success of “Stranger Things” could make for a huge crossover show.
The RAW stage was decked out in a Stranger Things motif, with ‘The Upside Down vines’ placed strategically around the ring. Michael Cole and Corey Graves (cosplaying as a member of the Hellfire Club) stepped out of the ‘pizza van’ from the show as they sent us to ‘spooky’ backstage shots filtered in red. Many “Stranger Things” fans believe a ‘secret’ finale is planned to be released and announced tonight, on Wednesday the 7th (it is not), but that could lead to more eyeballs than expected.
CM PUNK(c) VS BRON BREAKKER w/Paul Heyman—WWE Heavyweight Title
The clock displayed 9:50 pm ET when the challenger made his way to the ring with his ‘advisor’, Paul Heyman, but without the rest of The Vision (sure to make an appearance later). Punk came out in a vintage-looking varsity jacket in the colors and style of The Steiner Bros (Breakker’s father, Rick, and uncle Scott)—it was an epic troll on Breakker.
The match was solid from the jump as Punk attempted to go mat skills for mat skills against the younger and larger challenger. Bron seemed jittery early on, and that played well against Punk’s veteran composure. The uneasiness of Bron’s demeanor led to a lapse in his performance as he missed his patented ‘hurricanrana’ from the middle turnbuckle—the challenger slipped off the rope and completely missed his intended target in Punk.
Later in the match, The Vision came out to help Bron, and after the ref was taken out on ‘accident,’ that is when the newest Vision member, Austin Theory, landed a curb-stomp. However, Punk was able to kick out, and that is when Rey Mysterio Jr., Penta, and Dragon Lee came out to help even the odds.
Once we got back to singles action, Paul Heyman tried his best to distract Punk at every turn, and in one moment, Punk had enough and struck his former manager with a right hand. After that sequence, CM Punk was caught by a Breakker right hand as the champ came diving out of the ring at Bron.
Breakker managed to hit a huge elbow drop from the top of the turnbuckle onto Punk, who was placed on the commentary desk. The table exploded on impact, and that is when Bron dragged Punk’s lifeless body into the ring.
Just when it seemed like we might have a new champion, Breakker got hit with a knee as he attempted a spear, and this led to the final GTS of the night as Punk retained the title on the pinfall victory. Breakker, with his back on the mat staring at the lights, was in utter shock as Punk managed to hold onto the title on the first RAW of the year.
THE KABUKI WARRIORS(c) VS RHYO—WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
Opening up the show, this title match, weeks in the making, was booked by Adam Pearce himself after Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss lost those titles to the Kabuki Warriors. The feud between Rhyo (a combination of Rhea and Iyo) and Kabuki Warriors was some of the best storytelling of last year, as Iyo Sky was torn in different directions with the women she came up with and the friends she’s made since becoming the WWE superstar she’s become.
VAQUER ANKLE INJURY LEAVES HER VULNERABLE
Stephanie Vaquer made her entrance tonight, sporting a walking book in support of the ankle injury she suffered in the triple threat match against Nikki Bella and Raquel Rodriguez, where the champ successfully defended her world title. The segment was pretty standard, as she was interviewed mid-ring about how she plans to make this a career year despite the injury.
It did not take long before Raquel Rodriguez came out to spoil the champ’s first RAW of the year. She attacked Vaquer before grabbing a chair to cause further damage to Stephanie’s ankle as WWE officials attempted to stop her. It seems as though Steph’s feud with Raquel is still active, but with Liv Morgan back and set for a huge push, this could become a very interesting (and crowded) women’s title feud to begin the champ’s year.
MAXXINE DUPRI(c) VS BECKY LYNCH—WWE Women’s IC Title
This feud was well-received in the final quarter of 2025, and the amazing work of Becky Lynch helped to launch Dupri’s first title run in WWE with success. The rematch was booked a few weeks ago with video vignettes meant to get over a more serious version of Dupri.
Becky ended up winning tonight, marking her second reign as IC champ, but it seems likely that this feud will continue in one fashion or the other, as rumors that an AJ Lee feud for Becky is in the works.
OTHER TIDBITS
- Je’Von Evans signed a contract with RAW to make his move to the main roster official.
- Gunther and AJ Styles had been circling each other for several weeks following the former HW champion’s tapout victory over John Cena. Tonight, the feud officially kicked off when Pearce booked a match for next week. With AJ retiring this year, it is worth considering whether Gunther will add yet another legend to his list, which already includes the aforementioned Cena and Goldberg.
- The trailer for the 2nd season of “Unreal” was released tonight, and it features moments like R-Truth’s firing and John Cena’s heel turn. The show looks awesome and hopefully WWE ‘goes there’ with all of it.
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