Tonight’s episode of WWE RAW on Netflix emanated from the ROCKET Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, as we continue on the Road to WrestleMania and its next major stop of Elimination Chamber. Last week’s show featured an all-time great promo battle between heavyweight champion CM Punk and Roman Reigns.
The promo battle set the bar high for Mania, but the news that Bron Breakker had successful hernia surgery and could be out past Mania shifts the landscape of not just RAW but the entire booking of Mania.
Tonight will be interesting to see how the storylines are navigated amongst The Vision and Paul Heyman, who has existed as one of the major directions on Monday’s.
FINN BALOR HOUR, DOM OFFERS FRIENDLY PERSPECTIVE
We saw Dom Mysterio earlier in the night alongside 2026 Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan, but his story was elevated in The Judgement Day’s clubhouse, where he and Finn spoke on TV for the first time in weeks. The animosity between Finn and Dom has been a storyline for some time, and there was once a notion that Dom would leave TJD in favor of fighting Finn.
In their backstage convo, Dom made it clear that Finn’s desire for a title shot against Punk was delusional thinking, considering that Punk and Roman have set the stage for an all-time great main event after cutting a promo battle for the ages. Dom is right, and when fans speculated that we might see Finn get a title shot at Elimination Chamber—the match could only serve to hurt the Mania main event.
Finn did not handle Dom’s logic on the situation and decided to go out and cut a promo on the champ. Right away, GM Pearce came out to squash the idea, agreeing that nothing should affect the potential of Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Punk pleaded with Pearce, claiming that his status as champ should afford him some say-so and enough clout to ‘call his shot.’
Pearce eventually relented and booked Punk-Balor for the belt at Chamber, a move that can only serve to hurt the WM42 main event match. That said, there is so much time between last week’s epic final segment and Mania (more than likely night 2) that you need to fill the dates without overbooking (overmarinating for you boxing fans) Punk-Roman.
Punk finished off the segment with Cole asking a single question on ‘why?’—as in, why risk the Mania main event. Punk was then forced to pull double duty promo work as he attempted to get over both matches in the same mic time.
ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFICATIONS
PENTA VS LA KNIGHT VS AUSTIN THEORY—Men’s Qualifier
We got a backstage segment between GM Pearce and Paul Heyman with The Vision, sans Bron Breakker, by his side. This feud, just a few weeks ago, was one of the most exciting in WWE, with a ceiling that played out with major ramifications. It began with a phone call, but it has now been relegated to RAW fodder.
The segment was great, but it has all but abandoned the major plot points that initiated fans’ excitement for this program. Heyman did manage to get Breakker over, claiming that his injury would have ended anyone else’s career. Pearce warned Logan and Reed that there would be repercussions for them if they interfered with tonight’s main event.
In what felt like the least likely qualifier to produce a winner, fans got one of the most impactful finishes in terms of advancing multiple storylines. First, Reed and Logan of course interfered, furthering the complicated relationship with the red brand’s GM and Paul Heyman’s faction of the future.
LA Knight picked up the win after the hooded figure, presumably the same one that took out Bron Breakker at this year’s Royal Rumble, interfered by taking out Theory. Theory was close to winning before Penta took him out, but the hooded figure showed up just in time as Logan and Reed had the officials distracted.
Logan was the first to chase after the hooded man, but that could be his way of throwing off the rest of his unsuspecting stablemates. After Knight’s Chamber qualifying pinfall victory over Theory, RAW ended with Pearce staring daggers at a humbled Heyman— realizing the big risk he took getting his guys involved did not pay off in a Theory win.
Next week should be interesting, unless they abandon continuity. Knight qualifies for the match alongside Randy Orton, though this Friday’s SD will pay off a triple threat qualifier between Cody, Jacob Fatu, and Sami Zayn.
RHEA RIPLEY VS LYRA VALKYRIA VS IVY NILE—Women’s Qualifier
Ivy Nile really stood out tonight, continuing her subtle push, even though Rhea would end up winning the match and qualifying for a Chamber match that includes Tiffany Stratton thus far. It was a terrific match, though Rhea struggled at times and did not have an overly strong performance.
Still, Rhea has to be favored as one of the favorites to win the Chamber and live up to the idea of holding the world title along with her tag title.
LIV AND DOM—ROSES AND GOLD FOR V-DAY?
Liv and Dom came out for their segmented promos, and Dom took the opportunity to gift the “best Royal Rumble winner” with a vase full of roses. The romantic gesture was quickly interrupted by champion Stephanie Vaquer, who cut a promo in Spanish.
It was hilarious to see Dom refuse to translate for Live and instead do the talking for her (in Spanish). When Liv asked for a translation of Dom’s words, Steph responded, claiming he called himself ‘Liv’s b***h.’ Things got intense when Liv called Steph a p**a (a word in Spanish that no woman wants to be called), and Dom would end up catching one on behalf of Liv.
THE USOS(c) VS OTIS & TOZAWA—WWE Tag Team Titles
The USOs successfully defended their titles in a very fun tag match on RAW, but it was the post-match that was the real takeaway from this segment. Tozawa and Otis earned the title shot after winning a multi-team number one contender’s match. The challengers put in a terrific effort, consistent with Tozawa’s impressive performances as of late, but were unable to claim victory.
Instead, Jimmy Uso said in a post-match interview that he ‘needs’ Jey to win his EC qualifier and bring home the title at Mania. If you remember, Jey was beginning to crack under the ‘main event’ pressure, and if Jey comes up short, then we could get that narrative to pick back up.
BECKY LYNCH AND AJ LEE FINALLY SET?
To kick off the show, Becky Lynch cut a promo of her usual schtick, but it was clear that we would get some push back from the AJ Lee. After all, Lee was featured in the opening of RAW, walking into the building alongside her husband and heavyweight champion CM Punk.
Fans have expected this feud for a while, ever since Lee and Punk defeated Lynch and her husband, Seth Rollins, at last year’s Wrestlepalooza. Instead, Lee disappeared, but returning tonight, she looked absolutely jacked. Lee claimed she was here to support her friend Maxxine Dupri in her blood feud match with Natty, but she issued the challenge for the IC title anyway after Lynch called for a showdown.
The Natty-Dupri match was used to further the feud between Lee and Becky as Natty got herself DQ’d by holding onto the ‘sharpshooter’ on top of the commentary desk. Lee broke it up only to get attacked by Becky.
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