Posted on 2/24/126 by Bob Magee
The highlight of Raw, by far, was the tribute to AJ Styles.
He will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2026.
**********
Show Recap —
Instead of the usual start to Raw with everyone arriving at
the arena, Michael Cole and Corey Graves stood in the ring
to welcome us to the show in Atlanta (as everyone sat calmly
in their seats).
They were about to speak about AJ Styles, but they were
interrupted by Gunther, who entered through the crowd. He
sent Cole and Graves back to the announce desk as he entered
the ring.
Gunther called it disgraceful that they were honouring a
loser. The fans liked the losers. Losers like Bill Goldberg,
John Cena, and AJ Styles. Gunther ended their careers, so
tonight should be a celebration of him. (It really sounded
like they were piping in fake booing.)
Adam Pearce interrupted. Pearce claimed he knew Gunther
would pull this, so he brought out security to escort him
out of the building. (If he knew this would happen, perhaps
he should have addressed it earlier.)
Gunther said he would leave under his own accord because
what was happening tonight was disgraceful. As Gunther was
escorted up the ramp by security, he turned around to boast
to the crowd when he was suddenly attacked from behind by
Dragon Lee. They were quickly separated, but Dragon attacked
him again backstage.
After Dragon Lee was taken away by security, Cody Rhodes
appeared and gave Gunther a look before making his way to
the ring.
Rhodes entered to a big reaction and his hometown fans sang
his name. He was about to talk about Styles, but like the
announcers earlier, was interrupted, this time by The
Vision.
Austin Theory said he was ashamed to be from Atlanta. Logan
Paul knew Rhodes wasn’t ashamed to be from Atlanta because
he lacked common sense, and he was insane for showing up to
Raw. Paul said Bronson Reed would win the Elimination
Chamber and win the title at WrestleMania, meaning The
Vision would take over SmackDown, too, and Rhodes would be
the first one out the door.
Rhodes wasn’t sure about that and knew someone here who
would disagree with them. That brought out Jey Uso (and
Jimmy Uso) for their Chamber qualifying match.
They went to break after The Usos entered, and the entire
break was Jey doing his entrance and Yeeting with the crowd.
(This was a typical opening segment. Except it was actually
two opening segments in one. They cleared the ring after the
first one and did another.)
********
Cole called tonight a sell-out with over 12,000 fans.
Triple threat Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Bronson
Reed vs. Jey Uso vs. The Original El Grande Americano
The opening match began at 8:20 pm, and they went to
commercial two minutes later.
Gable (El Grande) wiped out both guys with an Orihara
moonsault ahead of the break. Jey and Gable did their best
to keep Reed out of the ring through the break, but Reed re-
entered, stacked up both guys on his shoulders and hit an
impressive double Samoan drop.
After Reed gave Jey a World’s Strongest slam, he tried
dumping Gable onto Jey, but Gable countered by giving Reed a
bulldog while simultaneously leg-dropping Jey. Gable gave
Jey a Chaos Theory and went to the top.
Gable went for a flying headbutt, but Jey was all the way on
the other side of the ring, so he missed and landed face-
first on the mat. Gable sold it like he hit the move because
he made a cover, but Reed broke it up. (I’m guessing this
will end up on Jey’s lowlight reel for being out of
position. But he was lying stationary when Gable took off,
so I don’t know how this got messed up. Graves tried to
cover for it on commentary.)
Gable gave Reed a great-looking German suplex ahead of
another break. After a break, Jey and Gable continued
wrestling while medical staff checked on Reed outside the
ring. (Reed never got back in, so he may have been hurt.)
During the break, Graves acknowledged that Original El
Grande was detested in AAA, while El Grande Americano
(Ludwig Kaiser) was a hero.
Jey went for an Uso splash, but Gable got his knees up and
applied an ankle lock. Jey fought out of it, and they traded
kicks until Jey hit a spear and an Uso splash for the
pinfall win.
(They likely had to adjust the finishing sequence with Reed
injured. During the next break, Cole said he hoped to get an
update on Reed.)
Match result: Jey Uso defeated The Original El Grande
Americano and Bronson Reed to qualify for the Men’s
Elimination Chamber (15:32)
********
They showed AJ Styles’ debut at Royal Rumble 2016. Bobby
Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura were shown talking backstage.
CM Punk entered the arena in the passenger seat of a Toyota
Camry NASCAR driven by Tyler Reddick (owned by Michael
Jordan’s team). Reddick sped in and did donuts around the
lot. When Punk exited the car, he looked like he just got
off a roller coaster.
********
Liv Morgan’s WrestleMania decision
Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio entered. There was a replay
of Stephanie Vaquer accosting Morgan during her interview
last week. Morgan looked distressed in the ring upon seeing
the replay, but she cheered up when Dominik Mysterio
introduced her as the greatest Rumble winner ever.
Dom said Morgan was ready to make her decision, so he called
out Vaquer and Jade Cargill (whose name he mispronounced),
and they each entered.
Morgan wanted to get something off her chest before
announcing her decision. She told Vaquer that her words
caught her by surprise last week. She wasn’t used to being
so vulnerable, and she thought about what Vaquer said all
week.
Morgan said Vaquer was right. She didn’t realize how selfish
she’d been or how privileged she really was. She had ten
years of the best coaches and facilities, and still thought
that she was struggling. She didn’t know much about Vaquer’s
story, that she had to scratch and claw for ten years just
to get to WWE.
Morgan apologized for judging her and knew Vaquer was the
champion that she was because of what she had to go through.
But now it was time to focus on her own story.
Morgan turned her attention to Cargill, but it was a swerve.
She turned around and smoked Vaquer on the head with the
microphone. Cargill smiled and left the ring. Morgan
hammered away at Vaquer, hit a Codebreaker, and an Oblivion.
Morgan dumped the world title belt onto Vaquer before
leaving with Dom.
********
Byron Saxton was about to interview Je’Von Evans backstage,
but he was quickly greeted by rapper Offset. New Day and
Grayson Waller interrupted. Xavier Woods was offended that
they weren’t honouring him tonight in his town. New Day also
wondered why Offset showed up tonight, given that they had
repeatedly invited him in the past. Offset said because New
Day sucks. Evans challenged them to a fight. Woods (arm in a
sling) reminded him that he was injured, and Kofi Kingston
accepted the match instead.
During a break, they showed quick clips of wrestlers talking
about how much Styles meant to them (Rhodes, Charlotte
Flair, Sami Zayn, Kurt Angle, Finn Bálor, R-Truth, Tyson
Kidd, Xavier Woods, and Roman Reigns).
Michin, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa greeted Karl Anderson and
Luke Gallows backstage.
********
Nattie vs. Maxxine Dupri
They fought outside the ring until Nattie booted Dupri into
the post. It was the same post spot you see in every match,
but Dupri sold it like she was dead. Nattie attacked her
wildly as the ref tried checking on her. The ref eventually
got Nattie to stop and called off the match. Nattie was
announced the winner.
Match result: Nattie defeated Maxxine Dupri via referee
stoppage (1:38)
I guess this was meant to show how dangerous Nattie is, but
the damage was done by a simple post spot, not because of
anything she did in the ring.
********
Backstage, JD McDonagh apologized to Finn Bálor (wearing a
suit) for being a hot head last week. All he wanted was to
see Bálor become champion. Bálor accepted his apology. He
said brothers fought, but they always made up. He planned on
becoming champion, but he had to do it alone.
Dom was upset that they left him on his own last week. He
knew Bálor wanted to do things on his own, but he didn’t. He
wanted their help when he defended the IC title against
Penta next week.
McDonagh had his back, but Bálor quickly cut in. He said
nobody had his back when they (Dom and JD) were hurt. He
didn’t blame them, and he held his own while they were gone.
It was time for Dom to do the same. Take some responsibility
and grow up.
********
Cathy Kelley interviewed Trick Williams on the stage during
a break. He planned on winning the Chamber on Saturday. (The
crowd seemed into him, but this crowd isn’t that hot for
anything so far tonight except for Rhodes’ entrance.)
Tyler Reddick, 2 Chainz, and Lil Yachty were in the crowd.
********
Adam Pearce told an unfortunate delivery person to load up
the wooden crate and ship it to Chicago so he and Nick Aldis
could open it together on Saturday.
Rusev approached Pearce before Rusev was confronted by Oba
Femi. Pearce told them to save it for another day because
tonight was about Styles.
********
Brock Lesnar segment
Brock Lesnar entered with Paul Heyman. Heyman said,
traditionally, there were always two main events at
WrestleMania. The world title match and the Undertaker’s
streak. That was until Lesnar ended his streak. Now, the
only dead man walking in WWE was the one who would walk down
the aisle to face Lesnar.
Heyman rambled on and on, but long story short, the question
was now who would face Lesnar at WrestleMania. Heyman
pointed at the screen and showed a list of dates (five dates
after tonight) of Lesnar’s upcoming appearances “on the road
to WrestleMania” and invited somebody to make the challenge
so they could get their ass kicked.
This felt like a pretty lazy setup for a Lesnar Mania match.
But they got the dates out there so people could buy
tickets.
********
There was a pre-taped Becky Lynch promo. She reminded AJ Lee
how much she’s accomplished and wondered what Lee ever did
besides hold a butterfly belt.
There was a clip of Royce Keys (Powerhouse Hobbs) on
Stephanie McMahon’s podcast. He spoke about his brother, who
sacrificed his life for him.
********
Je’Von Evans (w/ Offset) vs. Kofi Kinston (w/ Xavier Woods &
Grayson Waller)
Kingston tried using a distraction to catch Evans off guard,
but Evans didn’t fall for it and clocked him with a running
knee strike for a nearfall early in the match. Kingston used
a separate distraction moments later to hit a PK and take
control. Offset checked on Evans as they went to break.
Kingston held control through a break until Evans made a
comeback and attempted a moonsault. Kingston dodged the
moonsault, and Evans landed on his feet, but sold it like he
hurt his leg on the landing. Kingston followed with an SOS
for two.
Evans sent Kingston out of the ring and hit a leaping dive
while selling the leg. Waller punched Evans with the ref
distracted, and Kingston hit a Fameasser for two. Offset
chucked Waller over the announce table and backed off Woods.
Kingston yelled at Offset for getting involved, so Evans
flew in with an OG Cutter for the pinfall win.
Match result: Je’Von Evans defeated Kofi Kingston (10:14)
This match was ok. They played it up as a big win coming
against an all-time great, and a big win headed into the
Chamber.
*******
They aired more messages for AJ Styles from different
wrestlers, this time from Bayley, Rey Mysterio, Nattie, The
Miz, Robert Roode, Abyss, Booker T, Randy Orton, CM Punk,
and Shinsuke Nakamura (who said, “I miss him already.”)
Frankie Kazarian walked backstage and stopped upon seeing
the boiler room. He opened the door to find Abyss (who
doesn’t look quite so imposing anymore). They walked off
together.
There was a highlight video of AJ Styles beating John Cena
at SummerSlam 2016. Earlier, they showed Styles beating
Jinder Mahal for the WWE title on SmackDown.
*******
Finn Bálor pre-taped promo
Bálor said CM Punk wasn’t the only one with people mad at
him. He had people mad at him, too. But they needed to
understand why he needed to do this. He needed to prove to
the doubters, the critics, and Judgment Day that he can be
the champion. It’s been ten years of “What ifs.”
You can learn a lot from a win, but you can learn a lot more
from a defeat. When he lost to Punk, he learned to stop
asking “What if?” He learned to tell himself “When.” When
you beat Punk, when you become World Champion, and when you
go on to main event WrestleMania, there would be no more
“What ifs,” because everyone would know there was a new best
in the world.
********
Dwight Howard, Jermaine Dupri, Funny Marco, and Bow Wow were
in the crowd.
CM Punk promo
Punk entered to a big reaction. The fans chanted his name,
but he wanted the fans to chant for Styles instead.
There were a few things he wanted to address before they
head to Chicago. Punk had his own “What ifs” for Bálor. What
if Bálor didn’t jump him in Toronto? What if Bálor didn’t
interrupt his last match against Styles? Well, Bálor
wouldn’t be getting a title match.
People wondered what Punk was doing, but he was doing the
best he could. He was giving the fans the fighting champion
they deserved, following in the footsteps of Terry Funk,
Harley Race, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker,
Triple H, and the list went on. Punk didn’t like dealing in
What ifs.
Punk asked, “What if Roman Reigns was here tonight?” The
fans chanted for Reigns, but Punk said this was why he
didn’t like dealing in What ifs because they weren’t rooted
in reality, and Reigns wasn’t there. The fans booed, but
Punk said they couldn’t be booing him because he was there.
Boots on the ground every Monday night, making every town on
every tour.
Punk asked, What if Bálor beat him? Well, no risk and no
reward. Reigns would be on Raw next week. What if Punk
didn’t wait until Mania and punched Reigns in the face next
Monday?
He didn’t deal in What ifs—he dealt in facts. He didn’t have
to ask “What if he was the champion” like Bálor did, because
he was the champion. He was the best in the world. He was
the main event of WrestleMania. He was CM Punk.
*******
Omos greeted Petey Williams and Jeremy Borash backstage.
Triple threat Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Tag Team
Champion IYO SKY vs. Kairi Sane vs. Raquel Rodriguez
As in the earlier triple threat match, the two smaller
wrestlers tried working together against the bigger
wrestler, but that only lasted so long. Rodriguez caught
both women and nailed a double fallaway slam. Also, like in
the earlier match, one wrestler wiped out the others with a
moonsault ahead of a break (this time an Asai moonsault by
Sky).
Sky hit Sane with a missile dropkick, and the crowd got
behind her until she was levelled by Rodriguez. Sky saved
Sane from a Tejana Bomb moments later, and they drove her
into the ring post. Sky hit Rodriguez with a suicide dive,
and Sane followed with an Insane elbow on Rodriguez to the
outside. Sky dropkicked Rodriguez into the timekeeper’s area
before Sane hit Sky with a spinning backfist.
Sky avoided an Insane elbow in the ring and hit a moonsault.
She had it won, but Rodriguez broke up the cover by yanking
Sane out of the ring. Sky hit Rodriguez with a missile
dropkick and meteora. Rodriguez tried fighting her off, but
Sky nailed a tornado DDT. She set up for a moonsault, but
Sane shoved her out of the ring.
Sane went for an Insane elbow, but she missed. Cole said
Rodriguez got her knees up, but that’s not what happened.
Rodriguez was already rolling out of the way as Sane was
coming down. Anyway, Rodriguez followed with a Tejana Bomb
for the pinfall win.
Match result: Raquel Rodriguez defeated Kairi Sane and IYO
SKY to qualify for the Women’s Elimination Chamber (10:53)
********
Next week on Raw in Indianapolis:
Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Penta for the Intercontinental
Championship
Gunther vs. Dragon Lee
Roman Reigns “returns”
Kelley interviewed Jade Cargill during a break, but she was
cut off mid-sentence as they returned from break.
********
AJ Styles tribute
They started with a terrific AJ Styles video package set to
“Higher” by Creed (quite the throwback). Steve Austin called
him the best wrestler on two feet, Kurt Angle called him the
most talented wrestler been in the ring with, and Undertaker
said he couldn’t think of a better person to have his last
match with. There were also kind words from Bayley, Miz,
Orton, and his wife, Wendy. This was all set to footage of
Styles wrestling in TNA and WWE.
AJ Styles entered. (I guess he’s a little rusty, because he
actually bumped into some staging equipment on the way out.)
Styles took a deep breath in the ring as the fans and
announcers gave him a standing ovation. Fans chanted, “Thank
you, AJ.”
Styles joked that he thought about wearing a suit tonight,
but the last time he did, he beat the piss out of Cody
Rhodes, so he thought the better of it. Styles thought this
would be easier, but if he got choked up, he wanted the fans
to know it wasn’t because he was sad.
Styles was so grateful to be in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up
45 minutes down the road in Gainesville. People usually
didn’t get to have a moment like this when they retired, so
he was grateful. But at his core, he was still that kid from
Gainesville who fell in love with professional wrestling.
He wrestled in Gainesville, in the TNA Asylum in Nashville,
in the Tokyo Dome in Japan, and under the bright lights at
WrestleMania. He wrestled some OGs in TNA — (Christopher)
Daniel, (Samoa) Joe, and Frankie Kazarian. They made a mark
on pro wrestling.
He went to Japan and met some good brothers. Gallows and
Anderson showed him how to have fun in pro wrestling. It
didn’t have to be serious all the time. If he was having
fun, so were the fans.
He’s done almost everything. Almost. The one thing he hadn’t
done was be a full-time father. (He pointed at his family in
the front row.) He missed birthdays, anniversaries, and
games. He missed it all, and that was tough.
His flex should be that he won all those world
championships. But his biggest flex was having the best wife
in the world. She never slowed him down or told him to stop.
She kept pushing him forward. She held the family together
even though he had to watch them grow on FaceTime. She was
the one. He told her, “I love you,” and he thanked his kids
for being there tonight.
He said things didn’t go the way the fans wanted to against
Gunther at Royal Rumble. It wasn’t the way he thought it
should go either. But it was poetic. Not many people got to
go out where they started. He debuted in WWE at the Rumble
in 2016, and his last match was the Rumble in 2026.
He didn’t leave his gloves in the ring that night, but he
was a man of his word. He removed his leather vest and
placed it on the ring. He said he didn’t remove his gloves
because he wanted to take them with him, bring them to
Atlanta, and leave them here at home.
He removed his gloves and placed them down on his vest in
the ring.
He told the fans, “From the bottom of my heart, I would have
been nothing without you. Thank you for your love, and I
love you right back. Thank you.”
(The closing trademark graphic aired at this point, but the
segment continued.)
Wrestlers and personnel filled the stage, and they all gave
Styles a standing ovation as the fans chanted, “Thank you,
AJ.”
The lights went out, and Undertaker’s music hit. Taker
entered on his motorcycle (and to his Kid Rock theme song).
Taker entered the ring with a microphone and looked down at
Styles’ gloves. Taker remarked, “You’re just gonna leave
your stuff here and leave?”
Taker said they had unfinished business. Styles looked
surprised. Taker told him there was a saying, “If you see me
coming, you’re already gone.” Well, Taker wanted to change
it. Taker stated, “If you see me coming, that means you’re
going.” The fans figured out what was coming, and so did
Styles.
Taker announced that AJ Styles was the newest inductee into
the WWE Hall of Fame. (This actually got the biggest pop of
the night.)
Styles had a huge smile on his face as he appeared to be
learning this for the first time. Styles’ family, now at
ringside, all hugged as the fans chanted, “You deserve it.”
Styles hugged Taker.
Styles’ family entered the ring, and they all embraced.
Styles was pumped up as his music played and the show ended.
[The show was dedicated to the memory of Kerwin Silfies.]