The biggest news coming out of WWE Raw on Monday night is AJ Styles’ induction to the WWE Hall of Fame. The surprise moment came at the end of the show, when The Undertaker appeared to deliver the news to Styles.
In addition, the Elimination Chamber fields are now set, with Jey Uso claiming the final spot in the men’s Chamber, and Raquel Rodriguez doing the same for the women. In unfortunate news, Bronson Reed suffered a biceps injury during the men’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match and it appears another member of The Vision will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
AJ Styles says goodbye, gets surprise induction into Hall of Fame
The night was set up as a tribute to Georgia native AJ Styles. This included an opening segment that saw Gunther interrupt Michael Cole and Corey Graves to ask why they were celebrating a “loser” instead of the man who sent him into retirement. This all led to Dragon Lee attacking Gunther both at ringside and backstage.
Throughout the night, other superstars from Styles’ past appeared, including old rivals from TNA such as Abyss and Frankie Kazarian. Everything led to Styles coming to the ring, where he explained he didn’t leave his gloves in the ring at Royal Rumble because he wanted to leave them “at home” in Georgia. After thanking the fans, the locker room came to the entrance ramp to give Styles a standing ovation. At that point, The Undertaker made his way to the ring on a motorcycle. Undertaker surprised Styles by telling him he would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with the 2026 class.
This was a nice sendoff for Styles, though it may not satisfy those who wanted a better in-ring end for one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation. Still, there’s no way to allow Styles to have another match when he put his career on the line, not to mention what that would mean for Gunther, whose entire character revolves around being the guy who has retired several legends recently. So, in the end, it was simply a nice send-off for a great wrestler in front of his hometown fans. Grade: NA
What else happened on WWE Raw?Men’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match — Jey Uso def. Bronson Reed and “The Original” El Grande Americano via pinfall with an Uso Splash on Americano. Reed appeared to injure his arm mid-match. After breaking up a pin, Reed grabbed his arm and rolled out of the ring, never returning to the match. Later in the show, Michael Cole delivered the news that Reed had suffered a distal biceps tendon tear.Liv Morgan attacked Stephanie Vaquer, cementing that Morgan would challenge Vaquer for the women’s world championship at WrestleMania, leaving the women’s Elimination Chamber winner to face Jade Cargill for the WWE women’s title.Nattie def. Maxxine Dupri via referee stoppage after “knocking out” Dupri. Nattie shoved Dupri into the ring post and then continued to deliver punches to her prone body until the referee stopped the match.Rusev and Oba Femi came face-to-face as they argued over who deserved Adam Pearce’s attention more in the moment.Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar came to the ring to offer up an open challenge to face Lesnar at WrestleMania. Heyman said no one in the locker room wants to take the risk before saying that any man who wants the match can come to the ring at any of Lesnar’s remaining pre-WrestleMania appearances and make it happen.Je’Von Evans def. Kofi Kingston via pinfall with the OG Cutter. The match came together when New Day interrupted Evans speaking with Offset backstage. Offset would ultimately help turn the tide in the match by removing Grayson Waller from his position running interference at ringside.Finn Balor and JD McDonagh made up in the Judgment Day clubhouse, with McDonagh apologizing for wanting to overstep and attack CM Punk last week. Balor said it was fine, but he needs to do it himself at Elimination Chamber. Dominik Mysterio then came into the picture, saying Balor might want to get things done on his own, but he wants his team’s help and asked them to have his back against Penta next week. Balor suggested that maybe Mysterio needs to go it alone as well.Women’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match — Raquel Rodriguez def. Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane via pinfall with a Tejana Bomb on Sane. Rodriguez now has the opportunity to join Liv Morgan in challenging for a world title at WrestleMania.