Tag: liv morgan

Liv Morgan willing to sacrifice ‘personal relationships’ for WWE career

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Liv Morgan recently shared how she is willing to sacrifice her “personal relationships” for her WWE career because she chose the profession.

Appearing on Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk, Morgan opened up in detail about her current WWE run and career. From sharing her journey into WWE to currently succeeding at the promotion, Morgan revealed how she was willing to sacrifice for growing in her career.

“I think just like my personal life(when asked what she has sacrificed the most). I make myself very available to WWE because that’s like what I believe I signed up for, and that’s the responsibility I want them to give me. So I don’t care per se, you know, do I want to have a family and kids one day? 100%,” Morgan answered.

“Yeah, but like right now in this phase of my life, I am sacrificing to give to WWE one because I feel like they’ve given me so much, like it only feels right to you know match that energy, but two, that’s just like the space of my life that I’m in,” she continued.

Morgan claimed that she was aware of the sacrifices and was doing them willingly because it was her choice to live the WWE/wrestler life.

“I’m willing to sacrifice and choose WWE over anything else in my life, and so that’s what I do.  I don’t feel like in this space in time that I’m necessarily like sacrificing, though, because it’s like exactly what I want to do, but I am aware that I’m negligent to certain areas, but I do it very willingly.  It’s like personal relationships,  like home time, you know, time with my family, it’s the life that I chose,” Morgan said.

She recently won the 2026 Royal Rumble and has now selected Stephanie Vaquer as her WrestleMania 42 opponent.

Liv Morgan chooses WWE WrestleMania 42 opponent

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Liv Morgan has chosen her WWE WrestleMania 42 opponent.

This year’s Royal Rumble winner called out both Jade Cargill and Stephanie Vaquer on Raw to officially make her decision. She told Vaquer that she was right, she didn’t realize how selfish or privileged she was and apologized for judging her. Morgan then turned to face Cargill, but it was a ruse as she blasted Vaquer with the microphone. She posed with the Women’s World title before laying out Vaquer with the Oblivion, her mind clearly made for WrestleMania. The segment ended with Morgan dumping the title on Vaquer before leaving with Dominik Mysterio.

Since winning the Royal Rumble last month, Morgan had been holding back regarding her decision on a WrestleMania opponent, looking to take her time while teasing both champions on Raw and SmackDown. On last week’s show, Vaquer responded by tearing into Morgan in a sit-down interview to the point that when she finished, Morgan left the room in tears.

With Morgan’s decision, it is now official that the winner of the women’s Elimination Chamber this Saturday will challenge Jade Cargill at WrestleMania.

Here is the updated lineup for WrestleMania 42:

WWE WrestleMania 42 (April 18 & 19)

  • World Championship: CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre defends against men’s Elimination Chamber winner
  • Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill vs. women’s Elimination Chamber winner
  • Brock Lesnar open challenge

WWE Raw live results: AJ Styles tribute, Elimination Chamber go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: February 23, 2026
Location: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA 

The Big Takeaway —

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. 

See more below. 

**********

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.] 

**********

(As mentioned above, the Styles tribute was the highlight of the show. This was another dull show outside of that, but that won’t matter much this week. It is notable that this was another big city crowd that was quiet all night, as Toronto and Philadelphia were too.)

Liv Morgan responds to Tom Brady calling WWE ‘cute’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Liv Morgan is the latest wrestler to respond to Tom Brady referring to WWE as “cute.”

Brady made the comment while appearing on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast earlier this month as the two were trash-talking about the upcoming Fanatics Flag Football Classic on March 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Paul will participate in the game, and Brady said to him, “It’s cute. I love WWE. It’s very cute. But honestly, this is like real football. This is real competition.”

Since then, several WWE stars have responded to Brady, including Paul Heyman, CM Punk, and Oba Femi.

Morgan was asked about Brady’s comments during a recent appearance on Going Ringside and said she believes football is “cute.”

“Although a lot of people in WWE are cute, there’s so much more to WWE than I think people understand and realize,” Morgan said. “No disrespect to any sport out there, but I feel like you can take a WWE star and perhaps put them on the football field and they will make do; we will get it done.”

“But can you take a football star and put them in a WWE ring and can they do everything that we do? I don’t know. I don’t know about that. So, I think football is actually kind of cute. I think football’s cute.”

Morgan’s comments come as she is scheduled for a segment on Monday night’s edition of WWE Raw from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner is set to announce which champion she will challenge at WrestleMania.

Morgan’s appearance on Going Ringside is available below:

Liv Morgan to make WrestleMania 42 decision on next WWE Raw, Jade Cargill to appear

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Liv Morgan will make her decision soon.

It was announced shortly before SmackDown on Friday that the 2026 Royal Rumble winner will make her decision regarding her WrestleMania 42 opponent on this coming Monday’s Raw. This comes after weeks of saying she was going to take her time before officially selecting her opponent.

In the weeks since her victory, Morgan has chosen to appear both on Raw and SmackDown, teasing matches against both Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer and WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill. On this week’s episode of Raw, Vaquer met Morgan as she was being interviewed by Michael Cole. Vaquer tore into Morgan, accusing her of having an easy path to success while Vaquer had to leave her home country of Chile and work across the world in order to succeed in pro wrestling. Morgan responded to the promo by leaving the interview area in tears.

Cargill noted on SmackDown that she would be on Raw to see who Morgan ends up challenging.

The men’s Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns quickly made his decision, making it official that he will face CM Punk at WrestleMania.

Here is the updated lineup for Raw:

WWE Raw (February 23)

  • A tribute to AJ Styles
  • Brock Lesnar appears
  • Liv Morgan will make her WrestleMania decision
  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Raquel Rodriguez vs. IYO SKY vs. Kairi Sane
  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Bronson Reed vs. Jey Uso vs. Original El Grande Americano

WWE’s Liv Morgan clarifies comments about online criticism

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Liv Morgan meant no disrespect with her recent comments about dealing with online criticism.

When asked earlier this month how she handles critics given that she has such a large following on social media, Morgan said that, unless you’re her boss, she doesn’t really care what you have to say — either positively or negatively. She expanded on those comments during an appearance on the Battleground Podcast, clarifying that she does care about the WWE viewers. She just understands that not everyone is going to like everything.

“That’s not to say that I don’t care about my supporters or the people that watch the product,” Morgan said. “But pertaining to online criticism, yeah, I do not care. I don’t care about what you have to say. I care about, obviously, what Triple H thinks, my boss. My producers. My peers involved. And whomever I’m seeking guidance for or advice for after the fact. And that could be various people, or no one.

“But, yeah, I just feel like — what is that saying? It could be the yummiest, juiciest, most delicious peach in the world, but there’s still someone that doesn’t like peaches. And that’s okay. I don’t care not out of disrespect, I just don’t care just because I understand that not everyone’s going to like everything. So I’m okay with that.”

Morgan, the winner of the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match, will be challenging either Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer or WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42. A segment took place on Raw last night with Vaquer confronting Morgan and making her cry.

Two segments added to WWE Raw lineup

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The lineup for WWE Raw in Memphis, Tennessee tonight has a couple of new additions.

WWE has announced that promo segments with CM Punk and Liv Morgan addressing their respective directions will take place on Raw tonight. Punk will look ahead to his Elimination Chamber clash against Finn Balor and WrestleMania 42 matchup against Roman Reigns, while Morgan will address the fans as she contemplates which championship to challenge for at WrestleMania.

Punk vs. Balor for the World Heavyweight Championship is now official for Elimination Chamber in Punk’s hometown of Chicago on February 28. If Punk retains there, he will head to WrestleMania to defend against Reigns.

WWE.com wrote about tonight’s segment:

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk takes to the mic tonight as he prepares for two huge title defenses: Finn Bálor at WWE Elimination Chamber and, if he can overcome The Prince of The Judgment Day, Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.
  • Don’t miss The Second City Saint tonight at 8 ET/5 PT on Raw on Netflix.

As the winner of the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match, Morgan will challenge either Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer or WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill at Mania. WWE.com wrote about her appearance tonight:

  • 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan has had volatile confrontations with Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer on Raw and with WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill on SmackDown. 
  • Tonight, Morgan returns to Monday Night Raw and, as always, both Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio and all-out chaos promise to come with her. 
  • Don’t miss all the action on Raw at 8 ET/5 PT on Netflix. 

FedExForum in Memphis is the location for tonight’s show. Here is the updated lineup:

WWE Raw (Monday, February 16) —

  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Gunther vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Bayley vs. Asuka vs. Nattie
  • CM Punk addresses his upcoming matches against Finn Balor and Roman Reigns
  • Women’s Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan addresses the WWE Universe
  • AJ Lee appears ahead of challenging Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch at Elimination Chamber

WWE SmackDown live results: Elimination Chamber qualifiers begin

Posted on by Marc Quill

The stars of WWE SmackDown begin their road to WrestleMania 42 tonight from Charlotte, NC, with the Undisputed WWE Championship title picture now even more volatile following last Saturday’s Royal Rumble.

That picture, and the WWE Women’s title picture, will become a bit more clear with the kickoff of Elimination Chamber three-way qualifying matches. One will feature Randy Orton vs. Aleister Black vs. Solo Sikoa while the other will see former Women’s World Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Lash Legend vs. Chelsea Green.

Women’s Rumble winner Liv Morgan will also make an appearance as she has yet to decide who she will face at WrestleMania 42.

The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles will be on the line as Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defend against Women’s United States Champion Giulia & Kiana James.

WWE men’s United States Champion Carmelo Hayes will continue with his title defense open challenge seres.

Shinsuke Nakamura will take on Tama Tonga to round out the show that kicks off at 8 pm Eastern.

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– Over a shot of Charlotte’s skyline, Joe Tessitore introduced us to tonight’s show as he tossed to a recap of last Saturday’s Royal Rumble event.

Drew McIntyre opens SmackDown

The Undisputed WWE Champion arrrived to the arena with a smile on his face, but before he can even be properly introduced, Drew McIntyre was attacked from behind by a vengeful Cody Rhodes. McIntyre’s hated foe wanted to get revenge for the champion’s involvement in the Royal Rumble that got him eliminated. As a gaggle of officials came out to separate the bitter rivals, McIntyre was forced to retreat as Rhodes stood tall inside the ring.

Rhodes took the mic and said that things would never be the same, despite McIntyre’s best efforts. He said that for the first time, he can’t in good conscience point at the WrestleMania thanks to McIntyre’s interference. Rhodes discussed CM Punk and Roman Reigns making their WrestleMania main event official this past Monday, stating that the two of them were both glad that he wasn’t in their “you-know-what measuring contest”, because he didn’t get the nickname of “Raheem” for no reason. He talked about how much WrestleMania meant to him, and how he was born in Charlotte. “Imagine my discomfort returning here without the championship,” said the hometown boy. Rhodes said that McIntyre wasn’t mad that he wasn’t champion, but rather because Rhodes was the champ. He concluded by promising that his shame and discomfort would be McIntyre’s downfall, and that the Undisputed WWE Champ wouldn’t make it to WrestleMania.

I quite liked that Rhodes was understandably fired up after getting screwed out of the Royal Rumble by McIntyre and responded in kind with the attack. I am curious if this means we’ll see some kind of ultimate blowoff to this at Elimination Chamber instead of WrestleMania. What I didn’t like, however, was the “Raheem” meme being acknowledged, and the context it was mentioned in. To put it simply, it doesn’t take much to put two and two together to know that having the top babyface imply what he said, even in a joking manner, is a huge no-no. And that’s especially given the implications (the “you-know-what measuring contest”) coming from what was said by Rhodes and the timing of when it was said — this being Black History Month. Really, just a bad call all around.

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– Backstage, Giulia and Kiana James were interviewed ahead of their Women’s Tag Title Match against RHIYO coming up next. James again made it clear that winning the tag titles was part of the plan of making Giulia a triple champion.

– Elsewhere, Nick Aldis was admonishing Cody Rhodes for his attack on McIntyre, as he told him to control his emotions because he was set for an Elimination Chamber qualifier match for next week. Rhodes promised to control his emotions before leaving for the night, led by a group of referees.

WWE Womens’ Tag Team Championships: RHIYO (IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley) (c) vs. Giulia & Kiana James

Ripley and James started off this match with a test of strength, as the challenger flinched when Ripley was about to punch her. Giulia stepped up to Ripley as the legal woman, but wanted to face IYO SKY. Ripley obliged that request and tagged SKY in as we got some joshi action here early.

Giulia stomped at SKY’s head and mocked her taunt as she grabbed at her hair. SKY dodged an attempt at a throw by Giulia and hit her with an impressive shotgun dropkick. SKY got slammed down by Giulia, but couldn’t capitalize, so Kiana James involved herself by dropping SKY’s throat across the top rope. James tagged in and took over against SKY on the outside. James held SKY in position outside as Giulia hit her with a dropkick from the apron, which sent us to a break in the action.

This Papa Johns-sponsored match returned from commercial as SKY got blasted with a missile dropkick from Giulia for a near-fall. James tagged in as she and Giulia failed to hit a double team move on SKY. James tried to get the sneaky entry back into the ring to stop SKY from tagging Ripley, but couldn’t get it done. SKY tagged Ripley in, who was a house of fire as she cleared house on Giulia and James. SKY dove to the outside to take Giulia out right in front of the annunce tables.

Back in the ring, Ripley slammed James face-first like a pancake, but that wasn’t enough. James escaped a Riptide attempt and powerbombed SKY right on Ripley. Giulia and James hit a combination of their signature moves — the Arrivederci Knee and 401K — on SKY, but couldn’t capitalize. Giulia attempted a Northern Lights Bomb, but SKY reversed it. Ripley with the blind tag as she headbutted Giulia, followed by the Riptide. SKY finished this match off with the Over The Moonsault to pick up the win and retain the Women’s Tag Titles.

RHIYO def. Giulia & Kiana James via pinfall

This was a fun opening contest from start to finish. The brief glimpses we got of IYO SKY and Giulia facing off was a good appetizer for when we do get these two in one-on-one action down the line. There’s just something about the SKY/Ripley pairing that works so well, and it translates to their tag matches being really entertaining.

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– Ilja Dragunov was interrupted by the Miz, who claimed that he went to Nick Aldis and got a U.S. Title Open Challenge match. Carmelo Hayes then appeared, and stated that Miz didn’t deserve a shot at the U.S. Title, as he then offered to face him in a non-title match coming up next.

Carmelo Hayes vs. The Miz

Hayes started off hot as he hit his springboard clothesline on Miz. However, the former WWE Champion got the advantage as he flattened Hayes with an elbow afterwards. Miz worked over Hayes in the corners, but got hit with a kick to the back of the head, followed by a springboard leg drop. Hayes battered Miz with a chop in the corner, as he then stomped away on him for a bit before the referee backed Hayes off. Miz clipped at Hayes’ legs as another springboard clothesline attempt, before he hit him with a running clothesline, which took us to an awkwardly-placed ad break.

We returned from commercial as Hayes attempted to fight back against Miz with a series of furious strikes that forced his foe into the corner. Hayes connected with La Mistica on Miz, which sent him out of the ring. Hayes hit a dive from the ring to the outside on Miz, as he then attempted a frog splash. Miz got his knees up to block Hayes’ splash and nearly got the win on the pin, but only got two instead.

Miz teed off with his kicks, but failed to hit the last one as Hayes dodged it. The U.S. Champion countered a Skull-Crushing Finale attempt and cracked him right in the jaw with a superkick for the near-fall. Hayes pulled himself back up and headed to the top, as Miz turned that around and hit a slingshot sitdown powerbomb. One, two…. NO! Miz sized Hayes up, but couldn’t connect with the Skull-Crushing Finale. Hayes tried for First 48, but got countered into another Skull-Crushing Finale attempt. Somehow, Hayes avoided the impact at the last second and finally hit FIrst 48 to pick up the victory.

Carmelo Hayes def. The Miz via pinfall

That was a great match, yes, but that ending sequence where Hayes reversed the Skull-Crushing Finale into a First 48 was silky smooth and highlights why I enjoy watching Hayes in action every week. He just doesn’t miss.

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– Tiffany Stratton was interviewed about nearly winning the Royal Rumble, as she promised to get herself back on the winning track by way of qualifying for the Elimination Chamber. Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre showed up and taunted Stratton, but were told off as the former WWE Women’s Champion got ready for her Chamber qualifier coming up next.

– The Wyatt Sicks interruption played as Bo Dallas talked about Solo Sikoa’s theft of the lantern. Dallas said Sikoa was scared of being left in the dark all by himself, which is why he stole the lantern. Dallas mentioned that fear doesn’t show up when everyone’s together, it shows up when you’re all alone. He chuckled as the video ended.

Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Chelsea Green (w/ Alba Fyre) vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Lash Legend (w/ Nia Jax)

Green slapped Stratton and Legend to start this match off, which led to her getting bashed around by both the women she slapped. Stratton and Legend stood face-to-face and got ready for their own battle. Stratton leaped at Legend but was grabbed and used as a battering ram of sorts to take Alba Fyre out of the apron. Stratton recovered and forced Legend to the outside, as she then dove onto both Legend and Nia Jax.

Back in the ring, Green tried to steal Stratton’s pin and yelled at her. Legend tried to get involved, which forced a temporary alliance between Green and Stratton to clothesline her out of the ring. That alliance ended as it began as she headed to the top and took out Stratton and Jax with a dive to the outside. Green did her salute, but got rocked by a big boot from Legend, which took us into the break.

We returned from commercial as Legend lifted Stratton over her head and slammed her onto a prone Green before she splashed onto both women, but couldn’t get the win off of this. Stratton recovered and used Green as an impromptu stepping stone to kick Legend in the corner. Stratton caught Legend with a rough dropkick as she reversed an Un-Pretty-Her attempt from Green. On the top rope, Stratton hit Green with a superplex, as she rolled through with the uranage. Legend broke up the pin and tried for the Lash Extension, but couldn’t capitalize.

Legend caught Stratton and hit a buckle bomb, followed by the chokeslam for the near-fall. Meanwhile, Green leapt from the top rope and hit a Coast-to-Coast dropkick on both Stratton and Legend. Nia Jax pulled Green out as she made the pin, which led to a scuffle between her and Fyre at ringside. Things broke down as Green and Stratton heaved Legend over the timekeeper’s area with a toss. In the ring, Green attempted an Un-Pretty-Her, but was reversed by Stratton, who finished this match off with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever.

Tiffany Stratton def. Chelsea Green & Lash Legend via pinfall to qualify for Elimination Chamber

That was a bit of a rough match to watch. Moves looked rough and it seemed like nobody really clicked with anyone in this contest.

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– As Randy Orton was being interviewed about his Elimination Chamber qualifier, Aleister Black interrupted and talked about how we’ve said goodbye to two great wrestlers in John Cena and AJ Styles, and it was fortunate that Orton was still around.

– A video package highlighting the stars of NXT and their performance in the men’s and women’s Royal Rumbles was shown.

Kit Wilson’s Lesson in Toxic Masculinity

Kit Wilson made his way to the ring and got ready to teach us all a lesson in toxic masculinity. He talked about being in the Royal Rumble last week, and it disgusted him. He called everyone in the Rumble “toxic”, and stated that “they” didn’t want him in the Royal Rumble because of what he represents. Wilson called himself a man who moisturizes and a man who listens, as well as a man who moves his hips in a particular way. Wilson called the Charlotte crowd toxic as he then challenge anyone who was in the Rumble to face him right now to prove themselves.

Oba Femi made his way to answer Wilson’s challenge, garnering a great reaction from this crowd.

Oba Femi vs. Kit Wilson

Wilson yelled at Femi, and got met with a hard strike from the former NXT Champion. Femi repeatedly hit Wilson in the corner with running elbows a-plenty before he put an end to this match with a Fall From Grace.

Oba Femi def. Kit Wilson via pinfall

Not much to say here other than if Femi is booked as strong as he’s been booked, then he’ll be a cornerstone of WWE’s main event scene for years to come.

**********

– Damian Priest and R-Truth were seen watching Femi’s match as Drew McIntyre rudely bumped into Truth. Priest said that McIntyre have had their problems, but it seems like the champ has his own problems to deal with, so he wasn’t going to add to that.

Drew McIntyre, Interrupted

The Undisputed WWE Champion made his way down to the ring and got ready to speak his mind, at least until Jacob Fatu attacked him in the ring. Fatu flattened McIntyre with a running hip attack as he then clotheslined him out of the ring. Fatu hit a suicide dive on McIntyre and battered him at ringside. Officials tried to stop Fatu, but found themselves in the path of his destructive force. Fatu struck at McIntyre, and forced him to run away through the crowd. Fatu stood on the announce table and taunted his foe in victory.

After the break, Nick Aldis told Fatu that he’d be in an Elimination Chamber qualifier match next week if he desperately wanted to get a shot at Drew McIntyre.

McIntyre getting attacked by both Fatu and Rhodes tonight seems to make it clear that their business with the champion is far from done, so I do wonder how that will play into Elimination Chamber, assuming both men qualify.

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Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tama Tonga (w/ J.C. Mateo & Tanga Loa)

Tama hit Nakamura in the ribs and got the early advantage with strikes to the head of his opponent. Tama missed with a running strike into the corner, which allowed Nakamura to hit him with a knee to the ribs while Tama was prone on the top turnbuckle. On the opposite corner, Nakamura did his signature “stomp” on Tama, but he got hit with a modifed Flatliner afterwards. Outside the ring, Tama slammed Nakamura across the announce table and draped him on top of it. Tama got on the timekeeper’s area barricade and hit Nakamura with an elbow drop, which took us to a break in the action.

This match returned from break as Nakamura hit Tama with a sliding dropkick, followed by a set of strong-style kicks that rocked his foe. Nakamura then hit a nice enzuigiri to Tama, before he connected with the sliding German suplex in the corner. Nakamura continued momentum with the diving knee strike, but couldn’t get the win just yet. Tama found momentum with a reverse DDT, as he then hit the running splash into the corner. Tama hit a double underhook facebuster on Nakamura for the near-fall as he then had him in position for a move of some sort.

Nakamura reversed that attempt into a suplex, that sent Tama scurrying out of the ring. Nakamura took J.C. Mateo out with a baseball slide, but fell victim to a jumping DDT from Tama back in the ring. Tama lifted Nakamura on his shoulders, but got countered into a side suplex from the King of Strong Style. Both men struggled to their feet and went back and forth with clubbing blows. Nakamura got the best of Tama with his trademark spinning wheel kick, and delivered a Michinoku Driver for the near-fall. As Nakamura had Tama in sight for Kinshasa, J.C. Mateo distracted the referee long enough for Tanga Loa to grab at his legs. Tama recovered and hit an unelevated Cutthroat, followed by one last one for the victory.

Tama Tonga def. Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall

That was an alright match, but the inevitable M.F.T. interference put a damper on things.

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– Fraxiom and the Motor City Machine Guns were walking backstage, as Candice LeRae approached the four and told them to look at what happened to Johnny Gargano lying on a box marked “NXT”. LeRae talked about what Axiom did to Gargano after he beat him last week, but didn’t get any sort of sympathy from Fraxiom and the MCMGs.

– As RHIYO talked about their victory earlier tonight, they were interrupted by Nia Jax and Lash Legend, who appeared to call their shot for the Women’s Tag Titles.

– A defeated Kit Wilson sauntered about backstage and noticed Matt Cardona, as he blamed him for his shortcomings. Cardona, who was chatting with Apollo Crews, told Wilson that he was always ready for a challenge.

Liv Morgan makes her presence known

The 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner was introduced by Nick Aldis in the ring, as she made her way alongside fellow Judgment Day cohort Raquel Rodriguez.

Morgan said that we were now in the presence of the “greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time”. She said she wasn’t just the greatest, as she called herself the hottest, funniest, smartest, and most iconic woman in the history of WWE. Morgan said that all of that came with a lot of power, but she didn’t have a lot of time to make a certain decision. Morgan said she could choose Stephanie Vaquer or face Jade Cargill. Morgan said that WrestleMania wasn’t the only thing on her mind, but that there was a huge elephant in the room. Before she could say what that was, Rodriguez took her mic and said that she had something to say instead. However, they were both interrupted by the arrival of WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill.

Cargill said that she didn’t care if Morgan won the Royal Rumble, and that she didn’t care if she was on SmackDown. Cargill said that if Morgan chose her, she’d beat her ass at WrestleMania before she turned her attention to Rodriguez. Morgan interrupted and talked about how she could pick Stephanie Vaquer and ensure Raquel Rodriguez would beat Cargill instead. This led to Jordynne Grace interrupting proceedings.

Grace said that Morgan did what she had to do to win the Rumble, but if she could get Cargill to defend her title, maybe it’ll be Grace who Morgan might end up facing at WrestleMania. Morgan interrupted and got told to shut up by both Cargill and Grace. Mr. Aldis talked about how if Morgan was available to talk, she was available to fight, which led to a tag match between Cargill and Grace versus Morgan and Rodriguez to be booked.

Not really my cup of tea, with this style of segment, mainly because of how Morgan’s style of promos isn’t really for me.

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Jade Cargill & Jordynne Grace vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez

This match started in progress after the commercial break, as Rodriguez was battering Grasce with elbows to the chest. Grace got lifted by a back suplex from Rodriguez, but she avoided a diving bomb. However, Morgan tagged in and tried for the Three Amigos. Grace countered on the third of the Amigos and delivered a suplex of her own. Grace flattened Morgan with a series of lariats, followed by repeated scoop slams. The cover by Grace, but Rodriguez interrupted the count. As Grace sent Rodriguez out of the ring, Morgan attempted ObLIVion, but was blocked by the strength fo Grace.

Cargill “accidentally” hit Grace with a superkick after Rodriguez got out of the way. Meanwhile, Rodriguez had an accident of her own as she hit Morgan with a kick as Cargill got out of the way. As Cargill and Rodriguez were staring down, Grace pushed the latter onto the former and pulled off the roll-up for the win.

Jordynne Grace & Jade Cargill def. Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan via pinfall

This match was a bit on the short side, but the friendly fire finish playing into Grace and Cargill’s feud, as well as a potential Judgment Day rift worked well.

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– Sami Zayn was met by Rey Fenix, who consoled him after his Royal Rumble loss, but both were interrupted by Trick Williams, who called himself the Michael Jordan to Zayn’s Charles Barkley. Williams talked about how he was the guy who gets things done around here. Fenix told Williams that he had a big mouth and he’d shut him up if he kept it up. Williams responded to Fenix, saying he’d do it “any time, any place.”

– Elsewhere, Jade Cargill and Jordynne Grace were at each other’s throats following their tag match, as Nick Aldis told the two there’d be a WWE Women’s Title match next week on SmackDown, with Cargill set to defend against Grace.

– A recap of Roman Reigns & CM Punk’s fiery confrontation on Raw was shown, as we got official confirmation of Punk defending the World Title against Reigns at WrestleMania in ten weeks time.

Drew McIntyre has something to say

Now with seemingly no interruptions to hamper him, Drew McIntyre talked about how both Jacob Fatu & Cody Rhodes should be banned from the Elimination Chamber qualifiers for what they did to him earlier. He also took credit for dashing Sami Zayn’s dreams at the Royal Rumble before he finally turned his attention to Reigns and Punk’s promo from Monday night.

McIntyre talked about how he was been through hell to get the Undisputed World Title and that he’d never go part time. He put over the heritage of his Undisputed WWE Title, and that he didn’t blame Reigns for choosing Punk. McIntyre said that while Reigns and Punk were busy aura farming, he has the entire roster climbing the Elimination Chamber for the right to be the Undisputed WWE Champion.

As McIntyre was making his exit, Trick Williams interrupted to a huge ovation of “Whoop That Trick” chants. Williams said maybe he was just here to watch the main events and kicking up his lemon pepper steppers. Willams said that maybe McIntyre was worried about the wrong people, when he should be worried about him, the man who will take the WWE Title at WrestleMania.

McIntyre warned Willaims to walk before running, because if he interrupted him again, McIntyre promised he’d stick Williams’ “lemon pepper steppers” where the sun didn’t shine.

So, how was McIntyre’s response to essentially being treated as a third wheel on Monday by Reigns and Punk? He tried his best, yes, but it’s still an uphill battle to get ahead of it given how big the Punk vs. Reigns match is being sold as. Meanwhile, it’s nice seeing Trick Williams get into these big main event situations, as it’s clear as day that he’s being viewed as a big star.

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Next Week on SmackDown

  • WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Jordynne Grace
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: RHIYO (IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley) vs. Lash Legend & Nia Jax
  • Women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Alexa Bliss vs. Giulia vs. Zelina
  • Men’s Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Cody Rhodes vs. Sami Zayn vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Trick Williams vs. Rey Fenix

Elimination Chamber Qualifier: Solo Sikoa vs. Randy Orton vs. Aleister Black

Prior to the match, Sikoa was seen wondering where his M.F.T.s allies were, but they were nowhere to be found, as he made his way down to the ring alone.

Sikoa tried to get Black to team up on Orton, but it was a double-cross. Orton went for the RKO early, but couldn’t connect. Sikoa pulled Orton out of the ring and threw him into the ring post. Black hit his moonsault from the apron on Sikoa, as he then countered an attempted back suplex to the announce table and instead took Orton out with a clubbing blow. This took us into the break.

We returned from break as Orton stomped on Black while he had Sikoa trapped in an ankle submission. This opened both men up to Orton’s Garvin-style stomps, as Sikoa found himself in the corner being battered by punches. Black stopped Orton from attacking further, but got himself in the crosshairs of Orton’s punches in the corners instead. Black escaped his predicament and hit Orton with kicks across the chests, followed by punches to the ribs.

Black pulled Orton to the middle of the ring and worked him over until he was pulled out of the ring and thrown into the barrricade by Sikoa, who briefly stared Trick Williams down before he entered the ring. Sikoa kept Orton grounded with chops and punches as he pointed at the WrestleMania sign. Orton recovered and hit Sikoa with a series of clotheslines, but couldn’t hit the scoop powerslam, as Sikoa dodged it. Black entered the fray and got dropped with a pop-up Samoan Drop by Sikoa for the near-fall, as we took one more break in the action.

We returned to our main event as Orton hit a superplex on Black, but it put him in prime position for Sikoa to drop down on him with a splash for the near-fall. Black and Sikoa got themselves on their feet and traded strikes, but it was the Samoan who got the upper hand. Sikoa missed with the running hip attack, as Black hit him with the top rope Meteora. Orton got back in the ring and hit Black with clotheslines. Sikoa avoided the draping DDT from Orton, but he couldn’t avoid being dropped across the commentary table by Orton. Black also got dropped with the back suplex for his troubles.

Back in the ring, Sikoa was left stunned long enough to fall victim to Orton’s draping DDT. Orton had Sikoa in sights for the RKO, but Black kicked him hard. Sikoa recovered and caught Black with the Spinning Solo. One, two… NO! Sikoa attempted a Samoan Spike, but Black avoided it and got Sikoa with a big knee, followed by a bridging suplex for the two. Black hit Sikoa with a running knee, and almost got caught with the RKO. Black reversed it and attempted Black Mass. Orton dodged and got Black with the RKO, but the momentum sent him rolling out of the ring.

Sikoa snuck up on Orton and looked like he was going to get him with the Samoan Spike, but he got hit with an RKO instead. One, two, three. This one’s done.

Tonight’s show ended with Orton celebrating his win.

Randy Orton def. Solo Sikoa & Aleister Black via pinfall to qualify for Elimination Chamber

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Weird opening promo from Cody Rhodes aside (and I’ve said my piece on it above), this was an entertaining SmackDown, and a hot Charlotte crowd really added to it. The matches tonight were all at least decent and the Elimination Chamber build is taking shape well, even though it’s early on.

The Women’s Tag Title Match was my pick for top match of the evening. There’s just something really enjoyable about the Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY tag team and it brings out the best in both women, as well as the people they face in the ring. Lots of exciting action to be had there. The other matches were good and nothing really dragged.

Liv Morgan on why she forgot to point at WWE WrestleMania sign

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Liv Morgan is trying to be more present and savor her WWE accomplishments. However, that mindset shift had an unintended consequence at the Royal Rumble.

On TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast, Morgan explained that, after her women’s Rumble victory last weekend, she forgot to follow tradition and point at the WrestleMania sign because she was trying to appreciate the moment. A referee who could be seen on camera had to instruct Morgan to point at the sign so WWE could get that visual.

“I think overall I’m just trying to be more present and more grounded. I feel like in this business it’s always about, ‘What’s next? What’s next? What’s next?’ And I feel a lot of moments, maybe I don’t get to appreciate enough or they kind of pass me by,” Morgan said. “Because I also am focused on, ‘What’s next? What’s next?’ I always want to outdo myself or be ahead of the curve and be prepared. But I’ve really tried to just settle, which is why I forgot to point at the WrestleMania sign [laughs]. I’m really trying to just, like, settle in the moment and be grounded and be grateful and acknowledge that these opportunities that I get to have are amazing. And, like, allowing myself to feel that in the moment.”

Morgan, who was sidelined for months last year due to shoulder surgery, is now set for a big 2026 with her earning a title shot at WrestleMania 42. WWE has not yet announced which champion she will be challenging. Morgan is set to appear on SmackDown this Friday as she debates whether to challenge for the Women’s World Championship (currently held by Stephanie Vaquer) or WWE Women’s Championship (Jade Cargill).

On Inside the Ring, the 31-year-old Morgan said she hasn’t given any thought to how much longer she wants to wrestle. WWE has always been part of her life and she considers it home. Morgan hopes that there will always be a place for her in the company.

Liv Morgan to appear on next WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Liv Morgan, the 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner, has a decision to make. And she’s going to announce that decision this Friday on SmackDown. 

Morgan had a busy night on Monday Night Raw, joining her boyfriend Dominik Mysterio in the ring after his big return. She then announced she did not want to rush into a decision and pick her Mania opponent too quickly. Therefore, she would go to SmackDown to scout the competition and assess her options before making a choice. 

The Royal Rumble winner was then confronted by her Judgment Day stablemate Raquel Rodriguez, who demanded to know why Morgan had eliminated her from the Rumble. Morgan talked her way out of the situation by explaining that they both had title shots, with Rodriguez about to challenge Vaquer in a street fight. 

Vaquer went on to defeat Rodriguez in that match, only to be laid out by Morgan, who ended up standing tall with Vaquer’s belt in her hands. Prior to her title opportunity, Rodriguez had requested Morgan not to interfere in the match.

Morgan made her main roster WWE debut in 2017. She is a two-time WWE Women’s World Champion, and she and Rodgriguez have won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship four times. 

WWE Raw live results: Royal Rumble fallout

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: February 2, 2026
Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA 

The Big Takeaway —

Roman Reigns will face CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42.

**********

Show Recap — 

Instead of the usual start, Raw kicked off immediately with a shot of Bron Breakker marching around ringside. He tore up the announce table and confronted the announcers, who begged off. Breakker tossed the announce table over and demanded a mic. 

Breakker entered the ring as his Vision teammates frantically made their way down. Breakker called out Adam Pearce as the Vision and Paul Heyman urged him to calm down. Breakker accused Pearce of ruining his Rumble appearance, and he threatened to ruin Raw. 

Heyman took the mic as the Vision continued to talk down Breakker. Heyman said this was all Pearce’s fault. Pearce has to approve every Visa for the trip, so he had to know who the masked man was. He also accused Pearce again of making Bron the number two entrant. 

Breakker grabbed the mic and demanded that Pearce come out. Pearce entered and was guarded by security. Pearce was in no mood for this. Pearce reminded them that the Rumble drawing was random. He said he would give Breakker a gift and let him keep his job after that piss-poor performance on Saturday. 

Breakker snapped and scrambled out of the ring (tripping over in the process because he was so upset), but he was stopped by Bronson Reed before he could try to get through security. Pearce bailed. 

LA Knight’s music hit. He appeared from the crowd and blindsided Austin Theory and Logan Paul with a steel chair. Reed chased him off. An upset Breakker went to the back.

(This was a good start to the show. The only negative was Theory and Paul got up almost right away and weren’t selling the Knight chair shots.) 

******** 

There was a Royal Rumble recap video. Liv Morgan, Stephanie Vaquer, and Gunther were shown at the arena earlier today. 

They let us know Je’Von Evans lasted the longest in the men’s Rumble match with a time of 40:58.  

Je’Von Evans vs. El Grande Americano (w/ Bravo & Rayo Americano) 

Evans’ shoulder and ribs were taped up. He was off to a good start until he missed a Stinger splash. El Grande took over, and there was a modest, “We want Gable” chant. Evans came right back and hit a crazy leaping dive to the outside, almost flying right over El Grande. 

Evans was distracted by Rayo, so El Grande nailed a dropkick on the apron and lawn-darted him into the ring post. El Grande had control through a break, and it was really dull. (Perhaps they need to be reminded that much of the world can see what they’re doing, or not doing, during commercials.) 

Evans fought back with chops, forearms, kicks, and a satellite DDT. Evans fought out of a submission hold, and with El Grande lying on the other side of the ring, Evans went to the top and hit a senton leg drop all the way to the other side. It was a long way to go, so he didn’t quite nail it. 

Rayo distracted the referee, allowing Bravo to trip Evans off the top rope. Rayo handed El Grande the metal plate while the ref dealt with Bravo. The original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable) entered to his music and posed in the aisle. 

The distraction allowed Evans to hit a running knee strike and OG Cutter for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Je’Von Evans defeated El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) (12:30)

This match was ok. It was a bit more deliberately paced than I expected, with a lot of striking. The crowd liked Evans, but they were pretty quiet during the bulk of the match.  

********

Michael Cole announced an attendance of 13,746. 

There was a Rumble video package, this time highlighting some of the newer faces from NXT, recent callups, and Royce Keys (Powerhouse Hobbs). 

Jimmy and Jey entered during a break. Jimmy’s back after being gone for a few weeks as the company was out of the country. They issued a warning shot to Alpha Academy, who they would be defending their tag titles against next week. They shouted out Roman Reigns for winning the Royal Rumble, and that was that. 

Cole congratulated Bad Bunny and Jelly Roll on their success at the Grammy Awards. 

******** 

Gunther segment

AJ Styles’ music hit, and the crowd cheered, but Gunther excitedly walked out instead and did Styles’ pose. The crowd booed as Gunther tried to speak. Eventually, he said Styles found out what Goldberg and John Cena did. When you step in the ring with the career killer, your career and legacy die. 

Dragon Lee ran out as Gunther spoke. He attacked Gunther, nailed a great-looking suicide dive, and sent him into the ring post using a hurricanrana. 

Dragon Lee charged at Gunther while he was in the timekeeper’s area, but Gunther popped up and nailed him with the ring bell. Gunther put him in the dreaded sleeper hold until officials quickly broke it up. 

Gunther went into the ring and picked Dragon Lee up by his mask (while Lee was ringside). Gunther put him in the sleeper again, this time with Dragon dangling over the side of the ring. Officials desperately tried to pull Gunther away (including Shawn Daivari, who grabbed Gunther by the hair), but he only let go after Lee passed out. Gunther put his coat on and left. 

********

There was a replay of Reed and Logan trying to kill Knight weeks back when Reed gave him a Tsunami on top of a car. 

Heyman approached Pearce and asked him to make a match between Breakker and Knight. Pearce said no. Pearce didn’t appreciate Breakker interrupting his show. He told Heyman to escort Breakker out of the building and tell Reed he has a match against Penta. 

Heyman asked Pearce if he knew who he was talking to and in which city. (Fans chanted “ECW.”) Pearce told Heyman, “F.A.F.O” (a line Heyman used on Pearce on Saturday). Heyman chuckled, and he left. 

*******

During a break, Maxxine Dupri told Byron Saxton she was still shocked over what Nattie did. But just like there was a new Nattie, there was a new Maxxine. She beat the greatest women’s wrestler of all time to become the IC champion. This Maxxine was breaking ankles and taking names. 

She was sick and tired of being walked over. Nattie didn’t elevate her, she elevated herself. Nattie taught her how to train, but Dupri taught herself how to survive. Dupri would give Nattie a lesson next week: that no one can decimate this Maxxine. 

********

Breakker was still pissed and tossing stuff around backstage. Heyman tried to calm him down by telling him that Pearce had plenty of ammunition against him already. Breakker screamed at Heyman that he didn’t care. Breakker barged through a door and left.

Oba Femi destroys The War Raiders 

Erik and Ivar entered, presumably for a match. They were surprised upon hearing the music of Oba Femi. The announcers were surprised too, as they were expecting a tag match. 

Femi entered the ring and destroyed both guys. He gave Ivar a chokeslam and gave Erik a powerbomb. Femi posed as fans chanted his name. 

(This was a cool segment for Femi. Not so much for the other guys.) 

********

Finn Bálor video promo 

Finn Bálor said this was a business based on respect. He always gave respect in the indies and on the main roster. But he was realizing that the respect was not returned to him. He was taken for granted over and over. What happened in Belfast was not a one-off. 

He’s been showing up and showing off his entire career, but Pearce still tried to tell him the Rumble was full. It turns out, respect only gets you so far. He wanted the world title. He didn’t think of himself as a bad guy, but warned CM Punk he was willing to do bad things. 

******** 

Nikki & Brie Bella segment 

The Bellas entered. The crowd was chanting something that sounded like booing, and Nikki asked if that was for the Eagles not making it to the Super Bowl. Brie said they were probably saying “Coop,” and Nikki bragged that she had good taste. He was a pro bowler, after all. (I guess she’s dating Eagles player Cooper DeJean.) 

Nikki said the Bella twins haven’t appeared on Raw together in over seven years. Nikki shared everyone’s excitement that Brie was back. There were light “Yes” chants. 

Brie was happy to be back home. She joked that she didn’t return because Nikki was getting her butt kicked every week. She returned because they were the “original tag team.” The division was better than ever, and they wanted in. It was time for the Bella twins to go for the tag titles. 

(This was not a good promo, and this segment was a reminder as to why people don’t like the Bellas.) 

********

Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Dupri had a backstage segment with Bret Kreischer. Otis was in a good mood seeing Kreischer, but Dupri was all business. She planned on breaking Nattie’s ankle next week. Dupri left. Otis and Kreischer were excited, and Kreischer took his shirt off. 

******** 

The first hour of the show included just the one 12-minute match. The second match of the evening started a full 40 minutes later… 

Penta vs. Bronson Reed (w/ Paul Heyman, Logan Paul & Austin Theory) 

…and this match went to commercials after 2 minutes. 

Penta hit a dive ahead of the break, but it didn’t matter because Reed got the heat moments later. Like the opening match, not much happened during the break. (I guess all these guys did just fly halfway across the world.) 

Penta came back and hit a springboard tornado DDT for two. Reed hit a powerslam for two, and Penta came back with a backstabber for two. 

Theory jumped on the apron, so Penta kicked him off. Penta also knocked Logan off the apron and wiped out both guys with a dive. Penta accidentally knocked the referee out of the ring when he attacked Logan. 

Penta took too much time dealing with the Vision, so Reed hit him with a Jagged Edge (DVD) and Tsunami, but the referee was still out. 

Reed went outside and grabbed a chair, but was attacked by LA Knight, who gave him a BFT onto the chair. Knight was chased away by Logan and Theory (who quickly recovered again, as they did in the opening segment). 

Reed couldn’t get back in the ring by ten, so Penta won by count-out. 

Match result: Penta defeated Bronson Reed via count-out (12:55)

******** 

The Americanos were interviewed by Saxton during the break. This included Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate doing bad accents. 

********

Liv Morgan, Dominik Mysterio, and Raquel Rodriguez segment 

Dominik Mysterio entered. He’s back after being gone for a few weeks with an injury. His mustache is even thicker than before. The crowd chanted “Dirty Dom.” Dom said the only reason he would come back to a place like Philly was to celebrate the winner of the women’s Rumble. He introduced Liv Morgan. 

Morgan entered and jumped into Dom’s arms. The crowd chanted, “You deserve it,” (not that loud), and she responded, “I know!” Morgan said they were all in the presence of the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time. 

Morgan wasn’t sure who she wanted to face at WrestleMania yet. She planned to attend SmackDown on Friday to assess her options. What she did know was that we were going to crown a new Women’s World Champion tonight. Morgan introduced her best friend and sister, Big Sexy Raquel Rodriguez. 

Rodriguez entered. She said Judgment Day celebrated Morgan’s big win all weekend, but they never addressed something else that happened during the Rumble. Rodriguez asked Morgan why she eliminated her from the match. 

Morgan said she knew Rodriguez wasn’t a selfish person. Rodriguez had a title opportunity, and now she did too. A win for one Judgment Day member was a win for them all. 

Rodriguez agreed with that sentiment, but told Morgan to stay in the back for her match. Beating Vaquer on her own would make winning the world title that much sweeter. Morgan was on board with this (and relieved Rodriguez didn’t seem upset with her anymore).

Philly Street Fight for the Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez 

Vaquer has new generic-sounding music, and it seems like an immediate downgrade. She also wore new gear, which included long pants. It is a street fight, after all. (Rodriguez wrestled in ripped jeans.) 

Vaquer grabbed a table early on to the crowd’s delight, but was unable to use it. Rodriguez powerbombed her through the table moments later. During a break, Rodriguez wrapped a chain around Vaquer’s previously injured ankle, dragged her around ringside and slammed her leg into the barricade and into the side of the ring. 

After the break, Rodriguez booted the steel steps into Vaquer’s ankle. Vaquer avoided a steel chair shot and attacked Rodriguez with a kendo stick. Rodriguez attacked Vaquer with the cardboard cover from the announce table, before lawn-darting her into the ring post (second time we’ve seen that spot tonight). 

Vaquer came back with a kendo stick shot and a back suplex. She set up for Devil’s Kiss, but Rodriguez powered up to her feet with Vaquer still on her shoulders and dropped her onto the top rope. Vaquer managed to respond with a thrust kick for two. Rodriguez hit Vaquer on the head with a trash can for a two count. Fans chanted for the Eagles. 

Rodriguez tossed a bunch of chairs into the ring, and Corey Graves gave Terry Funk a shout-out. Rodriguez caught Vaquer’s crossbody attempt and hit a fallaway slam onto the chairs. Vaquer avoided a corkscrew elbow drop and hit Rodriguez with Devil’s Kiss onto a steel chair. Vaquer wasn’t done there. She rolled to the outside and hit Devil’s Kiss on top of the steel steps. The previous quiet crowd chanted, “One more time.” She didn’t do it. 

During a break, Vaquer attacked with the kendo stick and chucked the trash can in Rodriguez’s face. Rodriguez fought back and wedged a chair between the turnbuckles. She also set up a table outside the ring. 

After the break, Rodriguez tried to use the steel steps as a weapon, but Vaquer ducked it and dropped her onto the steps instead. Vaquer placed the trash can over Rodriguez and hit a running meteora in the corner for two. Rodriguez booted the can into Vaquer’s face moments later for two. 

Rodriguez took her time setting up a table while the ref checked on Vaquer, who was favouring her ankle. Rodriguez tried a Tejana Bomb through the table, but Vaquer slipped out. Rodriguez hit a clothesline instead. 

19 minutes into the match, Morgan entered through the crowd and handed Rodriguez the title belt, urging her to use it as a weapon. Vaquer used the distraction to chuck Rodriguez into the wedged chair, and knocked Morgan off the apron. Roxanne Perez tried to interfere too, but Vaquer knocked her off the ropes, through the outside table. 

Vaquer set up Rodriguez for a hurricanrana off the top and through the table, but Rodriguez blocked it and set up for a powerbomb. Vaquer blocked that and hit the hurricanrana anyway. The move sent Rodriguez through the table, but it didn’t look good. 

Vaquer followed with a Spiral Tap (corkscrew splash) for the pinfall win. 

— After some replays, Morgan laid out Vaquer with an Oblivion. She posed with the title belt before dropping it onto Vaquer. 

Match result: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Raquel Rodriguez in a Philly Street Fight to retain the Women’s World Championship (21:55) 

This was mostly a good match, but it dragged at times and felt really long, and the lack of crowd reaction really brought it down. 

******** 

Next week on Raw: 

  • Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie 
  • The Usos vs. Alpha Academy for the tag team titles 
  • Elimination Chamber qualifying matches begin 

********

Roman Reigns and CM Punk main event segment 

Roman Reigns arrived in a Range Rover (he had a driver), and he immediately made his way to the ring. Reigns said he’s had highs and lows in Philly. He won his first championship here on his daughter’s birthday, but he also lost his last championship here. He won his first Rumble here, too. (He acknowledged the fans booed him at the time.) 

He won his second Rumble on Saturday, and the next city on the schedule was Philly. This was the perfect city to be in, because he had a decision to make. He was about to pose the question of which title he should go after, but stopped as the crowd chanted for CM Punk. Reigns said, “So you don’t want me to go after Drew McIntyre?” Reigns asked if they preferred Punk, and they cheered. 

Punk entered. The crowd chanted for Punk as the two men stared each other down. Punk looked into the camera to address Finn Bálor. Punk said Bálor wasn’t sure if he was a bad guy, but Punk warned him that when he was pushed, he was the baddest guy, and he would get his hands on Bálor soon. 

Reigns was perplexed at Punk interrupting his segment to talk about Bálor. Punk said he wasn’t interrupting anything. Reigns was a visitor on his show. “I’m the champ, CM Punk, and I call the shots.” 

Punk said Reigns had a big decision to make. Punk saw that Reigns was asking for the fans’ help. He mentioned McIntyre, and the fans booed. Punk proposed Reigns vs. McIntyre at WrestleMania, and they booed again. Punk proposed Reigns vs. the best in the world, CM Punk, and they cheered. 

Punk told Reigns to take the easy way out and pick McIntyre. Reigns scoffed at the idea that McIntyre was the easy way out. McIntyre was four times Punk’s size, and the last time they fought, he had Punk crying over a little plastic bracelet. 

Punk told Reigns to be careful. The last time he wrestled McIntyre, they ran out of staples putting his dumb ass back together. Punk knew that Reigns had beaten McIntyre in the past, but Punk beat him in the most dangerous match this company had to offer, Hell in a Cell. 

Reigns said he beat McIntyre for three years straight. Punk said he did, along with all of his cousins. Reigns warned him against talking about his family. They were the only reason this company was where it was today. And the only reason Punk had a company to come back to. 

Punk said Reigns manipulated his family and a great number of people into thinking he was this great messiah who put the company on his shoulders and held it high, but all he really did was hold it hostage. Punk heard what Reigns said on Pat McAfee’s show. He laughed at the idea that Reigns took mini-vacations to give others an opportunity, and he had the audacity to say nobody stepped up during that time. 

Punk reminded Reigns that he was once champion for 434 days with Paul Heyman by his side. That must sound familiar, because Reigns followed in his footsteps and was champion with Heyman for 1300 days. Punk said he may have done it longer, but that doesn’t mean he did it better. 

Punk said Reigns earned the right to call his shot and show up when he wanted. Punk wasn’t mad about it. Reigns chose to be a part-timer. Punk chose to go to ten countries in three weeks. He chose to see the fans worldwide. He chose to go to Poland, Scotland, Denmark, Belgium, London, Toronto, and Philly. 

Punk chose to be a fighting champion, just like he chose to bring Reigns into the company along with the rest of The Shield. Reigns followed in his footsteps, and he learned from the best. 

Punk said Reigns had a decision to make. Reigns could face the guy he thinks he can beat (McIntyre), or the guy who, on Reigns’ best day, he couldn’t touch. He could face McIntyre or climb Mount Everest with no Sherpa and face the best in the world. 

Reigns said Punk made all these towns because he took a ten-year vacation and wanted to get in as much as possible. Reigns laughed at the idea that he learned from Punk. The only thing he learned from Punk was what not to do. Punk wouldn’t be here without him. 

When they re-signed Punk, they asked Reigns first. He made a promise to Paul, and he did the best he could. But he would never forget ten years ago when Punk went on his friend’s podcast and made Reigns’ life way harder than it should’ve been. Punk came back, took his wiseman, and brainwashed his cousins. Punk almost brainwashed him, too. Reigns shook his hand like a man (at Survivor Series), but Punk mocked him behind his back. 

Reigns made his choice. He could pick Punk because he was the biggest star available. He could pick Punk because he was on the “best show.” But no. 

Reigns said, “I’m picking you because I hate you. I’ve always hated you. And WrestleMania is going to be the best day of my life, because in the main event, you will acknowledge me.” 

Reigns dropped the mic and left. Punk smirked as Reigns walked away.

(This was a very good setup for WrestleMania, and they gave us plenty to chew on with the show still more than two months away. The rest of the show mostly felt like filler in front of another quiet, big city crowd.) 

Royal Rumble winners to appear on WWE Raw

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan, this year’s Royal Rumble winners, are both set to make appearances on WWE Raw tonight.

WWE has officially added segments with Reigns and Morgan to the lineup for tonight’s post-Royal Rumble edition of Raw in Philadelphia. Neither has officially revealed which champion they’ll be facing at WrestleMania, but their appearances tonight will continue the build toward that happening.

“Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns is set to return to Raw,” WWE.com wrote. “Will The OTC decide which World Champion he will challenge at WrestleMania? Find out tonight on Raw at 8e/5p on Netflix.”

Morgan’s appearance tonight will be to celebrate her Rumble victory.

“After outlasting 29 other Superstars and eliminating her Judgment Day ally Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan returns to Raw,” WWE.com’s announcement says. “Morgan has now earned the right to headline WrestleMania against a Women’s Champion. Don’t miss all the action, tonight on Raw at 8e/5p on Netflix.”

Reigns facing World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk looks to be the direction for WrestleMania. As for Morgan, tension within Judgment Day could continue to build based on the result of tonight’s Women’s World Championship match. Rodriguez is challenging Stephanie Vaquer for the title in a Philly Street Fight.

WWE Raw (Monday, February 2) —

  • Philly Street Fight: Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Raquel Rodriguez
  • Men’s Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns appears
  • Women’s Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan appears

WWE crowns women’s Royal Rumble 2026 winner

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Liv Morgan is set for a big 2026 with a WrestleMania title shot already secured.

Morgan was crowned the winner of the 2026 women’s Royal Rumble match on Saturday, entering the bout at number 14 and last eliminating Tiffany Stratton to get the victory. This is the first time Morgan has ever won the Rumble. She joins Asuka, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Ronda Rousey, Rhea Ripley, and Bayley on the list of wrestlers who have won the women’s edition of the match since it was introduced in 2018.

The final four in this year’s Rumble were Morgan, Stratton, Sol Ruca, and Raquel Rodriguez. Dissension within The Judgment Day looks like it will be a story heading into WrestleMania after Morgan took advantage of an opportunity to eliminate her fellow faction member Rodriguez.

We then saw Stratton eliminate Ruca, but Morgan followed up on that by connecting with Oblivion on Stratton for the victory.

After spending several months out of action with a shoulder injury, Morgan made her return to WWE programming at Survivor Series in November 2025. She’s now set to challenge for either the Women’s World Championship or WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 42 this April. Those respective titles are currently held by Stephanie Vaquer and Jade Cargill.

Morgan challenging for the Women’s World Championship would make the most sense given that she and Vaquer are both on Raw — and Vaquer is already feuding with Rodriguez over the title. Vaquer is set to defend against Rodriguez in a Philly Street Fight on Raw this coming Monday.

Liv Morgan gives Dominik Mysterio WWE return update

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Dominik Mysterio should be back in the ring soon, according to his Judgment Day stablemate Liv Morgan.

The 28-year-old Mysterio suffered a shoulder injury at AAA Guerra de Titanes on December 20 but thankfully does not need to undergo surgery. There’s hope that he’ll only be sidelined for a few weeks and will be back in time for the Royal Rumble at the end of this month. During an in-character appearance on WWE’s Raw Recap podcast, Morgan added some optimism to that timeline by saying that Mysterio will be back shortly.

“Daddy Dom, he’s home resting. He’s recovering. We’re just playing it safe,” she responded when asked about Mysterio’s status. “He is, after all, our double champion. He is, as of right now, the crown jewel of The Judgment Day. So we protect and cater to Daddy Dom. And we’re just playing it safe with him. He’ll be back soon, but he’s doing some well deserved [rest and relaxation]. He was quite literally running Monday Night Raw for, like, the last full year. You don’t think that Daddy Dom deserves a little bit of a break, a little bit of a rest, a little bit of an off day, a little bit of a reprieve? My goodness.”

Mysterio remains the WWE Intercontinental Champion and AAA Mega Champion amid his injury.

At WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 24, Morgan & Roxanne Perez have a chance to bring more gold to Judgment Day when they challenge Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. Judgment Day’s Finn Balor also has a title match coming up on Raw next Monday against World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk.

Title match announced for WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez are getting a Women’s Tag Team title shot at WWE’s next Saturday Night’s Main Event special.

The January 24 edition of SNME will see Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defend their newly won belts against Judgment Day’s Morgan & Perez. That was made official on Raw today with Morgan & Perez winning a triple threat match to become the new number one contenders.

The Kabuki Warriors and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria were the two other teams in the number one contender’s match. Asuka & Kairi Sane were looking to get another shot at the belts after dropping them to Ripley & SKY last week, but Morgan ended up pinning Sane for the victory. Sane did not notice that Morgan had tagged in — and Morgan capitalized on that by hitting Oblivion while Sane was focused on Perez.

Montreal’s Bell Centre is hosting the January 24 SNME special just one week before the Royal Rumble takes place in Saudi Arabia. Airing live on Peacock, this is the first SNME since John Cena retired on the show in December.

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event (January 24) —

  • Fatal four-way number one contender’s match for WWE Championship shot at Royal Rumble (competitors to be determined by qualifying matches)
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defend against Judgment Day (Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez)