WWE RAW Notes: Gunther, Rey Mysterio, & More Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, & More Declares for Women’s Royal Rumble, AJ Styles vs. Gunther with Special Stip Set for Royal Rumble 2026, Natalya Turns Heel on Maxxine Dupri, Je’Von Evans Suffers Injury

WWE
Jan 19, 2026

Gunther, Jey Uso, & More Declares for 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble

Monday’s WWE RAW show at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland featured Gunther, Jey Uso, Penta, Dragon Lee, and Rey Mysterio officially declaring themselves for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2026.

During the show, Gunther came out to the ring and talked about his victory over AJ Styles on last week’s show. Gunther then proceeded to boast about him being the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion, a two-time World Heavyweight Champion, put Goldberg to sleep in his final match, and made John Cena tap out in his final match. Gunther continued stating that his future is very bright and officially declared himself for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.

In a separate segment, WWE World Tag Team Champion Jey Uso came out from the concourse area and gave a promo in the crowd. After some words, Uso officially declared himself for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.

In another separate segment, Rey Mysterio, Penta, and Dragon Lee officially declared themselves for the Men’s Royal Rumble match during an in-ring interview with Jackie Redmond during an ad break segment.

Current field for 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble match:

  • Cody Rhodes
  • Gunther
  • Jey Uso
  • Penta
  • Dragon Lee
  • Rey Mysterio

Rhiyo, Judgement Day, & More Declares for Women’s Royal Rumble

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, Asuka, and Kairi Sane all officially declaring themselves for this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2026.

Rhyio (Ripley & SKY) and Judgement Day (Perez, Morgan, and Rodriguez) officially declared themselves for the Women’s Royal Rumble match following an in-ring promo and brawl segment involving both groups.

In a separate segment, Bayley and Valkyria were seen backstage and after some words both officially declared themselves for the Women’s Royal Rumble match.

In another segment, the Kabuki Warriors’ Asuka was seen backstage berating Sane for costing them and Sane responding back promising that she will do anything to ensure Asuka wins this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match and revealing both have officially declared for the match.

Current field for 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble match:

  • Rhea Ripley
  • IYO SKY
  • Roxanne Perez
  • Liv Morgan
  • Raquel Rodriguez
  • Lyra Valkyria
  • Bayley
  • Asuka
  • Kairi Sane

AJ Styles vs. Gunther with Special Stip Announced for WWE Royal Rumble 2026

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured one new match announced for the card of Royal Rumble 2026, which takes place on January 31st at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This new match announced was a singles match of AJ Styles vs. Gunther. This match also features the stipulation of Styles putting his wrestling career on the line and having to retire if he loses.

This new match was initially setup following recent shows over the bad blood issues between Styles and Gunther. During the show, Gunther came out to the ring and declared himself for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match. This led to Styles’ music playing to interrupt and him coming out to the ring. Styles stated that the things between them are not over and challenged him to a match at Royal Rumble. After some initial rejections, Gunther relented but would only agree to the match if Styles accepted his stipulation. This stipulation was revealed to be Styles has to put his career on the line and retire from wrestling if he loses. Gunther told Styles that he has until the end of the show to give his answer.

In a follow-up segment, Styles was seen backstage with RAW GM Adam Pearce who told Styles that he doesn’t have to agree to Gunther’s demands and for him to not risk putting his career on the line. Styles stated that he needed to call his wife first. Pearce responded back telling Styles that was a great idea and he will talk to him later.

In another follow-up segment, Pearce and Styles were seen backstage and Styles stated that his wife told him to kick Gunther’s ass. Pearce asked Styles if that is what he wanted to do and made the match official for the Royal Rumble.

Current card for WWE Royal Rumble 2026:

  • AJ Styles career on the line match – AJ Styles vs. Gunther
  • Men’s Royal Rumble match – Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther vs. Jey Uso vs. Penta vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rey Mysterio vs. TBAs
  • Women’s Royal Rumble match – Rhea Ripley vs. IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Kairi Sane vs. Asuka vs. TBAs

Natalya Turns Heel on Maxxine Dupri

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured Natayla turning heel on Maxxine Dupri.

During the show, Dupri was seen preparing backstage for her match against Becky Lynch for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. This led to Natalya showing up and told Dupri that she would be in her corner so that what happened with her two weeks ago with Lynch wouldn’t happen again. As Dupri left, Natalya gave an ominous look teasing something bad might happen later.

During Dupri’s match against Lynch, Lynch attempted to send Dupri into the exposed turnbuckle who stopped and dodged Lynch’s splash leading to Lynch hitting her head on it instead. Dupri hit a heel kick and went for pinfall that was broken up by Natalya who put Lynch’s foot on the rope. This led to Dupri being shocked over what happened and asked Natalya why she did that. This led to Lynch hitting the Manhandle Slam to Dupri for the pinfall victory.

Following the match, Natalya attacked Dupri in the ring and told her “you’re never going to learn.” Natalya continued her attack and locked in a Sharpshooter on Dupri as the referee eventually managed to pull Natalya away from Dupri.

Je’Von Evans Suffers Injury

Monday’s WWE RAW show also featured Je’Von Evans suffering an apparent shoulder injury.

During Evans’ match with El Grande Americano, Evans was seen on the outside clutching his arm and shoulder resulting in the match being paused as Evans received medical treatment. Evans was unable to continue and the referee called for the bell to award the victory to Americano.

The exact spot nor cause of Evans’ injury is currently not known.

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