The main event of last Monday night’s episode of WWE RAW featured World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defending his title against AJ Styles. Punk retained his championship after the match ended in a disqualification due to interference from Finn Bálor.
The match precedes Styles putting his career on the line against GUNTHER at the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble Premium Live Event this Saturday.
After the match, WWE cameras caught up with Punk, who discussed the possibility of Styles’ match being his last on the show.
Punk expressed concern about the high stakes at the Royal Rumble, noting that he could potentially lose both Styles and John Cena, who was retired by GUNTHER in December 2025.
Punk said, “I don’t want to believe it’s AJ’s last match on RAW, you know? It’s a funny thing, him saying that this is going to be his last year. But I mean, it’s barely February, you know? This can’t be the end of The Phenomenal One. But I’ve been in the ring with GUNTHER and I can without ego say that I beat GUNTHER. But I don’t feel like I beat him, I feel like I survived. So for AJ to be able to pull this out, I don’t know. The stakes are just too high. I don’t like it and I don’t like to think about it. And we just saw John Cena retire, and it’s hard to fathom in a two month span that we’re losing John Cena and AJ Styles.”
