Monday Night RAW’s February 16, 2026, edition featured a live broadcast from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. As the red brand was hastening its journey to the Elimination Chamber, this episodic publication was the fastest to break down the tension point of the Chamber spots, the future of a retiring legend and how the champions are dealing with their escalating psychological warfare.
The audience enjoyed a combination of top, notch high, flying qualifying matches, the comeback of “The First Lady of WWE” AJ Lee and a very important speech from World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, all hanging over the cast of characters by a mysterious “Masked Man” who kept on “wickedly terrorising” the lot.
CM Punk Confronts The Judgment Day
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk came out to the ring to talk about what was next for him: at first, he is set to defend his title against Finn Balor at Elimination Chamber, and then there is a WrestleMania 42 match almost certainly awaiting him against Roman Reigns.
However, chaos arose pretty quickly when Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and the returning JD McDonagh encircled the champion.
Punk was unrelenting in his verbal assault, referring to Balor’s Judgment Day companions as “dead weights” and daring them to attack him. Through Balor restraining his group, the buildup to their fight in Chicago was just right.
CM Punk Didn’t Have To Go That Hard#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/HXUR8szKzw
— Rahul Khaniya (@RahulKhaniya143) February 17, 2026
AJ Lee Targets Becky Lynch
AJ Lee returned to the ring later that eventful night, and she found another chance to chip away mentally at Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch. Being the persistent kind, Lee has used every opportunity to be inside Lynch’s head since the latter’s comeback.
Thus, she provoked “The Man” into a physical fight. Despite Lynch coming into the ring with a closed fist ready to punch, after all, she left without any punches being thrown and said that Lee was only trying to find an “escape” from their booked match.
AJ LEE AND CM PUNK ARE IN THE BUILDING #WWERAW
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) February 17, 2026
Tribute Night Announced For AJ Styles
We honor @AJStylesOrg NEXT WEEK in Atlanta, Georgia! 🫶 pic.twitter.com/NLeb1sQPAQ
— WWE (@WWE) February 17, 2026
In one of the emotional segments of the night, a detailed video package was aired showing the legendary ten years of AJ Styles’ wrestling career in WWE.
Right after the video, it was announced that next week’s RAW in Atlanta, Georgia, will be a “Tribute to AJ Styles” event.
