This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw aired live from Belfast, 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.
