The first Monday Night RAW of 2026 came live from the Upside Down, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The “Stranger Things” themed episode of Monday Night Raw aired on what was the first anniversary of WWE’s flagship show airing on Netflix. The show, which featured three title matches, two title changes and a showstopping main event, gave a small glimpse into what 2026 could look like for WWE and Monday Night RAW.
If you are a Stranger Things fan, this Raw had plenty of Stranger Things easter eggs for you, including a giant replica of the WQSK van, which announcers Michael Cole and Corey Graves hopped out of when the show began. Additionally, each match was labeled as a different chapter just as is in “Stranger Things.” The barricades were covered in vines, and backstage looked like a place straight out of the upside down.
The show opened with a star-studded Women’s Tag Team Championship match that featured the newly formed super team of Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky taking on the legendary Kabuki Warriors, Asuka and Kairi Sane. Across their three reigns, no team has had more combined days as champions than the Empress of Tomorrow and the Princess Pirate, as they have 324 combined days as champions.
The match was a back-and-forth affair that lasted nearly 17 minutes and ended with the team of Ripley and Sky claiming their first women’s tag team championships. Overall, it was a strong start to the evening. All four women were able to showcase their superstar potential, and it will be interesting to see where Ripley and Sky go from here. Both have singles starpower that is far beyond the tag division, so it is unlikely their reign will be long. But only time will tell if their friendship can survive, or if yet another super team will explode.
The following two matches, Becky Lynch vs Maxxine Dupri, and Lyra Valkeria taking on a returning Liv Morgan, both featured the very best of the women’s roster. Becky Lynch became a two-time women’s champion, while Liv Morgan reminded everyone why she is still one of the very best wrestlers in the women’s division.
The main event is what stole the show, however, as the Vision’s Bron Breakker went one-on-one with legend and world heavyweight champion CM Punk. The match was a 26-minute barn burner that included everything from interferences to broken announce tables to plenty of finishers. In the end, it was CM Punk who came out victorious and was able to defend his championship despite the best efforts of The Vision.
This episode of RAW marked the one-year anniversary of Raw on Netflix, and the partnership only seems to be getting stronger. After the conclusion of WWE’s deal with Peacock late in 2025, replays of pay-per-views are now exclusively on Netflix in both the United States and around the world. And while live pay-per-views worldwide are still on Netflix, WWE’s now airing on ESPN+.
Monday Night RAW and Netflix will return to the New York Metropolitan area on March 30 when RAW emanates from Madison Square Garden.
