WWE Raw - 2/9/2026: 3 Things We Loved And 3 We Hated

The card for Elimination Chamber is starting to come into sharper focus after another edition of "WWE Raw." The show was full of table-setting for the company's upcoming trip to Chicago, with two title matches made, and two more Elimination Chamber competitors determined. But enough about what happened, that's been handled by the results page.

Instead, it's time to talk about the euphoric highs and pitiful lows of Monday's show. There was plenty to love, like the opening bickering between AJ Lee and Becky Lynch, or the fact that Adam Pearce has never had a good night in his entire history as GM. There was also plenty to hate, like the weird, unfocused segments that existed to simply stretch out the road to WrestleMania.

Enough of my bloviating, let's break down the good and the bad from Monday's edition of the WWE flagship.

Adam Pearce has not had a single good Monday since he became general manager of "Raw." It has become something of an entertaining lodestar for my weekly catch up.

Pearce is something of a pain sponge, meant to take as much verbal, physical, psychological, and emotional abuse as the "Raw" locker room can throw at him, and he does a damn good job doing it. Pearce looked ridiculous in several segments tonight, including the one where he seemed to suggest that Finn Balor winning the World Heavyweight Championship would be beneath the WrestleMania main event, and each time, his tortured expression had me cackling. He would've been a tremendous silent film star.

Nick Aldis is a little too cool a customer, and "NXT" is so chaotic that neither Ava nor interim GM Robert Stone ever quite come across as the middle-management clown that Pearce does every week. It's a thankless job to be the bumbling GM of a goofy wrestling show, but I'm here to correct that, and give the former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion his due and proper.

Written by Ross Berman.

I am all for having WWE stars take part in more than one storyline at a time, but I also feel like there's a time and a place for that to happen. Jey Uso taking part in the Men's Elimination Chamber Triple Threat Qualifier matches is not one of those times where I feel like it's a good idea to have someone to have their hand in more than one pot at a time.

Now, I feel like it's important to quickly acknowledge that Jimmy Uso has reportedly been dealing with some personal matters, and that could be a major factor regarding the pivot for Jey back into singles competition for the time being. With that said, considering that this edition of "Raw" was the first time that The Usos have ever defended the World Tag Team Championship since winning them all the way back on December 29 against Alpha Academy, it should go without saying that all storylines that Jimmy and Jey are involved in as of right now somehow connect to the "Raw" tag team division and the World Tag Team Championship. It makes absolutely no sense to have Jey revert back to a singles competitor in order for him to compete in a Men's Elimination Chamber Triple Threat Qualifier and presumably the Men's Elimination Chamber Match itself (since it would be so odd to put him in a qualifier otherwise). The "Raw" men's division has absolutely no shortage of other talent who WWE could slot into Jey's place instead, including names like Je'Von Evans or Dominik Mysterio, who could benefit from being involved in the more serious storyline that Elimination Chamber would provide for them. Moreover, Jimmy encouraging Jey to take part in the Triple Threat Qualifier feels strange to me, as one would think that he would be more focused on the World Tag Team Championship and defending it. The entire thing feels like such a random decision, and a move that makes absolutely no sense to me at all.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Last Monday, Liv Morgan seemed to choose Stephanie Vaquer as her WrestleMania opponent when she attacked Vaquer following her match and held Vaquer's title in the air. Then she showed up on SmackDown, and Jade Cargill told her she'd beat her a** at "The Show of Shows" if she chose her.

Tonight, after receiving roses and chocolate from "Dirty Dom" in the ring, Morgan said that both Vaquer and Cargill are afraid to face her because whoever she chooses will lose their title to her. Right on cue, Vaquer came to the ring and told Morgan she spoke too much. Then she set her sights on Mysterio, and they conversed in Spanish. When Morgan asked him to translate, he refused. The exchange between Vaquer and Mysterio was different than what we typically see. At such a divisive time in this country and on the heels of a Super Bowl halftime show that was almost completely in Spanish, it was cool to have this exchange. Mysterio added to it by refusing to translate. Vaquer claimed that Mysterio called Morgan a "b****". Morgan called her a liar and a p*** before Mysterio ended up getting slapped by Vaquer.

Morgan said she isn't rushing to take her time. Whomever she chooses, there will be time to build up a story, assuming Morgan doesn't take too long. WWE is currently focused on hyping CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns as potentially one of the "greatest WrestleMania main events of all time", so giving Morgan time to make a choice is smart. It also makes both the Women's Championship and Women's World Championship look equally important. When Morgan finally decides, it will hopefully make the decision and the match more impactful.

Written by Samantha Shipman

I've never been a fan of El Grande Americano, ever since the bit came about while Chad Gable was feuding with luchadors.

I didn't like the "character" then, I didn't like it when another EGA popped up while Gable was doing the shtick, I didn't like it when Ludwig Kaiser was then boxed into the EGA role while Gable was out injured, and I certainly didn't like it when WWE decided to throw more Americanos into the mix in the form of Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne.

Obviously, WWE cannot book exclusively to my liking. But I do get to complain about it here, so read on if you disagree, because chances are I am not going to convince you otherwise. Still here? Okay, wel,l let me at least rationalize it.

This week's "WWE Raw" saw Je'Von Evans teaming up with TBC to take on Los Americanos, with EGA Kaiser standing at ringside. TBC wound up being the returning OG EGA – Gable, who, of course, entered the Royal Rumble, which was too full for Finn Balor, so he could eliminate EGA Kaiser.

But before we could get to the graps, Los Americanos cut a promo to the crowd, and I will concede that at the very least Kaiser knows how to speak Spanish, while the other two just spoke in a stereotypical accent, ensuring to roll every 'R' and turn every 'Y' into a 'J.'

It feels somewhat obvious to say that there is absolutely no need for Kaiser, a German, Bate and Dunne, Britons, and Gable, from the US, to impersonate luchadors when there are legitimate luchadors scattered across the promotion. Once more, the issue is not that they are wearing a mask. The issue is not that they are performing as characters. The issue is that there is a conceited effort to parody lucha libre and Latin people in the most tasteless, dregs-of-the-barrel way.

When we did get to the match, Evans took a backseat to the OG EGA as he got the winning pin – albeit after a really impressive cutter – and then had a little tussle with EGA Kaiser in obvious promotion for an eventual Mask vs. Mask match.

The match wasn't bad because it was Evans, Kaiser, Gable, Bate, and Dunne wrestling. But the story, if one could be so bold as to call it that, sucked all the way to the core.

One may say not to see it as a political thing, but I would say that while the head of creative stands next to a President open in his contempt for the people being parodied on WWE programming, it's impossible not to see it that way.

Written by Max Everett

I know many fans expected the return of AJ Lee during the women's Royal Rumble to kick off her reported WrestleMania 42 program with Becky Lynch, and thankfully, after Lee didn't seem to make the trip to Saudi Arabia, we got that tonight. Despite not liking Lynch's current character at all (I cannot stress enough how much I absolutely hate this gimmick, and I'll leave it at that), I liked how this played out tonight, from the very beginning.

Lee's return tonight on "Raw" was a surprise, as I didn't see it reported anywhere. She popped up beside her husband, CM Punk, during his entrance to the arena, and very shortly after, incensed Lynch popped into frame, which I thought was cute. Then, Lynch opened up the show, interrupting Corey Graves' opening spiel, because she was so angry about Lee being back.

And, thankfully, in my case, with hating having to hear this character speak, Lee interrupted her very quickly. Lee went out about how she didn't think she ruined Lynch's life, then of course spouted off everything that's been happening since she made her tap out at Wrestlepalooza, from beating her in WarGames to costing her the Women's Intercontinental Championship once before. It all made Lynch crash out, and the back-and-forth between the women was pretty good before they finally came to the agreement that they'd face off one-on-one for the title at Elimination Chamber.

I liked Lee standing her ground that she wouldn't be having her first singles match in over ten years, which was an important fact to bring up to remind fans, for anything less than the title. I also expected this to happen at WrestleMania, and while I still expect this program to go until "The Showcase of the Immortals," I think Lynch's first defense against Lee happening in Chicago is the way to go. Lee might even win there, making Lynch's crash out all the more insane, and they take it through to 'Mania with the gold on Lee. Lynch's further descent into madness could even spark some more fun comments and promos about mental health from Lee, which I, and the crowd, enjoyed last time.

No matter how you book things moving forward, I was just glad things kicked off tonight between them. Lee may be the only thing that makes Lynch's act tolerable, to me at least, and it was good to see her back.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I was really hoping tonight that WWE would establish Natalya's "Nattie" character hot right out of the gate, which, of course, was wishful thinking. What we got was pretty lame, if not a completely confusing mess. Sure, we saw the Nattie character for the first time, complete with new, "Killing in the Name" Rage Against The Machine-inspired music, in the women's Royal Rumble, but tonight was kind of a big deal, as it was her first singles match portraying the new, more fierce character.

Nattie faced off against Maxxine Dupri, and while there was at least some kind of story there for the match to make sense, Dupri isn't exactly a formidable opponent. It would have done Nattie well to have just squashed her. WWE must have more planned for Dupri following her forgettable reign with the Women's Intercontinental Championship, because I can't think of another reason as to why this match would have ended this way, other than to bring in the other women involved in the post-match angle.

Rather than take out Dupri in the middle of the ring, Nattie seemed to snap after dodging the Ankle Lock and some of Dupri's offense, and cleared the commentary desk. She laid out Dupri on the table and started beating her down, not caring at all about the referee's 10 count. I did at least like the fact that they continued the story with AJ Lee and Dupri, as it was Lee who helped Dupri win the Women's Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch in the first place. She ran down to help, which drove Nattie off, which was confusing, as she's supposed to be a big, strong bada**, and then Lynch ran down to take out Lee, which further removed Nattie from the center of this all. Which, again, made little sense, as she also has a possible story right there with Lynch, whom she eliminated from the Rumble.

The match felt more like a vehicle for Lee and Lynch by the end of it. Thankfully, Nattie was at least announced for an Elimination Chamber qualifying match next week, and she'll go up against Bayley and Asuka. I actually, somehow, have some faith in her, mostly because I think Bayley and Asuka might take one another out if Dupri stays out of the mix, but I still really wish Nattie would have had a stronger showing tonight. With all of WWE's questionable booking decisions and reported changes to many things on "The Road to WrestleMania," this may be minor, but it still stuck out to me, and I hate this for Natalya.

Written by Daisy Ruth