WWE SmackDown results, highlights (Jan. 9): Drew McIntyre dethrones Cody Rhodes in shocker; Jacob Fatu returns

WWE is back in Europe and delivered back-to-back big three-hour episodes of "SmackDown" to start 2026. Similar to this past Monday's "Raw," the Friday program in Berlin, Germany, also featured three title matches, culminating in the big three-stages-of-hell main event between the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre.

Hell of a night

Among all the ways WWE could have done the right thing, I never expected it to unfold like this, but McIntyre has dethroned Rhodes to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion.

The rivals' three-stages-of-hell match was about as WWE formulaic as it gets, starting with the singles match. Minimal time was given to that portion of that match, and it somewhat hilariously ended after McIntyre got the pin off a low blow missed by the ref, followed by a Claymore Kick. What's funny is how resilient we've seen Rhodes throughout his career, especially in recent matches. The guy has survived far worse. That combo was just too much after all the emotional turmoil.

WWE immediately made that fall all the sillier by having McIntyre Powerbomb Rhodes through a table to start the Falls Count Anywhere stage. Of course, Rhodes kicked out, and they worked their way backstage, which led to Rhodes using creative attacks, like a banana suffocation and guard rail splash through a table. The now-former champion essentially beat the hell out of McIntyre for this entire stage, scoring the pin with a Cross Rhodes on the announce table.

The steel cage stage continued to highlight how goofy it is to have a door escape as a method of victory. However, that played perfectly into the finish, when a returning Jacob Fatu halted McIntyre's exit.

I audibly groaned at the interference, regardless of it being Fatu. But then the swerve happened immediately, seeing Fatu attack Rhodes, too, playing into his lonewolf character. He wasn't taking sides; he was leaving an impression, as meanwhile, McIntyre still snuck his way out of the cage to win the title. 

McIntyre and Rhodes delivered arguably the best sequences and spots of the match in stage three, but the simple fact that McIntyre won — which it felt more and more like he had to as it went on — was the greatest right call surprise in recent memory. Even if the reign only lasts for a week, the guy had to win and deserved to.

Now, let's just hope there's some minor breathing room between McIntyre and Rhodes after an overall ultra-rare excellent "WWE SmackDown" main event.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

WWE has completely nailed the immediate introduction of Trick Williams on the main roster. This guy can't feel like any more of the new big star on the horizon, and putting him in the paths of the likes of Sami Zayn and now Randy Orton is incredible, perfect booking.

The former NXT Champion confidently wasted no time in quickly interrupting Orton's opening promo. Confidence is the keyword because Williams has all of it, which, for a modern-day WWE heel, feels extremely rare. At least in the way he delivers it. Sure, wrestlers like Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker have plenty of confident character traits, but it just feels entirely natural with Williams.

Things eventually dissolved between Orton and Williams, and Orton got the better of the newcomer, which I didn't particularly love. But it's not like Williams was embarrassed, and the door was left open for more between them.

It all bled into Williams' debut match against Rey Fenix, which was unsurprisingly good and effectively a showcase. Thankfully, Fenix looked strong enough not to feel like a complete jobber at this point — especially considering Williams won with a dirty pin.

🙌 Debut of the Night

Like Williams, Jordynne Grace is officially on "SmackDown." We saw the tease last week, and it's great to see WWE wasted no time with any of these NXT call-ups. Grace might be the most pivotal of them all, considering the dire state of the women's world title scenes.

Grace was essentially given an easy showcase squash match to dominate against Alba Fyre. She scored the win relatively quickly before she was confronted by Jade Cargill. Good. Get Grace instantly into a feud with the Women's WWE Champion, because it's not like she's some green rookie. We're talking about an established former TNA Champion that arguably never even should have spent time in NXT.

🥩 Meat of the Night

Is the MFT vs. Wyatt Sicks feud resolved? No, but there's no real reason to care. The Wyatts, while technically the faces in this whole thing, simply aren't. All characteristics are of a heel nature, and although it can sometimes work — see Gunther vs. Solo Sikoa — this just doesn't. 

However, it finally delivered on the only thing we all wanted to see: Big meaty men slapping man meat.

Erick Rowan and Talla Tonga tagging in to go at it was the highlight of the tag team match, and got the crowd off their collective feet. It was fun and felt like a throwback to days past of WWE. Sure, it wasn't great all the time, but there just aren't that many big dudes in wrestling in general anymore — at least not that big and athletic.

MFT won the match, thanks to Sikoa stealing the lantern to distract Uncle Howdy. WWE just loves to make its most creative characters look the dumbest.

💪 Performance of the Night

Carmelo Hayes has fit right into the U.S. Champion role. In this "SmackDown's" open challenge, he met former champion Shinsuke Nakamura to put on an absolute banger. This match ruled, but more so, Hayes sold like he was dying.

There was one crazy Nakamura Dragon Screw, in particular, that landed with Hayes atop the ropes, springing him to the outside. The guy treated it like his entire knee exploded into bits. Nakamura continued to work it over, eventually culminating in the finish, with a great First 48 counter and Nothing But Net.

👍 FRIDAY NIGHT FIRE 👍

1. Matt Cardona received his first interview since officially rejoining WWE. It was nothing more than a moment to get him on screen, but then he ran into his good friend, Rhodes, and stated he's coming for the world title. Though it's difficult to imagine WWE actually inserting Cardona into that picture, it would be interesting to see how it would be approached.

To start, WWE announced a Fatal-4-Way match to determine the next world championship contender will take place — but not without qualifying matches, including Cardona vs. Williams. That all sounds great to me.

2. One of the other three Fatal-4-Way qualifier matches announced was a Zayn vs. Ilja Dragunov rematch. You would think there won't be any interference there, but I'm curious to see the direction WWE goes, considering Zayn's persistence on winning a world title, while Dragunov undeniably deserves to be involved, too.

🤷 IT HAPPENED 🤷

1. Damian Priest cut a promo backstage, stating that he wants to get back into the world title picture. That's fine since it would be slightly refreshing. Priest just isn't that interesting at the moment and could use something very new — unlike another McIntyre feud, which was teased to end it.

Before that, Priest will look to qualify for the Fatal-4-Way contender match by getting through Sikoa next week.

2. Giulia successfully defended her U.S. title against Alexa Bliss. The matchup was very random, but fresh and welcome. They paired together pretty well. Ultimately, this appeared to be a step in the right direction with the U.S. title — until Lash Legend interfered to help Giulia win. That was entirely unnecessary, followed by Legend and Nia Jax attacking Bliss, who was without Charlotte Flair. Again, it's another feud that draws next to no interest.

👎 DOWN & OUT 👎

1. The Miz attacked Orton to close the opening segment. It ended with Miz taking another RKO, but this just felt completely pointless other than for another cheap pop like last week. No one wants to see Miz as Orton's first program of this current run.

Luckily, it looks like it might not last, as Miz vs. Orton will be part of the Fatal-4-Way qualifier matches. Well, congrats on the win, Randy.

👑 2026 is admittedly off to a wicked hot start for "SmackDown." Here's to hoping it continues. I give this show a Crown score of: 9/10. 👑