Posted on 1/03/126 by Bob Magee
– Over a live shot of the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY,
Michael Cole welcomed us to the first SmackDown of 2025.
Cole then tossed to a recap of last week’s events involving
Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre, which included the Three
Stages of Hell match coming next week being set up.
– Shots of the aforementioned Rhodes, Charlotte Flair, Alexa
Bliss, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, plus the Kabuki Warriors and
the team of Lash Legend & Nia Jax arriving to the arena were
shown. Inside the SmackDown arena, we saw an Ambulance
situated next to the stage for the Damian Priest vs.
Aleister Black match later tonight.
– As Cole and Corey Graves were talking, they were
interrupted by The Miz, who angrily said that we weren’t
moving on to 2026 until he aired his grievances for 2025.
The Miz’s 2025 Grievances
Miz started off by stating that he should’ve been the one to
make John Cena tap out because of their shared history. He
said that while Cena was out riding off into the sunset, he
was stuck in Buffalo instead. Grievance #2: Young superstars
who didn’t heed his advice and that everybody didn’t respect
him enough. Grievance #3: He was passed over for Timothee
Chalamet for Marty Supreme. Grievance #5: Miz said that He
(in reference to Joe Hendry) ruined his final SmackDown of
2025 and that Hendry bringing back a very “untrue” nickname
(“Tiny Balls”) hurt him. Miz said that we would not bring
that nickname back, as he called himself the new face of WWE
after John Cena left. Miz made a cheap local sports team
heat reference by stating that unlike Buffalo’s sports
teams, he won championships as he boasted his accolades,
which in Miz’s eyes, made him the locker room leader.
Before Miz could continue on, the long-awaited sounds of
“Voices” hit, which signaled the return of one Randall Keith
Orton to SmackDown. Orton got a great ovation from the
Buffalo crowd, as they serenaded him with a singalong of his
entrance theme. As Orton got into the ring, he made Miz
flinch by pretending to go after him before he posed on the
turnbuckle. After a good while of posing for the crowd and
the crowd chanting for him. Miz tried to hype himself and
Orton as the gatekeepers of the locker room and the faces of
the WWE, as he suggested “Miz-KO” as a name for them.
Orton’s response to this idea? An RKO out of nowhere to the
hapless Miz. The crowd chanted for Orton to do it one more
time. And with a “Happy New Year, Miz!” Orton obliged the
crowd’s request with one more RKO.
I think this was an effective way to bring Randy Orton back
into WWE, though I am curious about what’s in store for him,
especially with previous teases of him eyeing the Undisputed
WWE Title. Will the long-awaited feud with Cody Rhodes
finally happen at some point? Only time will tell.
**********
– Lash Legend & Nia Jax talked with the Kabuki Warriors and
said that they were owed a Women’s Tag Title shot after
their team-up tonight. Asuka and Kairi Sane brushed off the
idea as they got ready for the big eight-woman tag match
coming up next.
– After the break, Randy Orton met up with Cody Rhodes and
explicitly stated to the Undisputed WWE Champion that he is
gunning for the title once Rhodes dealt with Drew McIntyre
next week. Nick Aldis warned Rhodes about the “no-touch”
stipulation when McIntyre shows up later tonight to lay out
the Three Stages of Hell stipulations. Rhodes said that he’d
get a handle of it.
Eight-Woman Tag Match: Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Charlotte
Flair, Alexa Bliss vs. Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane),
Nia Jax, Lash Legend
The bell rang with the heel women attacking their foes as
Ripley was left to face Asuka off to start this match. Asuka
stomped away on Ripley, but had her last kick blocked. Asuka
got sent to the outside by Ripley, as did Sane. Tag to Alexa
Bliss, who barreled into the Kabuki Warriors with a dive
from the apron as we took the first of (surely many)
commercial breaks for tonight.
We returned from the break as Jax and Legend were double
teaming Bliss, to no avail. Legend got thrown out of the
ring as Bliss then flattened Jax with a tornado DDT. Bliss
got the tag to Flair, who hit both Legend and Jax with the
crossbody. Flair teed off on both her opponents with chops
as Legend got dropped by the somersault clothesline. Flair
connected with Natural Selection on Jax as she then headed
to the top rope and made no mistake with the moonsault.
However, Jax managed to kick out at two.
On the apron, Flair hit Legend with a boot, but failed to
connect with a slingshot spear as Jax blocked that maneuver.
Asuka got the tag but immediately got stacked up for the pin
by Flair, who then applied the Figure Eight submission.
However, Sane got on the top rope and hit an Insane Elbow on
Flair. Sane got thrown out of the ring by Bliss, while SKY
was tagged into the match and unleashed her wrath on both
Kabuki Warriors. Double missile dropkick on both Asuka and
Sane by SKY, as Ripley was pulled down from the apron just
as she was set for the tag.
In the ring, SKY was taken out by a powerful boot from
Legend, but that wasn’t enough to put this one away as we
got a sports-style replay of said boot before we took
another break in the action.
The match continued from commercial as SKY created some
needed separation between her and Sane, but Asuka knocked
Bliss off the apron. SKY dumped Asuka as Ripley entered the
match for the hot tag. Ripley was on fire as she used an
unorthodox offensive move by using Sane as a weapon to knock
Asuka down. Things began to break down when Jax attacked
Ripley and we got all the women in the ring taking one
another out. Sane was caught by Ripley after a failed high-
risk maneuver and got hgit with Riptide. SKY got the tag and
hit the Over The Moonsault to pick up the win for her team.
IYO SKY, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss def.
The Kabuki Warriors & Nia Jax and Lash Legend via pinfall
A fun eight-man tag match to kick us off officially in 2026
as all eight women in this match can really go. Was
certainly a good call to have SKY and Ripley pick up the win
for their team as a mean to set up match against the Kabuki
Warriors on Raw next week.
**********
– Backstage, Nick Aldis was talking with NXT’s Jordynne
Grace, who was informed by Aldis that SmackDown’s 2026 could
involve her. Chelsea Green appeared and tried to beg off of
facing Giulia for the Women’s U.S. Championship. Mr. Aldis
wasn’t buying it and threatened to “impeach” Green by
stripping her of the Women’s U.S. Title.
– Several Buffalo Bills players (sans Josh Allen) were shown
in the crowd enjoying the show.
Kit Wilson vs. Matt Cardona
Before the match, Wilson introduced himself as redefining
masculinity as he took shots at the Bills Mafia and called
them the “most toxic sports fans” in America. He was
interrupted by the music of Matt Cardona (nee Zack Ryder),
who was Wilson’s opponent.
The match kicked off with Wilson attacking Cardona as we
were informed that the latter was officially part of
SmackDown’s roster. Cardona fought back and stomped away on
Wilson in the corner, as he then dropped him with a face-
first flapjack. Cardona clotheslined Wilson out of the ring
and hit him with a sliding dropkick. Wilson regained
momentum with a kick to the back of Cardona’s head in the
corner. Wilson targeted Cardona’s head with punches to the
face as he then placed him in the top turnbuckle and looked
like he had something big planned. Cardona countered with a
dropkick from the top rope as he followed that up with a
facebuster.
Cardona stunned Wilson and blasted him with the Broski Boot,
followed by a double-underhook powerbomb for the near-fall.
Wilson sent Cardona face-first to the turnbuckle and
connected with the Tourniquet, but Cardona kicked out at
two. Cardona got the victory with the move called the Rough
Ryder.
Matt Cardona def. Kit Wilson via pinfall
That was decent, and I will say Cardona coming into WWE
under his real name and the commentary acknowledging that
was a bit interesting. Not sure where Cardona will fit in,
as far as his placement on the card, though.
**********
– Damian Priest was interviewed about his Ambulance Match
against Aleister Black later tonight, as he said that he was
put through hell for six months by Black. Priest promised
that his foe would be the one who would fade to black when
all is said and done.
– The Wyatt Sicks had a video promo about Solo Sikoa and
what the “meaning” of family was. Bo Dallas said that SIkoa
didn’t comprehend the force that he is up against as he said
that the Wyatts’ family was filled with millions of
fireflies of around the world that will always remember.
Dallas said that it was time to chop down Sikoa’s family
tree, as he said that when the dust settles, they’d be the
ones.
Sami Zayn returns to SmackDown
The former United States Champion made his return to
SmackDown for the first time in quite some time, as he said
that the last time we saw him, he got a chance to see John
Cena’s last match with his son. Zayn said that Cena’s last
match really hit him in some way as his son asked him why
they called Cena “The Never Seen 17”. Zayn talked about how
his son then asked how many times his dad has won it, as he
recounted how it doesn’t make sense to that son has been
wrestling all these champions and why that World
Championship was missing.
Zayn said that it made him sick that he had to talk about
being a World Champion last year, so he wants to do
something about it as 2026 would be the year he’d be coming
for the WWE Championship. The theme of Trick Williams
interrupted Zayn, which brought the former two-time NXT
Champion and former TNA World Champion to the scene.
Williams said that the “sexiest and most entertaining
superstar” had finally arrived as he introduced himself to
Zayn. He said that he was here for one reason: Nick Aldis
called “1800-WHOOP-THAT” as SmackDown needed someone of his
caliber. Williams said that Aldis needed someone on
SmackDown who looks like a champion and that he was here to
be World Champion. Williams said he wasn’t like Zayn, that
he wasn’t someone who can almost get the job done like Zayn.
Zayn said that he had been watching Williams and that Aldis
might’ve been right on the assessments made about him, but
he told Williams that he hadn’t been humbled yet. Zayn
declared that if Williams had no problem about interrupting
him, Zayn said he’d have no problem with teaching him about
what it means to be humbled.
Trick Williams joining the SmackDown roster and right away
entering a feud with Sami Zayn is actually an interesting
one for sure, and I think it’ll lead to a good match out of
these two down the line. The story of “veteran wants to
humble cocky rookie” is a simple, but effective one.
**********
– Carmelo Hayes was walking backstage when Ilja Dragunov
approached him. The former U.S. Champion said taht he wanted
to fight the best, and that Hayes gave him that for sure.
Dragunov said that he believed it wouldn’t be the last time
they’d face. Dragunov asked Hayes if he’d keep the U.S. Open
Challenge going, to which Hayes said that he’d continue it
once he dealt with Johnny Gargano.
– Rey Fenix was sharing a chat with Nick Aldis as Trick
Williams complained about what Sami Zayn did moments ago.
Aldis said that maybe Williams needed to be taught a lesson
as he booked his debut for next week against Rey Fenix.
United States Championship: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Johnny
Gargano
Hayes went on the attack right away as he avoided a
cheapshot from Gargano and threw him out before the match
could get underway. Once the bell finally rang, Hayes met
Gargano with a dropkick as he continued the attack in the
corner. Hayes hit a nice leg drop on a downed Gargano and
didn’t seem like he was going to lose momentum until a
rolling kicked stopped the roll the U.S. Champion was on.
Gargano’s advantage was fleeting as Hayes knocked him out
with a knee to the face. On the outside, Gargano used
Candice LeRae as a shield to avoid a dive as he nailed the
U.S. Champ with a slingshot spear. A dive to the outside by
Gargano on Hayes sent us to a break in the action.
Our match continued from the break with Gargano maintained
his aggressive attack on Hayes, but a blocked boot allowed
Hayes to hit his springboard lariat with authority. Hayes
followed that up with his version of La Mistica for the
near-fall as he hyped himself up. In the corner, Hayes hit
Gargano with a kick to the back of the head as he hit the
Fadeaway legdrop on his prone foe. On the top rope, Hayes
connected with a frog splash, but Gargano kicked out again
at two.
Hayes knocked Gargano down with a clothesline as he headed
up top. Gargano intercepted him and struck hard, which left
Hayes stunned. At the top, Hayes avoided an avalanche Air
Raid Crash and attempted a superplex. However, Gargano
reversed that into a final cut suplex as the sports-style
replay tossed us to another break in this match.
We returned from the break as Hayes blocked Gargano’s
springboard attempt from the apron with a cutter using the
top rope, followed by a DDT onto the apron itself. In the
ring, Gargano countered a facebuster attempt into a tornado
DDT as Hayes just managed to kick out at two. Hayes stopped
Gargano’s slingshot spear with a boot as he headed to the
top rope. Candice LeRae created a distraction long enough
for Gargano to finally hit the avalanche Air Rade Crash on
Hayes. One, two… NO!
Gargano and Hayes got into a pinning exchange, but the
former connected with First 48, followed by Nothin’ But Net
and the three for the successful first U.S. Title defense.
Carmelo Hayes def. Johnny Gargano via pinfall to retain the
U.S. Championship
A solid first defense for Hayes as the U.S. Title scene on
SmackDown maintains its hot streak that kept it the most
entertaining part of the show nearly every week. I’m glad
that Hayes is also continuing the Open Challenge as
mentioned before this match, because covering these U.S.
Title matches always manages to be a highlight for me.
**********
– Tama Tonga was seen watching the match we just saw as
Shinsuke Nakamura confronted him. With some history between
these two former NJPW stars, Nakamura taunted Tama before he
left. Solo Sikoa talked to Tama about how next week, it’d be
the M.F.T.s & Wyatt Sicks in a four-on-four match, and that
once their issues were settled with the Wyatts, they’d be
gunning for those WWE Tag Titles.
– Jade Cargill was interviewed about what happened to Michin
during a live show as she suffered a real injury during it.
Cargill said that she deserved what happened as Jordynne
Grace appeared and had some words for the WWE Women’s
Champion. Grace turned Cargill’s words of being called “a
bitch” back towards her, stating, “I’m Jordynne Grace, but
you’re definitely one of those (i.e. “a bitch”).
– Elsewhere, Cody Rhodes asked Sami Zayn about Drew
McIntyre’s whereabouts, and seemed a bit taken aback about
Zayn’s championship ambitions. Before the conversation could
linger on further, Nick Aldis appeared and was asked by
Rhodes about McIntyre. With no clear answer, Rhodes said
he’d be heading to the ring soon to see what’s what.
– We got another Oba Femi teaser, presumably again hinting
his arrival to the SmackDown roster.
Cody Rhodes has some words for Drew McIntyre
The Undisputed WWE Champion made his way down to the ring,
as promised. He entered the ring and immediately took of his
suit and grabbed a microphone.
Rhodes rhetorically asked how one obtains the richest prize
in sports entertainment, and that it was his mentality when
approaching anyone in a WWE ring that led him to
championship glory. That mentality being that he gets to the
arena early with the belt in tow, because he wants the
people to see him. Rhodes said that Drew McIntyre reeked of
envy, but he was grateful for it, as he was just a mountain
that he couldn’t wait to climb.
Rhodes said that while he was backstage, he was “playing
dumb” and that he saw Drew McIntyre as nothing more but
“lunch”. That’s because he’s the one who calls himself The
Champ, and it won’t change in Berlin.
McIntyre interrupted from the Titantron and said Rhodes was
as vanilla as it gets, as he said he thought hard to
determine what the three stages of hell would be. McIntyre
said the first Stage would be a traditional wrestling match,
the second being Falls Count Anywhere. McIntyre declared
that the third fall, if the match got that far, it would
come down to a steel cage. He promised to break Rhodes
physically next week, but he wanted to get ahead of things
as he talked about how he ransacked Rhodes’ bus. McIntyre
said that he got one item that meant so much to Cody, that
being a photo of him and father Dusty Rhodes.
McIntyre mocked Rhodes and said that it would get real
chilly down in hell, as McIntyre stomped on the photo.
Rhodes angrily ran to the back and was stopped by security
as McIntyre soon appeared in the ring and tried to goad
Rhodes to come get him. “Happy New Year, Cody” McIntyre said
as he took a lighter to the picture of Rhodes and his father
and set it on fire.
An… interesting and good way to garner heat, I’ll admit. It
just hurts that McIntyre will be taking yet another three-
second tan next week in Berlin, and all this fantastic heel
work as of late will be certainly going to waste. I know a
lot of people will probably disagree with me on this front,
but this feud with Rhodes has honestly soured me on
McIntyre’s current character with the way he’s lost
repeatedly and remained stuck in place. Feels like reliving
Groundhog Day, if you ask me. A refresh of sorts for
McIntyre is needed after this match, but I’ll happilly eat
crow if somehow, he wins the title next week, even for a
short while.
**********
Next Week on SmackDown – Berlin, Germany
Three Stages of Hell for the Undisputed WWE Championship:
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
Rey Fenix vs. Trick Williams
The Wyatt Sicks vs. The M.F.T.s
Women’s U.S. Championship: Chelsea Green (c) vs. Giulia
The challenger was aggressive from the get-go as she struck
against Green in the corner with fierce stomps. Giulia
grabbed Green by her hair and threw her across the ring.
Another big boot by Giulia sent Green to the outside as Alba
Fyre checked up on her ally. At ringside, Giulia maintained
her ruthless attack on Green, but Fyre created a distraction
at ringside, which allowed Green to get ahead with a dive
from inside the ring. With Giulia down and out for the
moment, we took a break.
We returned from commercial as Giulia had Green in a sleeper
hold, but the Women’s U.S. Champ managed to escape that
hold. The two then began trading strikes in the middle of
the ring, as Green got the best of her foe with a set of
clotheslines, followed by a kick. With Giulia stunned across
the middle rope, Green connected with double knees to the
back of her head.
In the middle of the ring, Green attempted the Un-Pretty-
Her, but couldn’t capitalized. Green hit the Rough Ryder,
but Kiana James got on the apron to distract the referee.
Alba Fyre pulled James off the apron. Back with the match,
Giulia intercepted Green on the top rope and hit an
avalanche underhook DDT and rolled through for the Northern
Lights Bomb on Green for the three to win the Women’s U.S.
Championship.
Giulia def. Chelsea Green to win the Women’s United States
Championship
It’s nice to see Giulia win gold once more, but
disappointing that her victory barely got a reaction
whatsoever, though that’s largely on the booking with
regards to the SmackDown’s women’s division being kind of a
mess, and it’s hurt the standing of stars like Giulia as a
result. Hopefully, Giulia getting back the Women’s U.S.
Title — and hopefully getting away from fighting Chelsea
Green and company — means things are starting to change.
**********
– Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY spoke about becoming how they’d be
the Women’s Tag Team Champions again on Raw this Monday.
Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss stated that they were next in
line if Ripley & SKY win on Monday. However, Bliss stated
that she wanted to wish SKY and Ripley the best of luck for
Monday.
– Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae were licking their wounds
after the former’s loss to Carmelo Hayes as Fraxiom
confronted the two. Axiom said that he was going to talk to
Nick Aldis to make a match between him and Gargano, and that
he’d take back his mask once he beat Gargano.
The Ambulance backed onto the stage as the rules of this
main event was explained just before the entrances.
Ambulance Match: Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest
Black attacked Priest from behind before he could even take
off his entrance robe, which got this match underway. Priest
eventually battled back and threw Black out of the ring as
the action spilled to the outside. Black responded with a
boot to the face as the battle made its way to the stage
area and the ambulance. The doors were opened while Black
tried to put Priest inside the vehicle. Priest pulled out a
stretcher from the ambulance and pushed it onto the ribs of
Black, as it was followed by a throw onto the base of the
stretcher. We took a picture-in-picture break at this point
of the match.
We returned to full-screen action with the action back
inside the ring as Black and Priest traded kicks to one
another. During the break, we saw footage of Black sending
Priest through the table with a Meteora. Back to live action
as Priest nailed Black with a lariat. As Black was stunned
in the corner, Priest barreled into him with a splash.
Outside the ring, Priest sent Black over the commentary
table with a running pounce while Zelina looked on in
concern.
Black shoved Priest into the ringpost as he grabbed a chair
and hit his opponent in the spine with it. Black put
Priest’s face across the seated portion of the chair and
kicked it to cause more pain. As Black teed up another chair
shot to Priest, he was grabbed by the neck and chokeslammed
across the hardest part of the ring.
Inside the ring, Priest kicked Black as he was sat on the
top rope, and hit a massive hurricanrana from the top rope.
Black responded with a spinning kick as both men were down
for the count and we headed to another picture-in-picture
break.
The SmackDown main event returned with Priest and Black
brawling it out on the stage. Black got the best of Priest
with a throw to the LED screen as Black told Zelina to open
the ambulance doors. As the doors opened, Rhea Ripley was
awaiting Zelina and chased her to the ring. Inside the ring,
Ripley took Zelina out of the equation with a Riptide. Back
on the stage, Black battered Priest with stomps and tried to
drag him into the ambulance, to no certain avail. After a
struggle, Black managed to put Priest in the ambulance, but
couldn’t get both doors closed.
With a crutch in hand, Priest struck it across the back of
Black, as he then drove the handle portion right onto the
chest. Priest was pushed into the ambulance door with Black
following that up with a knee to the face. Priest managed to
prevent further calamity with a fire extinguisher shot to
the face of Black. This was followed up by Priest throwing a
fireball in Black’s face, which left the Dutchman writhing
in pain. Priest closed the ambulance doors and pulled out an
equipment table from the stage as he grabbed Black and
looked like he was going to hit the Razor’s Edge. Black
escaped that fate and hit Priest with another knee to the
face.
Black attempted to throw Priest onto the side of the
ambulance, but found himself thrown there instead. Priest
was stunned by a knee from Black. An equipment case was
pulled by Black, but Priest countered and hoisted him up for
a Razor’s Edge onto the windshield of the ambulance. Priest
took Black’s lifeless body and put himself on top of the
ambulance. With both men on the top, Priest held Black and
threw him through the equipment table that was setup beside
the rear ambulance doors.
With Black unable to fight back, Priest dragged him to the
ambulance doors and threw him inside. Priest then shut the
doors to put an end to this match and pick up the win.
Damian Priest def. Aleister Black via pinfall
**********
As a feud-ender (hopefully), that match seemed rather
lifeless and didn’t feel like it was worthy of being the
main event for this three-hour SmackDown. Things really
didn’t pick up until Rhea Ripley’s cameo and the table spots
by the ambulance near the end. I’ve been on record with
saying that this Priest vs. Black feud has been a drag to
follow since June of last year, and I just feel relief that
things are seemingly over now and the two can finally move
on to other things.
As far as the rest of the first three-hour SmackDown was
concerned, it was a mostly entertaining show and not as
terrible as I had feared it to be. The U.S. Title scene once
again stole the show and picked up right where they left
off, and the Rhodes/McIntyre title match is at least getting
some good head ahead of next week — even if I feel that
McIntyre can stand to do better. Plus, debuts like Trick
Williams and Jordynne Grace helped tease exciting
developments ahead.
Whether or not SmackDown being okay in a three-hour format
is sustainable remains anyone guess, but I will admit that
tonight was not a bad start at all on that front.