Smackdown Review – 01.09.26

A week in WWE has included the following: Raw | NXT | Evolve | Impact

Smackdown was previously broadcast live on Netflix around the world and airs here in the United States at its normal time on the USA Network. The show comes to the airwaves from the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany. The television presenters for tonight’s show are Joe Tessitore and Doomie Winner Wade Barrett on match calls and analysis, the great Alicia Taylor on ring announcements, and Byron Saxton on backstage interviews and breaking news segments. Let’s watch some wrestling!

Then, Now, Forever….TOGETHER

Arrivals include Drew McIntyre, WWE Men’s Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes, WWE Men’s US Champion Carmelo Hayes, WWE Women’s US Champion Giulia with Kiana James, and Alexa Bliss.

“Voices” erupts from the speakers and here’s Randall Keith Orton to an immense pop and sing-a-long from the excited Berliners. Orton welcomes Berlin to FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN, and that’s all he gets out before Trick Williams music plays and Trick, in his gear, makes his way to the ring. Williams grabs a mic and starts to chastise Orton for being another star who comes out and says it’s going to be their year, but now a real star has arrived and his name is Trick Williams. Trick says it’s not 2006, it’s 2026. Orton runs down his statistics and mentions the number 14 because that’s the number of world titles he’s won. Orton says Trick is oozing confidence but he’s not sure about how smart he is because he decided to interrupt Orton. Trick does agree that Orton is one of the GOAT’s but he takes umbrage at the lack of intelligence comment because he came out to brush up against one of the great ones. Trick says he’s putting Orton on notice because it’s his year and he’s going to “whoop that” all around the world. Orton reminds Trick to never turn his back on Orton, and that one will be free, but if he does it again Orton’s going to kick his ass. Trick slaps Orton’s mic away and it’s predictably on. Orton hits a draping DDT and here’s The Miz to attack Orton from behind. Miz wants the SCF, but Orton shrugs it off and nails Miz with an RKO. “Voices” plays again as Orton stares down at a fallen Trick who’s in front of the announce desk. Orton hits his pose and then tosses one of Trick’s chains to him before leaving. As Orton makes his way up the aisle, here’s Rey Fenix to make his entrance. Fenix and Orton dap it up and Orton tells Fenix to “kick his ass”. We go to commercials.

Rey Fenix vs Trick Williams

Fenix and Trick go nose to nose and then Trick yanks Fenix down by his mask. Trick tries a hiptoss and Fenix reverses into a cover and gets two. Trick reverses into a crucifix and gets two. Fenix rolls Trick over and gets two, and we reset. Trick trucks Fenix and then starts chopping away in a corner. Fenix slips through the ropes after an irish whip and then ascends to hit a springboard missile dropkick. Trick bails and Fenix tries to psyche Trick out with a fake tope, so Trick responds by flying in and wiping out Fenix with a leg lariat that gets two. Trick hits a bodyslam and a sit-out Michinoku Driver that gets two. Trick dumps Fenix to the floor and goes out after him to run him into the ring steps. Trick slaps Fenix around and then runs him into the steps again. We go to commercials.

They’re slugging it out mid-ring but Trick hits a popup uppercut that gets two. Trick misses a charge and eats a Fenix big boot. Fenix fires off some elbows and an enziguri before waffling Trick with chops. Fenix mounts Trick and they battle up top before Fenix snaps off a top rope rana that gets two. Fenix ascends and his moosault attempt hits Trick’s boots. Trick hits a rolling big boot and covers Fenix for two. Trick hits a huge Bookend and covers Fenix for two. Trick misses a charge and Fenix starts firing off chops. Fenix hits kind of a reverse tornado DDT and covers Trick for two. Fenix hits the Adios Amigo kick and ascends again. Fenix flies off and rolls up Trick for two, but Trick reverses and grabs a handful of tights as the referee counts three.

Heels cheat to win. The finish kind of deflated the crowd especially because it was so old-school and simple, but I’m fine with it overall. Trick looked good in front of a huge foreign crowd even with a bit of a styles clash, and Fenix bumped around like he usually does. Using Fenix as a gatekeeper is an interesting choice and I wonder if he and Penta are okay with being fully mid-card at this point, and not working together. I guess we’ll find out as things progress. This was fine for what it was and the crowd was into it up until the finish. 2.75*

Winner – Trick Williams (Roll-up with a handful of tights)

Here’s Byron Saxton with Giulia and Kiana James backstage. Saxton asks what regaining the title means to her, and Giulia says the title is back where it belongs. James says Giulia will dominate the entire market. Giulia says she’s going to make an example of Alexa Bliss tonight and then yells in Japanese as James says “it’s just necessary”. We go to commercials after Tessitore plugs Three Stages of Hell and the final hour being commercial free.

Highlights are shown of last week‘s Ambulance Match main event between Aleister Black and Damien Priest. It certainly was a spectacle. Here’s Byron Saxton with Damien Priest who says he’s hurting but he’s happy to have won the war. Priest says he’s joining the party of people who are calling their shots at the World Title. Here’s Drew McIntyre to enter the scene. Priest says he knows how scary McIntyre can be, and if McIntyre wins tonight, perhaps they can have another go-round. Priest wishes McIntyre good luck, and leaves. Saxton asks McIntyre what’s on his mind and McIntyre says Cody’s emotions must be high due to McIntyre’s immolation of the picture of Cody and Dusty last week. McIntyre holds up a watch that Dusty pawned to pay for Cody’s future. McIntyre predicts that Rhodes will get DQ’d in the first fall and then all he’ll need is one more to win the title.

Alexa Bliss is apparently on the phone with “Char” who she says sounds terrible. Bliss says she didn’t know about the title match until today, and then tells “Char” to rest up and hydrate. Here’s Nia Jax and Lash Legend sauntering up to make fun of Charlotte not being there for Bliss’s big title match, and Jax says Charlotte had to make it about herself on Bliss’s big night. Bliss says that sounds like something Jax would do and tells her to leave it be because Charlotte will make her pay. Bliss makes her exit and heads to the ring. We go to commercials as Tessitore mentions there’s never been a title change shown from an arena in Germany. FORESHADOWING?

WWE Women’s US Championship: Giulia (C) vs Alexa Bliss

Giulia is seconded by Kiana James as usual. They push each other around and Bliss smacks Giulia. Giulia grabs a handful of hair and then snaps Bliss over with a quick suplex. Giulia smashes Bliss in a corner and ascends to hit a second rope missile dropkick. Giulia covers and gets two. Giulia uses the hair to snap Bliss over again but Giulia misses a charge and goes to the floor. Bliss hits her rolling tackle spot before eyeing up the US title. We go to commercials.

Bliss gets a roll up for two as the show returns. Giulia responds by bullying Bliss in a corner and then James smacks Bliss as Giulia distracts the ref. Bliss hits an elbow and a big boot before firing forearms into Giulia’s chin. Giulia runs into a Bliss elbow and then Bliss wallops Giulia with another standing missile dropkick. Bliss hits her rolling neckbreaker and covers Giulia for two. Giulia fires up with a headbutt but Bliss snaps her down and hits a double knee to the gut. Bliss misses another knee drop attempt and Giulia rolls her up for two. Giulia wallops Bliss with the Arrivederci knee and wants the Northern Lights Bomb, but Bliss slips off and wants Sister Abigail. James distracts the ref and Bliss goes to a regular DDT on Giulia before dragging James into the ring. Bliss ascends and here’s Lash Legend to push her off the top turnbuckle. Giulia hits the Northern Lights Bomb on a helpless Bliss and gets three.

Heels cheat to win. This one included not only a second getting involved but also another heel coming to help out for some reason other than I guess Legend and Jax are going to continue beefing with Flair and Bliss? I’m not sure who that helps, but here we are. Alexa was game tonight and Giulia didn’t look like she was actively trying to kill Bliss with some of her moves, so we’ll give this a nice rating and move on. 3*

Winner AND STILL WWE Women’s US Champion – Giulia (Northern Lights Bomb)

Post-match sees Legend and Nia Jax attack Bliss and it ends with Jax hitting an Annihilator.

Smackdown GM Nick Aldis is with Jordynne Grace and he congratulates her for signing a Smackdown contract (Hey, at least it didn’t happen during a COMMERCIAL.) Here’s Chelsea Green with Alba Fyre to demand a rematch with Giulia. Aldis wants Green to welcome Grace to the brand, and she only wants to talk about Giulia. Grace and Fyre get into it, so Aldis makes a Grace-Fyre match for tonight. Here’s Kit Wilson to complain that he chipped a tooth last week during his match with Matt Cardona, and Aldis escapes into his office.

Here’s Byron Saxton with the aforementioned Matt Cardona. Cardona says it’s been almost six years and he’s so happy to be back. Cardona runs down what he’s done over the last six years and then runs into Cody Rhodes who’s chilling backstage. Cardona says he’s not just back to be back, he came back to win the title. Rhodes says when he’s done with McIntyre, they can talk. They hug it out and the scene ends with Tessitore once again hyping up Three Stages of Hell. Tessitore talks up the eight man tag that’s coming next and we go to commercials.

Tessitore runs down the history of Three Stages of Hell over the years. Barrett calls it the most feared match-type in the locker room. Here’s a quick review of the rise of the Wyatts to the tag team titles and their clashes with the MFT’s over the last six months since feuds never end on Smackdown.

The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Talla Tonga, and Tonga Loa) vs The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis, and Erick Rowan)

“Shatter” remains my favorite current entrance theme for the record. Tanga Loa starts with Lumis and Lumis shakes off being trucked to smash Tonga down and then wallop him with a dropkick. Gacy tags in and he and Gacy hit double team offense on him and a charging Tama Tonga. Gacy and Lumis hit simultaneous topes and there’s a standoff between everybody on the floor as we go to commercials.

Sikoa is pounding away on Gacy when the show returns. Sikoa smashes Gacy with a hip attack and then tags in Tama Tonga. Gacy fires up with some rights and then smashes Tonga with a clothesline before tagging in Rowan. Rowan cleans house and then starts smashing Loa and Tonga with running elbows. Rowan hits a running cross-body and here’s Talla Tonga climbing in to go toe to toe with Rowan. They slug it out and Tonga’s headbutt sends Rowan down, but Rowan fires up with a lariat. Rowan hoists Tonga but he slips off and wallops Rowan with a clothesline. Lumis charges in and eats a chokeslam from Tonga. Rowan and Tonga run into each other with simultaneous lariats and we reset. Howdy gets a tag and so does Sikoa. They start slugging it out and Howdy hits some running lariats before running into a Sikoa superkick. Sikoa misses a Spike and Howdy counters into a Rock Bottom. Howdy wants Sister Abigail but Sikoa escapes and tags in Tama Tonga. Tonga gets a chokeslam on Tonga and then drags in JC Mateo. Sikoa goes to the floor. Howdy puts the Mandible Claw on Mateo but drops it when Sikoa picks up the Wyatt lantern. Howdy’s distraction allows Tama Tonga to smash Howdy with the Cutthroat. Tonga covers and gets three.

This was a mess, as you might have expected, and shockingly, another heel victory has occurred. This one wasn’t so much cheating as it was the other fun WWE babyface stereotype, “distracted by something innocuous that leads to the stupid babyface losing instantly”. Regardless, this was your chance to hit the bathroom if you needed to. I’m sure we’ll get a tag title match out of this soon as I think they’ve mentioned that one is coming at some point. We all need to move on from this soon, though. 1.5*

Winners – The MFT’s (Tama Tonga Cutthroat on Howdy)

Sikoa takes the lantern and they make their exit as the shocked Wyatts look on. Here’s The Miz running into Carmelo Hayes, and Miz tells Hayes that he talked to Nick Aldis and has secured a shot at Hayes’s title. Hayes makes fun of Miz and pretends Randy Orton is lurking, so Miz leaves. Hayes runs into Ilja Dragunov who says he’s running to meet up with Nick Aldis about something different, but that they’ll fight again for sure.

Alba Fyre makes her entrance as we go to commercials.

There’s a video package for Oba Femi when the show returns, as he apparently has vacated the NXT Men’s title and will be joining Smackdown. Tessitore plugs NXT, and I appreciate it.

Alba Fyre vs Jordynne Grace

Fyre is seconded by Chelsea Green. Grace’s butt-rock theme really doesn’t do a thing for the crowd. Grace fires off a bunch of forearms and then rams Fyre’s head into a top turnbuckle several times. Grace hits a tilt-a-whirl facebreaker and then Fyre has had enough of the early flurry. Fyre hits a superkick and a DDT before covering Grace for two. Fyre goes to ground and pound and then runs Grace into a corner turnbuckle. Fyre’s suplex attemptis reversed and Grace fires off an elbow. Grace hits a spinebuster and then wallops Fyre with a package powerbomb. Green jumps onto the apron and Grace uses Fyre as a missile to drop Green to the floor. Grace hoists Fyre into a Torture Rack Bomb and covers Fyre for three.

A BABYFACE WON A MATCH? You gotta be kidding me. Anyway, this was just a quick sprint to get Grace introduced to the television audience once again and Fyre does the honors because that’s who she is now. It’s a damn shame because Kay Lee Ray was once one of the top women’s workers in the world, but we’ll all just move on. 2*

Winner – Jordynne Grace (Torture Rack Bomb)

Post-match sees Grace confronted in the aisle by WWE Women’s Undisputed Champion Jade Cargill. Cargill asks Grace if she thinks she’s special, and says Grace is now on her show. Cargill says she’s THAT BITCH and drops the mic before leaving. Grace seems fine with all of this.

Here’s Byron Saxton with Sami Zayn. Zayn is asked for a prediction on the title match and he says there’s a small part of him wants McIntyre to win because he’s never beaten McIntyre before. Zayn says he’s rooting for Cody because he’s a friend. Zayn says his money is on Cody tonight, but he’s going to be waiting on the other side no matter who wins. Drew McIntyre is sitting and pondering in his locker room as Tessitore plugs the main once again.

WWE Men’s US Champion Carmelo Hayes makes his entrance for the Open Challenge as we go to commercials.

Cam Skattebo apparently likes to play 2K25. Here’s Nathan Frazer being jumped by someone in an Axiom mask, but it turns out to be Johnny Gargano as Axiom rushes in to save him.

WWE Men’s US Championship Open Challenge: Carmelo Hayes (C) vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Writers note: It’s bullshit that WWE didn’t let Nakamura go to the Tanahashi retirement match especially since they had Graves mention it this Monday on Raw. I know there were a lot of AEW wrestlers there but honestly, it was a petty move and I hope they know that.

Hayes and Nakamura grapple to start and Hayes works an elbow. Hayes snaps off a dropkick and Nakamura bails to the floor. Nakamura meets a charging Hayes with a Pele kick, but Hayes shakes it off and wallops Nakamura with a springboard back elbow as we go to commercials.

Nakamura is chopping away in a corner when the show returns. Hayes misses a springboard move and Nakamura waffles him with a kick to the quad. Nakamura hits a Dragon Screw leg whip and Hayes goes to the floor. Nakamura flies out and puts the boots to Hayes’s leg before rolling Hayes back in. Hayes gets draped over the top rope and Nakamura smashes him with a high boot. Nakamura’s cover gets two. Nakamura hits another Dragon Screw and then fires a forearm into Hayes’s knee. Nakamura goes to a half-crab but Hayes kicks his way out of it. Nakamura hits a knee lift and then starts firing kicks into Hayes’s chest. Hayes fires up and he hits some chops and forearms before waffling Nakamura with a superkick. Hayes hits a DDT and covers Nakamura for two. Nakamura shoots off some elbows and then mounts Hayes on a top turnbuckle. Hayes kicks out of the attack and then hits a springboard DDT from the second rope. We go to commercials. (I thought the last hour was commercial free? Oh well.)

Both guys are down when the show returns. Nakamura gains the advantage and mounts Hayes in a corner. Hayes fights his way out with elbows but Nakamura kicks him down into the tree of woe position. Nakamura misses a charge and goes to the floor as Hayes decides to fly off with a splash to the floor. Hayes runs Nakamura back in and Hayes ascends. Hayes misses a frog splash and Nakamura sinks in a knee bar. Hayes makes the ropes and then gets a quick roll up for two. Hayes hits a cutter but runs into a huge kick to the jaw. Nakamura hits a sit out Northern Lights Bomb and covers Hayes for two. Nakamura eats a superkick during a Kinshasha attempt, and then Hayes wallops Nakamura with a springboard back elbow. Hayes gets caught with an enziguri and a huge knee lift to Hayes’s midsection. Nakamura hits an avalanche Kinshasha but runs into a First 48 from Hayes. Hayes ascends and hits Nothing But Net before covering and getting three.

They’re really making an effort to make these Open Challenges the actual highlight match of the shows, and for the most part, it’s succeeding. This was markedly different than a lot of the Dragunov challenges were and I don’t mind the change, quite frankly. Hayes sold the leg the whole way and Nakamura got all his shit in and seemed to be motivated tonight. MOTN for me thus far. 3.75*

Winner AND STILL WWE Men’s US Champion – Carmelo Hayes (Nothing But Net)

Post-match sees Hayes and Nakamura shake hands and Hayes bows to Nakamura respectfully.

Cody Rhodes is approached by Byron Saxton and Rhodes says he tells people all the time that if you bring his family legacy into things he considers it lazy. Rhodes promises to make McIntyre look up at the lights tonight and then he’ll move on to the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania.

Nick Aldis talks about Three Stages of Hell and then mentions that whomever wins will be faced with a ton of challengers. Aldis says that in Wembley Arena next week there will be four qualifying matches that will lead to a Fatal Fourway at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Montreal. The winner of that match will face the title holder at the Royal Rumble. The qualifiers are Orton vs Miz, Cardona vs Trick, Priest vs Sikoa, and Zayn vs Dragunov. TASTY.

After another long retrospective on the Rhodes-McIntyre feud, Alicia Taylor makes the ring announcement for the main event.

Three Stages of Hell for the WWE Men’s Undisputed Championship: Cody Rhodes (C) vs Drew McIntyre

Entrances eat up about five minutes, but we’re still starting with 30 or so minutes of show left to go.

First Fall – Regular Wrestling Match: Rhodes charges out and buries McIntyre into a corner with some kicks. Rhodes lifts a knee and then lariats McIntyre over the top rope to the floor. Rhodes hits a tope suicida and then rams McIntyre’s head into the announce desk. McIntyre picks up a chair and dares Rhodes to hit him with it. Rhodes hits a springboard kick and the Flip Flop ‘N Fly Bionic Elbow. Rhodes goes back to the floor and chokes McIntyre on the announce desk. McIntyre fires up and tosses Rhodes into the ring steps. McIntyre and Rhodes go back in and Rhodes hits a springboard Cody Cutter that gets two. Rhodes snaps off some rights and puts the boots to McIntyre in a corner. Rhodes hits a release German and McIntyre manages to pull off a turnbuckle pad. The ref picks up the pad and as he’s trying to re-attach it McIntyre goes low on Rhodes and then waffles him with a Claymore. McIntyre covers and gets three.

Winner of the first stage – Drew McIntyre (Claymore Kick)

Second Fall – Falls Count Anywhere: McIntyre goes to the floor with Rhodes and drags out a SLIM JIM table. McIntyre powerbombs Rhodes through the table and gets two. McIntyre rams Rhodes into the ring steps and then stalks him up the aisle. McIntyre gets a suplex attempt reversed, and Rhodes runs McIntyre into the steps in response. Rhodes dumps McInytre into the crowd and then comes off the barricade with a double sledge. Rhodes and McIntyre slug it out through the crowd and then wips something from the crowd at McIntyre’s head. Rhodes takes a phone and bites McIntyre’s head while taking a selfie. Rhodes starts firing off right hands and they go down a tunnel to the backstage area. McIntyre fires up but Rhodes shakes off the flurry and rams McIntyre into a garage door. Rhodes fires right hands to McIntyre’s head after smashing a banana into McIntyre’s mouth. (I hope that banana was gimmicked!) McIntyre has had enough and rakes Rhodes eyes. McIntyre clears off another table and Rhodes fights out of another powerbomb attempt. Rhodes smashes McIntyre’s head into some barriers and then mounts McIntyre on the table. Rhodes goes up into the crowd and then leaps off to splash McIntyre through the table. Rhodes covers and gets a LONG TWO. Rhodes yanks up McIntyre and drags him back towards ringside. Rhodes painfully climbs over the barricade and gets met by a chairshot from McIntyre. McIntyre eats a superkick and Rhodes decides to clear off the announce table. Rhodes mounts McIntyre and hits a Cross Rhodes that wipes out the desk. Rhodes covers and gets three.

Winner of the second stage – Cody Rhodes (Cross Rhodes on the announce desk)

Third Fall – Steel Cage: This is submission, pinfall, or escape to win the title. For the record, I HATE the escape portion of that, so let’s see how this goes. Rhodes runs McIntyre into the cage a couple of times until McIntyre reverses one. McIntyre wants a quick escape but Rhodes catches him and brings McIntyre back in with a bodyslam that gets two. McIntyre hits a kick to Rhodes guts and covers him for two. McIntyre tries to climb out but a recovered Rhodes climbs up to meet him. McIntyre grabs Rhodes by the hair and then yanks him over for a huge top rope suplex. McIntyre’s cover gets two. McIntyre fires off some right hands and chops, but Rhodes reverses. McIntyre hits a big elbow and covers Rhodes for two. McIntyre and Rhodes slug it out and Rhodes hits his dropdown right. McIntyre drives Rhodes into a corner and then waffles him with the Future Shock DDT. McIntyre’s cover gets two. Rhodes is busted open along his scalp. McIntyre fires off right hands and then stomps on Rhodes head. McIntyre goes back to right hands and talks smack to Rhodes. Rhodes fires up with another Cross Rhodes and gets two as the crowd totally bought that as the finish. They slug it out and Rhodes ends up hitting a snap powerslam that gets two. Rhodes hits a springboard Cody Cutter that gets two. Rhodes hits two Cross Rhodes but McIntyre rakes the eyes on the third attempt. Rhodes misses a charge and McIntyre waffles Rhodes with a Claymore that gets a LONG TWO. McIntyre climbs again and Rhodes grabs his boot and bites McIntyre’s calf to slow him down. Rhodes ascends again and they’re both up on the top of the cage. They slug it out and Rhodes runs McIntyre’s face into the cage. Rhodes hits a top-of-cage Cody Cutter that gets the longest of twos. (It will be pointed out ad nauseam that Cody could have easily escaped just now, trust me.) Rhodes climbs but McIntyre catches him quickly. They slug it out again and McIntyre yanks Rhodes down as they exchange head smashes. McIntyre gets crotched as does Rhodes, and both guys are down. McIntyre wants to escape through the door and here’s a hooded Jacob Fatu at the door. Fatu assaults McIntyre and puts the boots to him. Rhodes comes over and eats a Fatu right hand and as they slug it out, McIntyre escapes the cage!

Winner of the third stage – Drew McIntyre (Escape)

HOLY SHIT, they actually did the title switch. As I’ve stated for some time now, Drew HAD to win this match or face oblivion because he’s been whooped by too many top guys to keep getting shots. Jacob Fatu’s appearance had been spoiled by the NEWZ sites for awhile this week, so this wasn’t fully unexpected, nor was his attack on Rhodes. There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m sure the reverberations from this will go on for quite some time. The match itself, as a whole, was VERY good and I enjoyed it a bunch. The escape finish never makes me very happy but within the context of the overall war that this was, it made a bunch of sense. A hell of a deal, this. Seek it out. 4.25*

Winner AND NEW WWE Men’s Undisputed Champion – Drew McIntyre (Wins stage one and three)

Post-match sees Rhodes attack Fatu from behind as he stares at McIntyre crawling up the aisle with the title. The credits roll and we’re out.

This was an eventful episode, as you might have surmised. Doing a huge title change on a weekly Smackdown should quiet the folks (like me) who are annoyed by the idea that they can only happen at the BIG shows. This will move some pieces around prior to the Rumble as Hunter clearly wants to make sure no one can actually predict how any of this will actually go up until the Rumble and Elim Chamber happen. Thumbs up for today’s show, but this three hour runtime is just… a LOT.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Congratulations to my pal Kat Bourne for her Doomie wins, but I also wanted to shout out ALL of the folks who write for the site as being the best of the best. Please make sure to peruse as many of the offerings you can because we do this for the love of the game, as you might imagine. Have a good weekend, and be good to your people.