Corey Graves Fills In For Wade Barrett
Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the OVO Arena Wembly in London, England featured RAW brand commentator Corey Graves filling in for Wade Barrett for SmackDown’s commentary team for the show.
Cody Rhodes Declares for Men’s Royal Rumble
Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Cody Rhodes officially declaring himself for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2026, which takes place on January 31st at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
During the show, Rhodes came out to the ring and talked about Drew McIntyre winning the Undisputed WWE Championship in a Three Stages of Hell match last week. Rhodes then talked about what the likes of Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and Cody Rhodes have in common…they all won back-to-back Royal Rumble matches. Rhodes continued stating that only one man has pulled off a three-peat and how he loves a good gamble. After some more words, Rhodes officially declared himself for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.
Cody Rhodes has declared for the WWE Royal Rumble.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/oV4CXsm0Tv
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
Rhodes then turned his attention towards Jacob Fatu and after some words, he stated that knows he’s a young veteran…but as a young veteran he should know what a receipt is, and he’s got one for Fatu.
Cody Rhodes has called out Jacob Fatu!
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
“Jacob Fatu, you’ve got the biggest receipt I’ve ever handed out coming to you. You can drive your all gas car here, or Jacob, I can find you and beat the brakes off your ass.”#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/j9kr0YKDAN
Randy Orton, Trick Williams, Damian Priest, & Sami Zayn Advances to Undisputed WWE Title #1 Contender Fatal Four-way Match at Jan. 24th SNME Show
Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured four Undisputed WWE Championship #1 Contender tournament matches.
The first match was Randy Orton defeating The Miz.
Randy Orton advances to the Fatal 4 Way at WWE SNME #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/aYndtJmAZI
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
The second match was Trick Williams defeating Matt Cardona.
Trick Williams is headed to the Fatal 4 Way match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/C4Du8yu8wJ
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
The third match was Damian Priest defeating Solo Sikoa.
Damian Priest has qualified for the Fatal 4 Way to determine who will be the number one contender for the WWE Championship at SNME! pic.twitter.com/qULKks0Q0r
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
The fourth match was Sami Zayn defeating Ilja Dragunov.
Sami Zayn is headed home to Montreal in the Fatal 4 Way match at WWE SNME
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
Randy Orton, Trick Williams, and Damian Priest are the others in the match.
The winner will face Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. pic.twitter.com/lHluE3cpA8
As a result of their victories, Orton, Williams, Priest, and Zayn advances to the #1 Contender Fatal Four-way match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WWE’s next Saturday Night’s Main Event show on January 24th.
Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu Announced for Jan. 24th WWE SNME Show
Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured one new match announced for the card of WWE’s next Saturday Night’s Main Event show on January 24th at the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
This new match announced was a singles match of Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu.
This new match was initially setup over last week’s show following Fatu’s surprise return and him accidentally costing Rhodes the Undisputed WWE Championship in a Three Stages of Hell match against Drew McInryre. During tonight’s show, Rhodes came out to the ring and after declaring for the Men’s Royal Rumble, he called out Fatu stating that he has receipt coming his way for what he did last week.
In a follow-up segment, Fatu came out to the ring to interrupt Kit Wilson’s promo and quickly laid him out. Fatu then grabbed a microphone and demanded for Rhodes to come out, which he did and was quickly followed by WWE security and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis. It was announced that Rhodes vs. Fatu was made official for next week’s SNME show.
Official graphic for Cody Rhodes VS Jacob Fatu at Saturday Night’s Main Event. #SNME #WWE #Smackdown pic.twitter.com/sbHVvjoeB1
— Pro Wrestling & MMA News (@PWMMANews) January 16, 2026
Current card for January 24th WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show:
- Undisputed WWE Championship #1 Contender Four-way match – Randy Orton vs. Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Judgement Day (Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez) vs. Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY (c)
- Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu
Leon Slater Makes Surprise Appearance
Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured current TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater making a surprise appearance.
During the show, Carmelo Hayes came out to the ring for his WWE United States Championship Open Challenge match. This led to Slater’s music playing and him coming out to the ring answering the challenge.
Leon Slater has answered Carmelo Hayes’ US Championship open challenge! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/XUANMCTJXs
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 16, 2026
This was Slater’s first appearance in WWE since this past December’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show.
Current Card for Next Week’s Show
Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured four new matches announced for the card of next week’s show on January 23rd at the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec Canada.
Current card for January 23rd WWE SmackDown show:
- WWE Tag Team Championship – Two members of The MFTs (Talla Tonga, JC Mateo, Tama Tonga, & Tonga Loa) vs. Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) (c)
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Triple Threat match – Giulia & Kiana James vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax & Lash Legend
- Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest
- Johnny Gargano vs. Nathan Frazer
TNA’s Impact! AMC Premiere Show Plans Reportedly Impacted by Visa Issues Affecting Some TNA Talents
Nic Nemeth Re-Signs with TNA
Various: Omos Appearance Set for 1/17 AAA Show, Kazuchika Okada on He Wanted To Do A Proper Destino To Hiroshi Tanhashi at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20, Indies/Misc.
