WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results and Recap: Drew McIntyre Beats Cody Rhodes, Wins WWE Championship (January 9, 2026)

• Trick Williams def. Rey Fenix via pinfall
• Giulia def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall to retain the Women's United States Championship
• The MFT def. The Wyatt Sicks via pinfall
• Jordynne Grace def. Alba Fyre via pinfall
• Carmelo Hayes def. Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall
• Drew McIntyre def. Cody Rhodes to win the WWE Undisputed Championship

Drew McIntyre Is Your New WWE Champion

In a stunning end to their Three Stages of Hell match, Drew McIntyre did the unthinkable and won the WWE Undisputed Championship, besting Cody Rhodes. With an appearance by a returning Jacob Fatu, who attacked both McIntyre and Rhodes, incapacitating the champion long enough for McIntyre to sneak out of the steel cage and into championship status.

It feels entirely overdue for a Drew McIntyre championship, who's been away from the gold since the ThunderDome days, albeit a very brief win with the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL before being toppled by Damian Priest via his Money in the Bank cash in. McIntyre now begins his third WWE Championship reign heading into Royal Rumble, and the SmackDown shake-up has begun.

A New Title Picture Emerges In A Post-Rhodes WWE World

With a change in the WWE Championship reign, Cody Rhodes may be out of the picture for an indefinite period of time. In the short term, and in the run-up to Royal Rumble, there's no shortage of challengers for the top spot, and Drew McIntyre now faces a significant number of threats in all directions.

In a series of matches next week, a Fatal Four Way match will take place to determine the number one contender for McIntyre, as Trick Willliams, The Miz, Randy Orton, Matt Cardona, Damian Priest, Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn, and Ilja Dragunov all try and take position to topple the Scottish Warrior in his new position. With Rhodes termporarily sidelined as former champion, there's a plethora of potential to shake up the top spot in WWE with fresh faces to defend the biggest prize in wrestling against.