WWE SmackDown 1/9 Recap: Drew McIntyre Beats Cody Rhodes To Become Undisputed Champion

STAGE ONE—Singles Match

The match began with around half an hour left in the show under the stipulation of three separate contests. They did not get a lot of time for the singles match, and surprisingly enough, it was Drew who picked up the pinfall victory by striking Cody with a low blow behind the ref’s back.

STAGE TWO—Falls Count Anywhere Match

If you took a survey of WWE fans on who would win which portion of the “3 Stages” match, many would assume Cody takes the first, and Drew takes the 2^nd and more violent ‘Falls Count Anywhere. Yet, it was Cody who became ruthless in his quest to finish McIntyre, and it was the challenger who brought out this new attitude from the champ.

Cody dove off the second-level balcony onto a table where Drew was placed, and the explosion on impact sent the live crowd into hysterics. They battled throughout the arena, and the champ managed to secure the win to advance to the final stage.

STAGE THREE—Steel Cage

Drew McIntyre was lifeless as Cody dragged his body into the ring so that the steel cage could be lowered. They saved everything for the final stage in this match as Cody hit a super cutter onto Drew, crashing down from the cage. It was a battle of who had what left.

Then, just as it seemed like the challenger would be the one to exit the cage and win the match, a masked up and hooded Jacob Fatu crashed the match and prevented Drew from winning at that moment. Fatu has been out with an injury, and his return saw him pick up the feud with Drew right where he left it.

Suddenly, Fatu ditched Drew and turned his attention to Cody—delivering a barrage of punches to the champion. This opening allowed Drew to crawl back to the same position he was in when Fatu showed up, but this time, he would ‘touch mat’ to become the two-time WWE world champion.

Cody was noticeably pissed at Fatu as Drew escaped with the belt, laughing back at the ring as his promise to take Cody to ‘hell’ and his title from him came true.

RKO GETS MORE ‘TRICKY’/ Williams VS Fenix

Randy Orton opened the show wearing his new merch, an all-black T-shirt with the words “RKO EVERYONE” on the front—the RKO was on top of the word ‘everyone,’ a potential hint towards his current direction? However, tonight Randy’s job was that of the veteran on top, being challenged by the newest roster member looking to make his bones.

Trick Williams came out and got in Orton’s face, but the Berlin crowd was not having it. Orton and Williams had no steam on TV, but then Rey Fenix came out for his singles match with Trick. Orton passed Fenix on his way to ‘Gorilla’ and told him to ‘kick Trick’s a**’ before being done for the night.

Williams picked up the win over Fenix in singles action in a mostly flat match, considering the talent in the ring.

CARMELO HAYES(c) VS SHINSUKE NAKAMURA—U.S. Title

We were supposed to get the rematch between U.S. champion Carmelo Hayes and the man he beat for the title, Ilja Dragunov. Their first affair was a classic, and purist wrestling fans could not wait for them to “run it back,” but instead, we received a strange tease for both a future match and Dragunov’s next move.

Dragunov more than proved his worth during his weekly U.S. title challenges, but he ended up declining Melo’s attempt to be a man of his word. He told the champ that they would meet at another time and another place before walking into GM Aldis’s office for ‘other business.’ We would find out later that Dragunov would get a chance to qualify for a number one contender’s match for the world champion left standing following tonight’s main event.

As for the actual title match, Melo and Nakamura put on a clinic, and it was an absolute banger that continues this trend that is fast-making the U.S. title the new ‘workhorse’ title.

WYATT SICKS VS SOLO & MFTS— 8-Man Tag Team Match

The ‘fireflies’ were out in Berlin for the Wyatt Sicks production-heavy entrance as this multi-month feud reignited against The MFTs. There was never a real ‘blow off angle’ for this feud, and it felt peak ahead of the one major PLE of the year that utilizes multi-tag matches, and it is in November, but that’s the final hint.

Tama Tonga picked up the win for his family-focused faction over Wyatt Sicks’ leader, Uncle Howdy.

OTHER TIDBITS

• Jordynn Grace put Alba Fyre away with ‘Beast Mode,’ her “Torcher Rack” bomb finisher, for the pinfall victory. Interestingly, Jade Cargill made it a point to meet Grace on the SmackDown stage in front of the live crowd. There was an immediate ‘pop’ from the crowd as Jade sized Grace up with the reminder that she is on the champ’s show now.