Tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown (January 2, 2026) emanates out of the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York and will air at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network.
This post here will be updated frequently throughout the night to reflect live coverage of Friday Night SmackDown, including all the match results, rundowns of the promos, and any other interesting or noteworthy things that take place. Keep refreshing for updates to find out all the winners and more!
Preview & Predictions for WWE SmackDown:
On tap for tonight's episode, we're unfortunately back to the 3 hour episodes, which means this is going to be a drag where they add way too much filler, as they haven't been able to handle the small roster on 2 hour shows over the past year, let alone filling a whole extra hour to the mix without drafting more people. WWE desperately needs to fix that, but they haven't in preparation to this.
We're going to get an eight woman tag team match that will fill up a portion of the night, with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair teaming with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky against Nia Jax, Lash Legend, and The Kabuki Warriors ahead of the upcoming Rhiyo tag title shot on next week's Raw. I'd expect the challengers to come out on top of this in some fashion.
Aleister Black and Damian Priest will clash in an ambulance match that should theoretically end their feud. If there is a chance Black comes out of this ready to be a feud for Cody Rhodes, as some have posited, then he needs to win. It'll be weird if The Terror Twins don't get acknowledged with Ripley being in the same arena as Priest.
Jade Cargill will assuredly beat Michin. There isn't much ground to position Michin as a viable contender to Cargill's title, so I don't see a pinfall for Michin taking place. If she wins in any fashion, it'll be a count out or disqualification. Cargill will stay strong.
I don't anticipate Giulia winning back the Women's United States Championship from Chelsea Green, but they've proven that they don't know what they're doing with that division for the entirety of 2024, so a title change for the pure sake of it is within their wheelhouse.
Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes will set up the stipulations for their 3 Stages of Hell match tonight, too.
All that and more will go down tonight, so keep checking and refreshing for the most up-to-date results!
Here are your results for WWE SmackDown - January 2, 2026:
- TBD - Jade Cargill vs Michin
- TBD - Ambulance Match: Damian Priest vs Aleister Black
- TBD - Eight-Woman Tag Team Match: Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs Nia Jax & Lash Legend and The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)
What are your thoughts on tonight's episode of Friday Night SmackDown? Drop your reactions in the comments below and spark a discussion!