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:
- The Miz opened the show with a promo segment, complaining about 2025. Randy Orton returned, gave him two RKOs, and wished him a happy new year. Later, backstage, Orton told Cody Rhodes that after The American Nightmare is done with Drew McIntyre, he's coming for the WWE Championship. Nick Aldis warned Rhodes not to get physical with McIntyre, or he'll forfeit his title.
- Eight-Woman Tag Team Match: Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defeated Nia Jax & Lash Legend and The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) by pinfall.
- Backstage, Jordynne Grace was talking to Nick Aldis about possibly joining SmackDown. Chelsea Green tried to get out of her title defense, but Aldis wasn't allowing it.
- Matt Cardona defeated Kit Wilson by pinfall.
- The Wyatt Sicks talked some trash about MFT.
- Sami Zayn cut a promo in the ring about how his son was asking why he hasn't won any world titles yet. Trick Williams came out to interrupt and say he'll win a world title before Zayn, who now wants to humble him. Later, in a backstage segment, Nick Aldis booked Trick in a match against Rey Fenix after Trick was arguing with him about how Fenix said "the new guy has a lot to learn."
- Carmelo Hayes told Ilja Dragunov (who congratulated him on winning the United States Championship from him) that they'll have a rematch for the belt at some point, and that he's going to continue the US Open Challenge concept. He then also thanked The Miz for leaving him alone so that he could go on to win the title, laughing at him.
- Carmelo Hayes retained the WWE Men's United States Championship over Johnny Gargano by pinfall.
- Backstage, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tama Tonga spoke Japanese to each other about some kind of beef they have. Solo Sikoa then said that next week, The Wyatt Sicks will face MFTs in a 4-on-4 match.
- Michin has apparently suffered an injury from Jade Cargill, as revealed in an interview backstage with Cathy Kelley. Jordynne Grace then scoped out Cargill, as she wants to get a sense of her competition if she were to join SmackDown.
- Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn had a brief interaction backstage, since Zayn had said he's coming for the belt.
- Cody Rhodes went to the ring and cut a promo about Drew McIntyre, who was shown on the TitanTron having gone through Cody's bus, retrieving a picture of Rhodes and his father (Dusty Rhodes), orchestrating a plot to burn that photo in the ring to antagonize Cody in the hopes he'd attack him and have to be stripped of his title. Rhodes did go after him, but security was able to hold him back.
- Women's United States Championship Match: Giulia defeated Chelsea Green (c) by pinfall.
- Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair want next if Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky win the women's tag titles.
- Backstage, Fraxiom laughed at Johnny Gargano for losing his match tonight and trying to get his luchador mask. Axiom is going to talk to Nick Aldis about booking a match between them to get that back.
- Ambulance Match: Damian Priest defeated Aleister Black
What are your thoughts on tonight's episode of Friday Night SmackDown? Drop your reactions in the comments below and spark a discussion!