WWE Friday Night Smackdown Live Coverage - January 23rd, 2026

[Kemo]

The Wyatt Sicks defend WWE Tag Team Title against The MFTs

After months of warring between the factions, WWE Tag Team Champions The Wyatt Sicks will go head-to-head against The MFTs. Who will walk out of Montreal the WWE Tag Team Champions?

— Michael Cole and Wade Barrett greet audiences at home as Sami Zayn makes his way to the ring.

Zayn welcomes his hometown crowd to "SmackDown", then says it feels good to be home and shares that he feels as though he has all of the momentum in the world going into his Fatal Four-Way Undisputed WWE Championship Number One Contenders Match tomorrow night.

Before Zayn can continue, Trick Williams' music hits and he makes his way out. He says himself and Zayn are not on the same level, then says Zayn is Mr. Too Many Chances while he knows how to get the job done. He reminds Zayn he didn't get the job done when he's challenged for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the past, but he gets the job done and is here to be Undisputed WWE Champion.

Zayn says Williams looks like a million bucks and might be a future champion, then says himself and Williams are not on the same level because when someone steps in the ring with him, they're dealing with the best of the best. He says when Williams reaches his potential, he'll be lucky to be half as good as Zayn. He tells Williams he can do something about it if Williams thinks that he's wrong.

Williams declines to do anything about Zayn, then says he's got his match against Damian Priest and they can take care of business tomorrow.

Priest's music hits and he makes his way out. He says he thinks Williams is afraid of him, then says Williams knows that he'll take him out if he says the wrong thing to him. Priest eggs on Williams and asks him repeatedly if he's afraid, then says Williams can always do something if he doesn't want to say something.

Williams tells Priest and Zayn to mind their business while he's talking, but Williams clocks Zayn. Priest beats down Williams in the corner and Zayn joins in. When Zayn and Priest begin to bicker about who gets to take out Williams, Williams sends them crashing into one another and quickly slips out of the ring before anything else can happen.

— Backstage, we see Cathy Kelley standing by with Randy Orton. She asks him about his decision to stay back and watch rather than get involved with his other three opponents for tomorrow night's number one contender match moments ago. Orton calls it a dumb question and vows to win tomorrow and then beat Drew McIntyre for the title.

— Carmelo Hayes then makes his way to the ring. Ilja Dragunov follows, answering the call for his US Open Challenge after Hayes has extended a direct invitation to him.

WWE United States Championship Match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov

The bell rings and Dragunov delivers a German suplex to Hayes. Dragunov wears down Hayes with a waist lock, but Hayes fires off back elbows on Dragunov. Dragunov then sets up for a Constantine Special on Hayes, but Hayes avoids it and looks to deliver a springboard clothesline to Dragunov before both men level one another with clotheslines.

Dragunov levels Hayes with a chop during the commercial break, but Hayes responds with one of his own. Hayes then delivers a back suplex to Dragunov, but Dragunov hits a bodyslam and a back suplex to Hayes. Hayes responds with a back body drop to Dragunov and delivers a springboard clothesline to him, then goes for a pin but Dragunov kicks out.

Hayes levels Dragunov with a back elbow, but Dragunov lands a couple of boots on the side of Hayes' head and catches him with a step-up enzuigiri. Hayes then sends Dragunov crashing into the mat face first and pins him, but Dragunov kicks out and rains down Hammer and Anvil elbows on Hayes following the end of the commercial break.

Dragunov catches Hayes with the Constantine Special and goes for a pin, but Hayes kicks out and Dragunov sets up for a Coast To Coast on Hayes. Hayes then looks to catch Dragunov with The First 48, but Dragunov manages to level him before Dragunov lands a right hand on Hayes' chest during another commercial break. Dragunov delivers a German suplex to Hayes and gets him up on his shoulders, but Hayes escapes and delivers a springboard DDT to Dragunov. He goes for a pin, but Dragunov kicks out.

Dragunov delivers a superplex to Hayes off the middle rope back from the break, and the pair exchange chops on the ring apron. Hayes catches Dragunov with a twisting neckbreaker on the ring apron, and Hayes then dumps Dragunov back in the ring. Dragunov rocks Hayes with a headbutt, and the two men teeter on the ropes before Dragunov gets Hayes up on his shoulders and connects with a Death Valley Driver to him on the floor.

Dragunov ascends up the ropes, but The Miz appears out of nowhere and pushes him off. Hayes takes advantage and delivers The First 48 to Dragunov for the win.

Winner and STILL WWE United States Champion: Carmelo Hayes

— A video package airs showing the recent history involving Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu. From there, the show heads into a commercial break. It is then announced in a special video announcement that WWE 2K26: Attitude Era Edition pre-orders will be available starting on January 30.

— The show returns and we shoot to a special one-on-one sit-down interview with Michael Cole and Cody Rhodes. As "The American Nightmare" is talking about his upcoming match against Jacob Fatu at tomorrow night's Saturday Night's Main Event, "The Samoan Werewolf" bum-rushes the set.

Rhodes tells security to back off and let Fatu speak his piece. They sit down face-to-face and have a tense back-and-forth. Fatu says he was laser-focused on revenge on Drew McIntyre, and doesn't care if Cody's feelings are hurt that he got in the mix. Cody gets personal, saying Fatu acting and not thinking is why he ended up in jail.

— Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre are walking backstage and they see Jordynne Grace. Green tells Grace that she is a star and she can join them maybe at the Royal Rumble. She can even start tonight and take on Jade Cargill. Grace accepts and they walk away. It is then announced that Roman Reigns will be in the 2026 Men's Rumble match.

— Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre make their way to the ring. Jade Cargill follows, and Jordynne Grace makes her way out to ringside to watch the upcoming contest.

Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green (w/ Alba Fyre)

Green blindsides Cargill with a dive and dumps her back in the ring. The bell sounds as Green fires off forearms and back elbows on Cargill in the corner. Cargill whips Green into the corner spine first and shows off by doing some push-ups, then delivers a Fallaway Slam to Green and gets in Grace's face on the outside.

Green blindsides Cargill with a missile dropkick off the top rope when Cargill gets back in the ring, then delivers a meteora to the back of Cargill's neck and follows it up with an open palm strike. Cargill then looks to land a boot on Green, but Green moves out of the way and rolls up Cargill with her feet on the ropes. Cargill kicks out and delivers a Jaded to Green, then sends Fyre crashing off the apron with a big book and connects with a second Jaded on Green for the win.

Winner: Jade Cargill

— After the match, Grace grabs a microphone and declares herself as a participant in the 2026 Women's Royal Rumble. She warns Cargill she's coming for her and the WWE Women's Championship after she wins, or says they could square off for the title right now. Cargill gets out of the ring, declining to accept Grace's offer.

— We see backstage that Alexa Bliss was watching on, when in comes Charlotte Flair. She tells Bliss she seems distracted but Bliss tells her she can still focus on other titles and their team. Flair tells her that she wants to focus on the Rumble. Bliss tells her that it will be difficult to top last year. Flair tells her true, she won it and Bliss came back. They both agree that they will worry about the Rumble next week but tonight is about them.

— The Wyatt Sicks make their way to the ring. MFT follows, with Solo Sikoa sending Talla Tonga to the back to protect Uncle Howdy's lantern.

WWE Tag-Team Championship Match: Wyatt Sicks (c) vs. The MFT’s

Tama and Gacy begin the action. The bell rings and Tama levels Gacy. Sikoa tags in and levels Gacy with a right hand before Tama tags in and Gacy fires off right hands on Tama. Lumis tags in and double teams on Tama with Gacy, then takes him out with a Monkey Flip and sends both Sikoa and Tama crashing out of the ring. Gacy and Lumis then fly off the ring apron to level Sikoa and Tama.

During the commercial break, Lumis dumps Tama in the ring and Tonga Loa takes a cheap slap at him from the outside. Sikoa levels Lumis, but Tama tags in and lands a splash on Lumis in the corner. Sikoa then sets up for a Hip Attack on Lumis, but Lumis avoids it and delivers a back suplex to Sikoa back from the break.

Tama and Gacy tag in, and Gacy levels Sikoa with a back suplex. He delivers a springboard clothesline to Tama, then tags in Lumis. Lumis tosses Tama over to Gacy for Gacy to land a powerbomb on Tama, then ascends to the top rope and lands a splash on Tama. He goes for a pin, but Tama kicks out.

Rowan takes out Tonga Loa and JC Mateo on the outside as Talla Tonga reemerges with the lantern in hand. He takes out Mateo and Loa, but Talla runs over Rowan with a boot and clotheslines him into the barricade area. Uncle Howdy sneaks up behind Talla and cinches in the Mandible Claw on him. Sikoa then levels Howdy with the Samoan Spike and takes possession of the lantern.

Tama distracts the referee as Sikoa hits Lumis with the lantern. Tama then catches Lumis with Cutthorat for the win.

Winners and NEW WWE Tag-Team Champions: The MFTs

— We cut to Nick Aldis who is on his phone backstage. In comes R-Truth. He tells Aldis that he is here to put his balls on the line for the Royal Rumble. In comes AJ Styles and R-Truth walks away. Aldis tells AJ that he watched Raw on Monday.

He says he saw AJ is putting his career on the line at the Rumble. AJ tells him he is sure he wants to do that. Gunther said he retired John Cena but it was the disrespect that he showed which pissed him off. He said he won’t let Gunther decide when his time in WWE is up.

Aldis tells AJ that he had another reason why he asked him to come to Montreal. In comes Shinsuke Nakamura. He asks AJ why he is willing to lose everything. AJ says if he doesn’t step up to Gunther, he already lost. Nakamura tells him before he steps in the ring with Gunther, to prove that he is still phenomenal.

He challenges AJ Styles to a match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. AJ looks at Nick Aldis and asks him if he has place on the card and Aldis says he does. AJ accepts and they shake hands. With that said, it appears official for tomorrow night's show in Montreal. We head to another commercial break.

— Nathan Frazer and Axiom make their way to the ring. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae follow.

Johnny Gargano (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. Nathan Frazer (w/ Axiom)

The bell rings and the two lock up. Frazer runs the ropes and delivers a single leg dropkick to Gargano, but Gargano dumps Frazer out of the ring.

During the commercial break, Gargano sends Frazer crashing into the top turnbuckle face first. LeRae taunts Frazer with Axiom's mask as Gargano continues beating down Frazer, but Frazer delivers a reverse DDT to Gargano and follows it up with a Frog Splash to Gargano off the top rope. Frazer then flies over the top rope to level Gargan on the outside before he dumps him back in the ring and sets up for a Phoenix Splash.

Gargano avoids it and delivers a Michinoku Driver to Frazer.

Axiom takes back his mash on the outside and uses it to blind her. LeRae accidentally hits Gargano, opening the door for Frazer to pin him for the win.

Winner: Nathan Frazer

— After the match, LeRae steals Axiom's mask back and escapes through the crowd as Gargano retreats up the entrance ramp.

— We shoot backstage, where we see Cathy Kelley is with Nia Jax and Lash Legend. They tell her that they have proven that they are the most dominant, destructive duo in WWE. Nia says that since Cathy does not get it, she will tell her. She says they will win tonight, become new number 1 Tag Team contenders. We head to a break.

— The show returns and Drew McIntyre’s music hits and out he comes to the ring. He greets the fans in Montreal and says to get down to business. He says it has been a long tough time for the fans, it has been over 30 years since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. But now they finally have a Champion they can be proud of.

He says Cody and Fatu are pathetic. Drew tells Fatu that he didn’t kick Fatu’s teeth down his throat, he says he doesn’t lie. Drew tells Cody if he survives, there will be no rematch. He has to go to the back of the line, beat 29 other men in the Royal Rumble.

Drew tells Cody good luck on winning the Rumble for a third time. But to talk about something important, him. Drew says the four way match tomorrow. Trick Williams, the rookie, he say to go get them. Damian Priest, one hit wonder, he wasted a year of his life with him. If he sees him at the Rumble, he will end his career.

Randy Orton, not the Randy Orton, the viper, he’s now civilized, Randall Keith Orton that can’t get the job done when it counts. Last but certainly least, Canada’s own Sami Zayn. He says he knows Zayn has a whole country behind him. The fans begin to sing “Ole”. Drew says he can still be louder, he has a microphone.

He says Zayn is always concerned about winning the big one, about disappointing his little son, he says his son has been disappointed for a long time. He has been disappointed from the first moment he opened his eyes and realized that Sami Zayn was his father.

He says he doesn’t care who wins the four way, he will do whatever it takes to keep his Championship. And whoever faces him at the Royal Rumble, good luck because he is going to need it. He drops the microphone as his music plays and he leaves the ring.

— We see Trick Williams backstage and he is stopped by Rey Fenix. He tells Fenix he doesn’t know why he is there but Fenix tells him he didn’t forget about what he did. Trick tells him that after he beats down Damian Priest tonight and wins the Fatal Four Way tomorrow, he will become the Undisputed Champion. And after that, he will get a title shot.

— Now we see Cathy Kelley is with Kit Wilson backstage. He tells her that someone has to be the hero around here and clean up the toxic masculinity. And men like Fatu and Matt Cardona walk around without questioning themselves. Cardona stops him and asks him what his problem is.

Wilson tells him his perfect manicured beard, perfect jaw and shoulders. Cardona thanks him but Wilson tells him that is the problem. Men like Cardona do not have accountability and they have toxic masculinity. Cardona tells him he has no idea what he is talking about but to do it in the ring. He walks way and Wilson tells him he is toxic.

— Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Lash Legend, Nia Jax, Kiana James, and Giulia make their way to the ring.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contenders Match: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax & Lash Legend vs. Kiana James & Giulia

The bell rings and Giulia fires off right hands on Jax. Bliss and Flair send Jax crashing out of the ring through the middle ropes, but James fires off a shoulder on Legend's midsection until Flair runs her over with a flipping clothesline.

Legend looks to powerbomb Flair, but Flair reverses into a hurricanrana and tags in Bliss. Bliss ascends to the top rope and delivers a crossbody to level Legend, Jax, Giulia, and James on the outside.

Back from the break, Jax fires off shoulders on Fiair's midsection in the corner and tags in Legend. Flair sends Giulia crashing onto the floor off the apron with a big boot, then flies off the top rope with a crossbody and pins Legend. Giulia breaks the fall with a sliding knee, but James tags in and Flair fires off chops on both her and Legend. Legend prevents Flair from tagging in Bliss, and James then runs over Flair.

James looks to land a suplex on Flair, but Flair prevents it. Legend and James then look to land a double suplex on Flair, but Flair counters into a double DDT on them both. Flair looks to tag in Bliss, but Giulia pulls Bliss off the apron before she can.

Jax tags in and runs over James with a clothesline, then drags Flair up to the middle rope. James pulls Jax and Flair off the ropes, then pins Flair but Flair kicks out. Bliss tags back in and runs over everyone else in the ring. James then tags in after Jax takes out Giulia and catches her with the 401 K. Legend levels James with a right hand, but Bliss looks to take down Legend by flying off the middle rope. Legend then delivers the Lash Extension to Bliss, but Flair spears Legend. James takes advantage and pins Bliss to steal the win.

Winners and new Number One Contenders: Giulia and Kiana James

— Backstage, we see Sami Zayn is with Damian Priest. He talks to Priest and tells him he was frustrated earlier and he apologizes. He begins to tell him if Trick Williams tries something, but Priest tells him to stop. He has a habit of getting involved into other people’s business.

Zayn asks him or what and Priest tells him he knows what. Zayn tells him he doesn’t tell him where he can be this week or next week. He says he has somewhere he has to be and Zayn walks away. We see Zayn approaching Drew McIntyre. He slaps Drew in the face and walks away. We head to a commercial break.

— The show returns and we see AJ Styles walking backstage, when he is stopped by Cody Rhodes. Styles thinks Rhodes is going to lecture him, but Rhodes understands why he's doing what he's doing. He wishes him luck. He then turns and sees an autographed photo of Drew McIntyre on the window of his tour bus.

— The commentators run down the lineup for tomorrow night's WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, and then we shoot backstage to Cathy Kelley, who is standing by with Giulia and Kiana James. Giulia talks about them becoming No. 1 contenders to the tag titles, having the US title already, and having sights on world title to become a triple champ.

— Damian Priest makes his way to the ring. Trick Williams follows.

Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest

The bell rings and the two lock up. Williams fires off chops on Priest in the corner, then catches him with a suplex and goes for a pin. Priest kicks out as Sami Zayn emerges at ringside, and Priest then looks to land an Old School on Williams. Williams trips Priest on the top rope and sends him crashing out of the ring, then sends him crashing into the barricade, the ring apron, and the ring steps.

Williams stares down Zayn on the outside, then exchanges right hands with Priest. Priest then catches Williams with a Broken Arrow and fires off right hands and left hands on him before he levels Williams and delivers a variation of a flapjack on him.

Priest lands a back elbow on Williams in the corner, but Williams runs over Priest with a leg lariat. Williams and Priest level one another with spinning pump kicks, then calls for the Trick Shot. Priest sends Williams crashing into the corner and connects with a flatliner on Williams, but Williams rolls out of the ring and sends Priest crashing into the announce desk with a flapjack when Priest charges at him on the outside. He whips Priest into Zayn, but Zayn gets in the ring and rains down right hands on Williams to cause the disqualification.

Winner: N/A

— After the match, Zayn continues beating down Williams. Priest shoves Zayn, but Zayn fires off right hands on Priest. Priest then lands a big boot on Zayn, but Williams takes out Priest with the Trick Shot. As Williams stands tall, Randy Orton sneaks up behind Williams and delivers an RKO to him. He stares down Zayn in the ring, but blindsides him with an RKO and hits his signature pose as the show goes off the air.

[Kemo]