WWE Smackdown 1/30/2026

WWE Smackdown 1/30/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/01/wwe-smackdown-1232026.html

We are in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are on commentary. 

We see various wrestlers arrive. 

Cody Rhodes comes out to talk. He said Fatu found out he wasn't who he thought he was. He says their fun at SNME was ended by Drew McIntyre. Cody says Drew won the title and is nowhere to be found. He says it would make sense to win the Rumble for a 3rd time and challenge Drew. He says it may not be Drew though as Drew will face Sami Zayn. He says Punk is still champ though and they have to do it eventually. 

Randy Orton comes out. Orton say he loves the crowd. Orton says him and Cody are brothers and he respects him. He says nobody but him understood how it tore him up when he lost the title. Orton says a desperate Cody Rhodes is dangerous. Orton says there's nothing more dangerous than a viper chasing #15. He says they won't be friends tomorrow and he'll throw him over the top if he gets a chance. He says Cody's not the only one who won the Rumble twice.

Jey Uso comes out. Jey calls them "Randy Uce" and "Cody Uce". He says they are talking about winning their 3rd Rumble but he plans on winning back to back Rumbles then plans on becoming champ again. 

Sami Zayn comes out. Sami talks in Arbaic. He says he face Drew for the WWE Title tomorrow. He says three stories could come to an end tomorrow. He says he has to win the title, beat Drew who he has never beaten and says he has never lost a match here. He says if one of them wins The Rumble, it'll be him waiting for them on the other side. 

The Vision come out. Paul Heyman does his usual lines. He says he sees The Vision here and no vision with the 4 stars in the ring. He says he sees Sami who won't be champ tomorrow. He says he sees 3 men who won't win the Rumble and says it won't be their nights. He says tomorrow will be Bron Breakker's night. 

Orton tells Heyman to shut up. He dares The Vision to come down and get an @ss kicking. Nick Aldis comes out. He says we all can see where this is going and do The Vision vs Sami, Orton, Jey and Cody tonight.

WWE United States Title - Carmelo Hayes (c) vs Rey Fenix

This is an open challenge.

Melo drags him over on the lock up. Rey chops him, walks up the buckles and corkscrew diving armdrags him. Rey rope walk kicks him then tornillo's him hard outside. We go to PiP break and return.

Rey tries a la magistral and they roll around. Rey handspring back elbows him for 2. Rey hits kicks. Melo springboard twisting lariats him. Melo hits chops and forearms. Melo 2nd rope diving ddt's him for 2. They trade pin attempts. Rey superkicks him. Rey springboard spin kicks him. 

Melo cradles him for 2 off a mexican muscle buster attempt. Melo superkicks him. Rey swing kicks him in the face then superkicks him. They high kick each other down at the same time. 

They double lariat each other. We go to break and return. Rey double stomps him on the buckles. Rey double jump moonsaults him for 2. Melo la mistica drops him for 2. Melo pump kicks him then blind springboard diving ddt's him for 2. Rey rolls into a ddt on Melo for 2. Rey rolls and is caught with a first 48. Melo top rope diving legdrops him on the back of the neck and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't care for this. It was an indy style match with little selling and with it being an open challenge, there wasn't a lot of reason to care otherwise. Melo won as expected. 

The Miz goes up top Ilja Dragunov. Miz says he didn't thinking of throwing him over the top last week, Melo came up with the idea. Miz says he doesn't know him and has nothing against him. Drag then squeezes his hand on a handshake and says Miz cost him his match. He says tonight Miz is paying for what happened.

We see clips of Brock Lesnar calling into Pat McAfee's show and him announcing that he'll be in the Royal Rumble. 

R-Truth is playing with balls and making jokes again with Nick Aldis. Damian Priest walks in. DP is told he's in the Rumble. Truth has him pick a ball and he does. DP isn't thrilled about his number. Truth says he can go again and Nick says he can't. DP says he has more time to throw some fools out.

Drew McIntyre is interviewed outside. He says there's a lot of people talking a big game. He says Sami is and he's putting his foot in his mouth. He says he's got an 8-man tag before the biggest match of his life. He says he will do whatever it take to keep his title. He asks if Sami will do what it takes to take it from him?

Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley are interviewed. Rhea says they know it's everyone for themselves at the Rumble. Rhea says they will be friends after. Iyo said they fought at Mania and became friends after. Giulia and Kiana James come in. KJ doesn't buy it. Iyo and Giulia argue in Japanese. KJ says it won't come down to the 2 of them in The Rumble but but says Giulia will become a trple champ. Nia Jax and Lash Legend come in. Nia says they are entering the Rumble so the other 4 have no chance. Lash says they got whoever ends up tag champ.

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss comes out. Flair says the women are at each other's throats but she's winning the Rumble and going to Mania. She says there's no one she'd rather have watching her back than Bliss. Bliss said she had the same plan and said she was planning on winning the Rumble. She says she plans on being the first girl to win the Rumble in Riyadh. Flair says it's everyone for themselves and asks if she thought she would help her win. Bliss says she doesn't need her help and says not everything is about her. Flair asks if Bliss is planning on throwing her over the top if she turns her back. Bliss asks if she will toss her over the top.

The Judgment Day of Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez come out. Liv says how cute that the besties are fighting. She says while they backstab each other, one of them will win the Rumble. Bliss says that's not a plan. Flair says if you think they aren't friends, come down and find out. Liv says okay but then says yeah right. Liv says they have better things to do and says bye.

Nick Aldis comes out. He says if you step on this stage, you are volunteering to step in the ring. She says any 2 of them can face Bliss and Flair right now.

The Judgment Day (Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez) vs Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss)

We join this in progress. RP hides between the ropes and misses punches. RP slaps Flair and tags out. Flair chases her and forearms Liv outside. Liv hits Flair from behind and pounds on her. Liv kicks Flair in the ribs. Flair double suplexes her opponents. Bliss baseball slides the heels outside.

RP hits Bliss from behind inside and hits windmill shots on her. RP boots her in the gut. Liv step up knees Bliss in the corner for 2. Bliss basement dropkicks her. Raquel trips Bliss and Liv kicks Bliss down for 2.

RP sunset flips Bliss, Bliss rolls through and basement dropkicks her. RP euros Bliss on the ropes then trips her into them. RP running euros her in the back. Liv boots Bliss in the corner. Liv basement dropkicks her for 2. 

We go to PiP break and return. Bliss jawbreakers Liv and hits forearms. Li cradles her for 2 and they trade pin attempts. Flair is tagged in and she top rope crossbodies the heels. Flair chops both. Flair forward handspring lariats Liv. Flair fallaway slams RP. Flair top rope moonsaults the heels for 2. Liv step up enzugiri's Flair. Bliss running head hunters Liv for 2. 

Bliss takes a codebreaker into a russian legsweep or 2. Flair hits natural selection on Liv. Raquel distracts Flair. Flair gets chop blocked. Stephanie Vaquer comes in and takes out Raquel. RP is distracted and Bliss hits a sister abigail on RP to win.

Thoughts: It was a little hard to tell the girls apart at times as they were all in mostly black. It was a longer bout and I thought it was average. I didn't find it that interesting. Flair moves a lot more carefully than she used to.

Jordynne Grace is interviewed. She says the Rumble can change your life. She says she will bet on herself. Jade Cargill nails her from the side. They fight and it gets broken up. 

Johnny Gargano tells Candice LaRae they got this. Nick Aldis comes up to them and says LaRae is banned from ringside. They talk about the mask they stole and Nick says Axiom get the mask back if Axiom wins.

Axiom vs Johnny Gargano

Ax gets his mask back if he wins this. This feud has gone on forever and I hope it ends here. Ciampa is gone from WWE, so that's even more of a reason to end it.

Ax takes him down by the arm and wristlocks him. JG side headlocks him. Ax side headlocks him. Ax flying headscissors him. JG boots him in the gut. Ax backslides him for 1. JG chops him. Ax armdrags him from the 2nd rope and dropkicks him. Ax chops him.

JG hits him from behind. Ax is crotched up top. JG topes him outside. We go to break and return. Ax superkicks him in the gut and takes forearms. Ax enzugiri's him then JG step up enzugiri's him. Ax standing spanish flies him for 2. Ax half-nelson suplexes him out. Ax top rope moonsaults him outside. Ax top rope dropkicks him for 2. 

JG superkicks him then michinoku drivers him for 2. JG boots him out of the corner and is hit with a step up enzugiri. Ax 2nd rope neckbreakers him. JG b-drivers him for 2. JG is up top and Ax enzugiri's him. Ax top rope spanish flies him. Ax grabs the mask JG had. JG superkicks him. JG rolls him up for 2.

Ax misses an enzugiri. JG takes off Ax's mask. Ax puts on the other mask and golden ratio kick's JG to win.

Thoughts: It was a cruiserweight battle and wasn't anything too special. I didn't like the top rope spanish fly not meaning anything and nobody seemed to know who got the better of the 2nd rope neckbreaker spot. Ax won his mask and hopefully won this feud.

Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov talk. Melo says he didn't have anything to do with what Miz did. Ilja says when he got pushed out, Melo was right there. He says he doesn't know what to think about it. He says after he fights Miz, he's coming for Melo. He says he's not asking but he expects the same chance he gave Melo.

Trick Williams is interviewed. He makes the camera man film his shoes. He says the people love Trick all around the world. He says he put on a show at various places and asks what do you think he will do tonight? He says to subscribe to his website. He says he's got his sights on the main event of Wrestlemania.

AJ Styles comes out to talk. AJ says he was in the area and thought he'd say hello. He says he's got a big match tomorrow. He tells the fans not to worry about tomorrow as he will knock Gunther's teeth down his throat. He says tomorrow starts The Phenomenal Farewell Tour. He says he will get one more time matches with Orton, Rhodes and Punk. 

Gunther interrupts from behind the commentary table. Gunther says none of his future plans will happen. He says he made a mistake so severe that it'll cost him his career. He say he will end his career the same way he did it to Cena. He says he will make him tap out. AJ says he's funny and says Gunther was the one who tapped out like a little b!tch.

Gunther gets mad and gets on the apron. Gun backs off without doing anything.

Tama Tonga says he saw Nakamura's match last week and asks if he saw his. He says Nakamura used to be the king and the man and says the old Nakamura would have beaten AJ last week. He says he should follow AJ on his way out with the Shinsuke Sayonara Tour. Nakamura says he's a young punk and talks in Japanese. He challenges him for next week. 

The Miz vs Ilja Dragunov

Miz wristlocks him. Drag reverses it and trips him. Miz chops and and Drag fires up. Drag takes him down by the wrist. Miz shoulders him over then runs into a big chop. Drag jumping kicks him. Drag running facekicks him over the middle rope. Miz trips Drag on the 2nd rope. Miz running facekicks him out.

We go to break and return. Miz chinlocks him. Drag boots him out of the corner and hits forearms. Miz back body drops him the neckbreakers him for 2. Miz boots him around and hits forearms. They trade forearms and euros. Miz chops him then Drag enzugiri's him. 

Drag chops him in the corner then Mix chops back. Drag hits a chop flurry on him. Drag tiger feint lariats him for 2. Drag hits germans. Drag backdrops him. Miz ddt's him for 2.  

Miz kicks him while he's down. Drag misses an enzugiri. Miz flying corner lariats him. Miz is up top and Drag chops him. They fight on the buckles and Drag is sent down. Miz comes off the top and Drag flying headbutts him in the chest. Drag hits an h-bomb and wins.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. Miz hasn't been treated seriously lately and shouldn't have been going even with Drag at times. This went long and just wasn't super interesting.

The MFT's do a video. Solo says he told everyone what he was going to do and he did it. He says he took Howdy's lantern and his tag titles. He says he took everything he loves away. He says he's a man of his word. He says the tag titles aren't for him, they are for his family. He says the job is not done yet as he will win the Rumble tomorrow. The Wyatt Sicks then take over the feed. Howdy says Solo's wrong if he thinks he has won. He says he has underestimate the weight of sacrifice. He says he lantern and the tag titles will come back to them. He says they will come back for what is theirs and says Solo's greed is his demise.

We get an Oba Femi video. He should be in the Rumble tomorrow.

Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Jey Uso and Sami Zayn vs The Vision (Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul and Austin Theory)

The fight starts before Cody comes out and the faces take a 4v3. Cody then runs down. Cody hits punches on Logan. Reed takes shots from Jey and goes out. Sami and Jey hit stereo dives outside. We go to PiP break and return. 

Cody top rope elbow drops Bron's arm. Sami then does the same. Cody boots Bron off the ropes then Bron running lariats him. Bron foot chokes Cody. Cody is hit with a double shoulder, a senton and a standing moonsault from Bron for 2. 

Austin hits mounted punches on Cody then chinlocks him around the bottom rope. Reed pounds on Cody. Logan knees Cody in the chest then stomps him. Logan gutwrench slams Cody. Bron overhead suplexes Cody and does Orton's pose. Bron hits corner spears on Cody. Austin rams Cody's back into the rails. We go to break and return.

Reed elbow drops Cody for 2. Bron gets on Reed's back and they splash Cody together for 2. Logan misses a corner splash on Cody. Cody suplexes Bron. Cody avoids an Austin elbow drop then a Reed senton. Orton and Austin get in. Orton hits lariats and powerslams Austin. Orton draping ddt's Austin.

Sami pounds on Logan and throws him out. Multiple people get thrown out. Orton RKO's Austin for 2. We get a bunch of signature moves from the wrestlers. Sami tornado ddt's Reed. Drew McIntyre comes out and trips Sami to cause a DQ.

Thoughts: It was an okay bout with a lame finish. Man I can't believe I sat through 3 hours for that finish. There were a lot of people coming in and out of this one whenever they pleased and if you blinked, you missed something.

Drew attacks Sami and throws him in the ring. Drew wants to hit him with the title. Jacob Fatu then hits Drew from behind and stomps him. Fatu topes Drew and Cody topes Fatu. Fatu is sent into the post then Cody goes into the post. Sami helluva kicks Drew. Sami and Cody then grab the title together to end the show.

Overall thoughts: These 3 hour Smackdowns are really tough to get through. This show just dragged on and on with endless commercials. And because The Rumble is tomorrow, people were taking it easy and nothing was too great. Add it being cold outside onto it and add a lot of the seats being empty and it didn't lead to greatness. It was nice that we got a more star-studded line-up than usual though and everything made sense, just it was long and slow.. There was really nothing here worth seeing and I wouldn't recommend it at all. I would give this a 5 out of 10 as it was average.