Friday's "SmackDown" saw a new champion being crowned and the Cody Rhodes-Drew McIntyre rivalry reaching a new level.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, gets the honors of closing out WWE's year with a handful of shows, including Friday's latest "SmackDown." That year-end malaise could really be felt on this show, as an extra hour of programming looms large to start 2026.

The Miz and Evans had a match after a heated moment backstage set it up earlier in the show. The A-Lister had control for the first couple of moves, but the high-flyer sent him out of the ring and hit a beautiful moonsault.

It was subsequently revealed that Rhodes and McIntyre would wrestle for the undisputed WWE title on the Jan. 9 episode of SmackDown. Their match would be the seventh Three Stages of Hell match in WWE history, and the first on the main roster since 2013. McIntyre attacked Rhodes, standing over him to close the show.

WWE SmackDown presented the July 11 edition of the show from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The show saw the build-up to a major weekend for WWE, stacked with special shows, new tag team champions crowned, and the ending of the show saw a ...

Cody Rhodes is having a horrible second reign as WWE Champion. After a few years of strong television under Triple H's creative leadership, WWE took a significant downturn in 2025, as the TKO-owned company began to fall into the old Vince McMahon traps of constant rematches and DQs,

Cody Rhodes might want to remember who runs WWE SmackDown. On Friday, general manager Nick Aldis threatened to strip Rhodes of the undisputed WWE championship if Rhodes continued undermining his authority.

Cody Rhodes defends the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in a Three Stages of Hell match on SmackDown Jan. 9. Here's how the rare stipulation works.

Next week's SmackDown on January 2, 2026, will be live, and WWE has announced a few segments and matches for it.