WWE SmackDown live results: Tag Team titles on the line
As we head deeper into the holiday season, WWE presents a pre-taped edition of SmackDown tonight.
Cody Rhodes’ dream match at Saturday Night’s Main Event against Oba Femi was ruined when Drew McIntyre attacked him for the disqualification. In retaliation, Rhodes invaded McIntyre’s home that weekend to brawl with him.
On tonight’s show, the WWE Champion returns with a lot to talk about.
The WWE Tag Team titles will be on the line tonight as Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis of The Wyatt Sicks defend against two members of The MFTs.
In non-title action, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) will battle Lash Legend & Nia Jax, who are looking to earn a shot at the belts.
WWE United States Champion Ilja Dragunov teams up with Carmelo Hayes against #DIY.
The announced card is rounded out by Giulia vs. Alba Fyre.
Our live coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– Previously in WWE: It was John Cena’s last match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. He tapped and he retired. After that recap, we went to Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett at commentary, who talked about Cody Rhodes’ home invasion attack against Drew McIntyre. We then saw shots of Rhodes himself, and then the M.F.T.s arriving to the arena.
Damian Priest kicks off SmackDown
Fresh off a mixed-tag match victory on last week’s episode against Aleister Black & Zelina, Damian Priest arrived to SmackDown and had some words to say following that huge win.
Priest thanked the Hershey, PA fans for their energy because it has been a tough few days thanks to John Cena’s retirement. Priest praised Cena for being the Greatest of All Time, as he said “Thank you, Cena”. He then said it was time to talk about some good times, namely when Aleister and Zelina got their “asses dropped” by the Terror Twins. Before Priest could continue with talking about his 2026 plans, Zelina interrupted him.
Zelina said that Priest was a hypocrite and that he shouldn’t be celebrating because he didn’t get the pin. She noted that Black broke Priest, and that he had to live with the decision that Black had made. As Black’s theme played, he snuck up in the ring to attack Priest from behind. The brawl broke out between the two in the ring as the action spilled into ringside. Priest dropped Black on the apron with a modified South of Heaven chokeslam before he pulled out the Slim Jim-branded table from underneath the ring. Meanwhile, Black recovered and hit Priest with a chair in the chest. The two continued to fight until Black hit a diving Meteora from the apron through the table.
I’m just going to get out front here and say that the idea of Priest vs. Black continuing on longer does not move me in the slightest. That this feud, like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going (and has been since July) is not something I want to see every week. Without a doubt, one of the reasons why SmackDown is languishing in terms of engaging stories.
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– Backstage, Byron Saxton was with Lash Legend & Nia Jax for remarks about Legend’s win over Alexa Bliss. The two noted that it was not an upset as Legend dominated her foe last week.
– Elsewhere, as Damian Priest was being helped by a litany of referees, Aleister Black attacked and continued his assault, ending with a Black Mass kick.
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) vs. Lash Legend & Nia Jax
Sane and Legend started off for their respective teams. Sane tried to get a sleeper hold on Legend, but got shoved into the corner instead. She avoided a pump kick from Legend as she then climbed to the top rope. Sane leapt, but got caught by Legend instead. Sane got out of her predicament with a hurricanrana, but Legend responded with a fierce running elbow as she tagged Jax in.
The two crushed Sane in their corner as Jax got the pin, but no three. Sane managed to tag in Asuka as the Women’s Tag Champs used teamwork to keep Jax grounded momentarily. Jax created some space with a pop-up spinebuster. However, she found herself on the backfoot with a double dropkick from the Kabuki Warriors. Legend also got sent to the outside, which gave Sane time to launch herself from the top rope and onto both Legend and Jax at ringside, which took us to the commercial break point.
We returned from break with Jax working over Sane in the corner as we saw a replay of Legend hitting a pump kick on Sane during the break. Back to the match, Legend applied a resthold on Sane for a bit until she slammed her foe down by the head. Jax was tagged in as she knocked Asuka off the apron. Jax and Legend tried to go for a double suplex, but Sane turned that into a double DDT, which gave her enough time to finally tag Asuka in.
Asuka got on the top rope and hit a double missile dropkick on Jax and Legend. A little bit of friendly fire as Asuka avoided Legend’s running attack, which sent her into Jax instead. Asuka then locked in the armbar on Jax, who used her power to escape out of it. Asuka connected with a Shining Wizard, but Legend broke it up. Things began to break down as all four women were in the ring as Asuka headed up top. Legend pulled at Asuka’s leg, which allowed Jax to head up top for an attempted avalanche Samoan drop. Legend pulled Asuka out of the ring and threw her into the steel steps. Sane took Legend out of the equation with a divking knee. However, Jax recovered and knocked Sane out, which let her get the victory with the Annihilator.
Jax and Legend didn’t get time to celebrate their win as Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss ran down to start a fight with them. The former Women’s Tag Champs got the best of Jax and Legend in the melee.
Lash Legend & Nia Jax def. The Kabuki Warriors via pinfall
A decent tag match, and I do think the women’s tag scene is heating up, so not much in the way of complaints as far as this match is concerned.
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– Jackie Redmond was set to interview Giulia, but was told by her representative Kiana James to address her properly before she could do so. Once she did, Giuia said that she was going to make sure that Alba Fyre would be left saying arrivederci.
WWE SmackDown recapper. Former NXT PLE/WWE Saturday Night's Main Event/fill-in recapper.