WWE SmackDown on January 9, 2026, took place at the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany, and the show wrapped up with a wild main event that had plenty to unpack.
Cody Rhodes put the Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against Drew McIntyre in a 3 Stages of Hell match. The first stage was a straight wrestling match, the second was falls count anywhere, and the third took place inside a steel cage.
McIntyre grabbed the first fall early, setting the tone right away. Things spilled all over the arena during the falls count anywhere portion, before Rhodes evened things up by hitting Cross Rhodes through a table. That’s when the steel cage lowered, and the match turned into a grind. After a brutal back-and-forth loaded with near falls, Jacob Fatu stormed out and laid out McIntyre, who had been blamed for putting him on the shelf.
Fatu didn’t stop there, though, as he quickly turned his attention to Rhodes. That chaos opened the door for McIntyre to escape the cage and steal the win, celebrating as he walked away with his fourth World Title.
Jacob Fatu’s actual last televised WWE match took place on the August 15, 2025 episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. On that night, Jacob Fatu teamed with Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn to pick up a win over the MFTs. The match marked Fatu’s final TV appearance before his injury absence later in the year.
The ending shocked a lot of people, but it wasn’t a total surprise to everyone. Reports earlier in the day had noted that Fatu was backstage in Germany, which cranked everything up to all gas and no brakes.
After being sidelined in October following a brutal segment with McIntyre and undergoing serious dental surgery, Fatu officially made his return in Berlin. WWE clearly has major plans lined up for him, and this moment feels like just the opening chapter of his 2026 run.
With the title picture shaken up, WWE is now set to sort out the next number one contender for the Undisputed WWE Championship. What’s next for SmackDown coming out of this show should be interesting to watch.
What’s your take on Jacob Fatu returning like this? Do you think he fits best in the main event? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
