Drew McIntyre Forces Cody In The Rumble, His Royal Rumble Opponent Determined | WWE SmackDown Review
Off The Script w/JDfromNY
JDfromNY
4.6 • 964 Ratings
🗓️ 17 January 2026
⏱️ 104 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
WWE SmackDown goes live from London as the Drew McIntyre era officially begins, and the race to determine his first challenger is underway. Four major number one contender qualifiers headline the show, setting the stage for WWE’s next championship direction.
On this WWE SmackDown review, I break down the fallout from London, Drew McIntyre addressing the crowd as champion, and whether WWE’s booking decisions are creating a clear path to the next title match.
On this episode:
Drew McIntyre speaks to the London crowd as the new champion
Four number one contender qualifier matches shape the title picture
Randy Orton vs The Miz
Trick Williams vs Matt Cardona
Damian Priest vs Solo Sikoa
Sami Zayn vs Ilja Dragunov
Carmelo Hayes defends the United States Championship against Leon Slater
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What is going on, guys? Thank you so very much for joining me right here on Off the Script. This is your Friday Night Smackdown post show for your Friday, January 16th, 2026. I'm your host, JD, from New York. As always, coming to you live from the OTS venue inside my mother's basement. Thank you guys so very much for joining me on this Friday evening, wherever you may be. |
| 0:28.8 | Another 3 p.m. start time tonight. |
| 0:31.2 | I actually watched half of the show this afternoon. |
| 0:36.6 | Wanted to go live a little earlier than |
| 0:38.9 | where I'm starting tonight |
| 0:40.7 | but I got so sleepy |
| 0:43.5 | during the show earlier |
| 0:44.8 | that I opted to take a nap |
| 0:47.2 | right before the Carmelo Hayes and Leon Slater match |
| 0:49.9 | for the United States Championship |
| 0:52.2 | figured I'd nap it off take take a shower, make dinner, and then |
| 0:58.5 | attack the rest of Smackdown, which is why I'm live here at 10.15 p.m. Still live is the East Coast |
| 1:07.2 | feed for Friday night Smackin. You guys are probably now just getting Ilya Dragonolv and Sammy Zane. The final match that took place tonight in the |
| 1:17.1 | mini tournament. Eight men, four winners, fatal four-way, Saturday night's main event, |
| 1:24.5 | Royal Rumble, WWB title match against Drew McIntyre. |
| 1:28.3 | That is the order in which things are happening. |
| 1:32.1 | That was the entire show tonight. |
| 1:35.1 | The entire show was basically this mini tournament |
| 1:39.3 | to crown a new number one contender for the WWE championship. |
| 1:46.1 | And it went exactly how we laid it out. |
| 1:49.7 | There's no real surprises. There's no real intrigue. |
| 1:54.1 | It was very predictable. |
... |
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