‘The Scottish Warrior’ Is WWE Champion; What’s Next?
On the January 9th edition of Friday Night SmackDown, WWE Champion ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes faced ‘The Scottish Warrior’ Drew McIntyre for the title in a three stages of hell match in Berlin, Germany. McIntyre won the first stage, which was a regular match, but since ‘The Scottish Warrior’ took the turnbuckle off, low-blow Rhodes, and hit the WWE Champion for a Claymore, the three-time World Champion won the first fall. The second stage was a falls count anywhere match. The two-time WWE Champion hit McIntyre with a Cross Rhodes on the announcer’s desk to win the second fall. During the final stage, a steel cage match, a returning Jacob Fatu attacked both competitors. At first, Fatu attacked ‘The Scottish Warrior’, then started attacking Rhodes after he tried to get ‘The Samoan Wearwolf’ off of McIntyre. This allowed McIntyre to escape the steel cage and capture his fourth World Championship. With a surprising move pulled by WWE and with the Royal Rumble a few weeks away, everyone wants to know what’s next for ‘The Scottish Warrior’.
Nick Aldis Not Wasting Any Time
SmackDown’s general manager, Nick Aldis, announced he’s not wasting any time when it comes to naming a new top contender for the WWE Championship. Next Friday, in London, England, there will be four qualifying matches. The winners of those qualifying matches will face off in a fatal four-way match to determine the new top contender, who will have a championship match at the Royal Rumble. We have Randy Orton vs. The Miz, Matt Cardona vs. Trick Williams, Damian Priest vs. Solo Sikoa, and Sami Zayn vs. Ilja Dragunov. We’ve heard the likes of Orton, Cardona, Williams, and Zayn all talk about how they’ll be vying for the championship once this feud between McIntyre and Rhodes concludes. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top next Friday at OVO Wembley Arena.
Will McIntyre Hold the Title Till WrestleMania?
Last year, Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship on the debut episode of Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Just a few weeks later, Iyo Sky defeated Ripley to become the new champion, holding the belt at WrestleMania and retaining the title at the biggest stage of them all against Ripley and Bianca Belair. Does WWE follow the same game plan for the WWE Championship? Will McIntyre hold the title till WrestleMania, or will someone dethrone ‘The Scottish Warrior’ a few weeks before WrestleMania XLII? The biggest threats to the title at this moment are Rhodes or Orton. Perhaps Orton defeats McIntyre a month or two from now, and it sets up a triple threat match between Rhodes, Orton, and McIntyre. Maybe Rhodes takes the title back a couple of weeks out from WrestleMania. There are a lot of different directions WWE could go on the road to WrestleMania.
Does ‘The Samoan Werewolf’ Make His Presence Known?
With a returning Jacob Fatu attacking McIntyre and Rhodes, this begs the question of what’s next for ‘The Samoan Werewolf’? In all likelihood, it seems like we’ll see ‘The American Nightmare’ feud with Fatu over what transpired on the January 9th episode of SmackDown. With these qualifying matches taking place, I don’t think we'll see Fatu sniff out the WWE Championship until after the Royal Rumble. Which means we’ll see a Rhodes/Fatu feud first and then McIntyre/Fatu, if WWE plans it that way. With the big 2025 Fatu had, I would not be surprised if we gear up for a ‘Samoan Werewolf’ WWE Championship run in 2026.
