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WWE SmackDown Results (1/23/26]: Randy Orton Stands Tall, New WWE Tag Champs Crowned, Roman Reigns Return Revealed

Trick Williams thought he was going to end another episode of SmackDown on top, but Randy Orton had other plans. Here are all the results from Friday night's show in Montreal.
Rick Ucchino|
Randy Orton
Randy Orton | WWE

The final Friday Night SmackDown ahead of Saturday Night's Main Event is in the books and things are really starting to heat up with the official start of WrestleMania season just days away.

Sami Zayn, Damian Priest and Trick Williams all had their opportunities to grab the momentum ahead of Saturday night's Fatal 4-Way Match to determine the No. 1 Contender for the WWE Championship, but leave it to The Viper to steal it away at the last moment.

Randy Orton emerged after a post-main event brawl to drop both Williams and Zayn with the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment. The 14-Time World Champion now finds himself in the driver's seat with his 15th title reign potentially on the horizon. 

Speaking of gold, Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga are the new WWE Tag Team Champions. The MFTs utilized Bray Wyatt's lantern to distract the Wyatt Sicks and steal away another of the family's prized possessions.

Carmelo Hayes is still the Men's United States Champion, even if he isn't thrilled with how he retained his title, and The Tribal Chief is on his way back to WWE programming.

It was announced during the show that Roman Reigns will be in Saudi Arabia next Saturday night for The Royal Rumble. Here's everything you may have missed from Friday's episode of SmackDown in Montreal.

WWE SmackDown Results:

Montreal's own Sami Zayn kicked off the show and received an outstanding ovation from his hometown crowd. He wasn't able to say much before being interrupted by Trick Williams. The former NXT and TNA World Heavyweight Champion claimed that he and Zayn are not on the same level, calling Sami "Mr. too many chances." He said Zayn has had several opportunities to become WWE Champion, but has never been able to get the job done.

Sami admitted that Trick spoke a great deal of truth. He even agreed that they are not on the same level. Zayn said that whenever Williams reaches his full potential, he'd be lucky to be half as good as him. Sami challenged him to throw down if he wanted to prove something, but Trick declined. Williams said he had business to handle with Damian Priest and that he would finish his business with Sami at Saturday Night's Main Event.

On cue, Damian Priest made his way to the ring. He told Trick that he loves to run his mouth, but curiously enough, he refused to talk smack to him last Friday night. He asked Williams if that was because he is scared, which prompted Trick to turn around and drill Sami with the microphone. Trick and Priest began to brawl, but when Sami got involved, Williams shoved Damian into him and fled the ring.

Randy Orton was watching the opening segment backstage when he was approached by Cathy Kelley. The Viper said he saw no need to get involved, because he's completely focused on winning his 15th World Championship. And his road to winning the title starts at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Michael Cole pitched it to a backstage interaction between Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov that was captured on video earlier in the day. The Mad Dragon was battered and bruised after his loss to Sami Zayn last week, but Hayes said he could have a shot at the United States Title if he was fit enough. Dragunov happily accepted. The show of respect between both men disgusted The Miz, who just so happened to be standing nearby.

The Miz taunted Hayes for giving away a title shot to someone like Dragunov. He asked Melo what Ilja ever did for him, and he said The Mad Dragon gave him more of an opportunity than The Miz ever did.

Carmelo Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov to retain the Men's United States Championship. This was another absolute banger between these two longtime rivals, but as he's prone to do, The Miz ruined it. Dragunov appeared to be in position to finish off the champ, but as he climbed to the top rope, Miz came out from the crowd and shoved him off. He got to his feet pretty quickly, but turned around into a First 48 that gave the win to Hayes. Carmelo had no clue The Miz interfered until he saw him sarcastically clapping after the match.

Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu had a very tense exchange of words backstage after the Samoan Werewolf interrupted a sit-down interview being conducted by Michael Cole. Rhodes called out Fatu's hotheaded actions from two weeks ago, and said it was that kind of behavior that landed him behind bars when he was younger.

Fatu clapped back, saying those actions made him a better man. He warned Rhodes that he's not some loose cannon, he's actually in complete control. The only reason Jacob got involved in Three Stages of Hell in the first place, was to exact revenge on McIntyre for allegedly assaulting him several weeks ago.

WWE ran a video package for Roman Reigns and announced that the Tribal Chief would make his return to the ring in the Men's Royal Rumble Match next Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Chelsea Green ran into Jordynne Grace backstage and she attempted to recruit her into the Secret Hervice. She seemed thoroughly uninterested until Green mentioned that she had a match coming up with Jade Cargill. Grace then agreed to accompany her to the ring.

WWE Women's Jade Cargill defeated Chelsea Green with Alba Fyre and Jordynne Grace. The former Women's United States Champion started this match off with a surprise tope suicida that fired up the pro-Chelsea Canadian crowd, but The Storm soon took over. Green tried to put up a fight to her credit, but she was ultimately defeated with a Jaded slam.

Jordynne Grace grabbed a mic after the match was over and told Cargill that she's declared for the Women's Royal Rumble Match, and she's coming for the WWE Women's Championship. 

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss spoke with each other backstage and promised that they would be focused on their team goals tonight, but they also acknowledged that it will be every woman for herself at the Royal Rumble.

Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga defeated Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. As one would expect, there was just as much action outside the ring as there was inside it as The MFTs and Wyatt Sicks battled over Bray Wyatt's lantern during the match. Solo took advantage of the chaos by clocking Lumis with the lantern, and Tama Tonga blasted him with the Cutthroat to win the titles.

SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis was speaking to R-Truth in his office, who wanted to put his balls on the line inside the Royal Rumble, but they were interrupted by AJ Styles. Aldis asked Styles if he was 100 percent sure he wanted to put his career on the line against Gunther at the Royal Rumble, and Styles questioned if that was really why he was invited to Montreal.

Shinsuke Nakamura then walked into the office and asked if Styles was really ready to risk his career. Nakamura challenged him to prove that he's ready by facing him at Saturday Night's Main Event, and AJ accepted.

Nathan Frazer with Axiom defeated Johnny Gargano with Candice LeRae. This was another great back-and-forth match that ended with a bit of shenanigans. Axiom made a play for his stolen mask outside the ring and then slid it over the head of Candice LeRae as she attempted to distract Frazer. LeRae was blinded as Axiom put the mask on backward, and when Gargano attempted to help her, Candice struck her husband. Johnny Wrestling fell into a Frazer backslide and Nathan scored a three count.

Post match, Fraxiom celebrated in the ring with Axiom's recovered mask as Gargano looked on in disgust. As they gloated, however, Candice snuck in the ring, stole the mask back and ran off with it.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend declared for the Women's Royal Rumble during an interview with Cathy Kelley, and they vowed to eliminate the entire field as a team.

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre addressed the Montreal crowd with an in-ring promo. The Scottish Warrior again denied attacking Jacob Fatu. He said if he were the one who knocked Fatu's teeth out of his mouth, he'd be bragging about it. McIntyre then ran down all the men in Saturday night's Fatal 4-Way No. 1 Contender's Match, especially Sami Zayn.

McIntyre said Sami is so concerned about not disappointing his son, but that his son has been disappointed since he found out who his father was. Drew said it didn't matter who won at Saturday Night's Main Event, because he is going to do whatever it takes to retain the title at The Royal Rumble.

Kit Wilson spoke to Cathy Kelley backstage and was asked why he attacked Matt Cardona last week. Wilson railed against toxic masculinity until Cardona interrupted his rant. He said the next time Kit wanted to step up to him, they could do it in the ring.

WWE Women's United States Champion Giulia and Kiana James defeated Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, and Nia Jax and Lash Legend to become the No. 1 Contender's for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. In a somewhat surprising result, it was Kiana James who picked up the win for her team. Lash Legend was able to counter a Tornado DDT from Alexa Bliss and she planted the former Women's Champion with a Lash Extension slam. Charlotte then came in and took Legend down with a spear, which allowed James to cover Bliss and steal the victory.

Sami Zayn ran into Damian Priest backstage, and he was warned to stay out of his match against Trick Williams. Zayn said that Priest doesn't get to tell him where he gets to go or what he gets to do, but he walked away from the conversation after noticing Drew McIntyre down the hall. He marched right up to the WWE Champion and smacked him hard across the face.

Trick Williams defeated Damian Priest via disqualification. Sami Zayn made his way down to the ringside area to get an up close view of the main event and it ultimately cost Priest the match. After the fight spilled to the outside, Trick purposefully tossed Damian into Sami. That prompted Zayn to rush the ring and attack Williams, which forced the referee to call for the disqualification.

A brawl then broke out between all three men, and Williams ended up standing tall after he hit Priest with the Trick Shot. As he was celebrating, however, Randy Orton snuck up behind him and hit an RKO out of nowhere. The Viper also hit Zayn with an RKO before the show went off the air.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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