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WWE SmackDown Results (3/13/26): Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton Sign Their WrestleMania Contract

Tonight's episode of SmackDown began the build for WWE Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42.
Matt Black|
Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes
Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes | WWE

The road to WrestleMania 42 ran through Phoenix, Arizona, for tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown.

Tonight's SmackDown featured a contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for their WWE Championship match next month at WrestleMania 42. This saw The Viper snap and seemingly turn heel, as he bloodied his former friend ahead of their match at the Showcase of the Immortals.

Now, on the outside looking in as it pertains to the WWE Title picture, Drew McIntyre found himself face-to-face with the man who cost him his title last week, Jacob Fatu. Tonight made it abundantly clear that these two men are on a collision course at WrestleMania next month. That is, if McIntyre decides to come back to work.

We also saw WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Lash Legend in action, taking on former champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair. This match didn't see a clean finish as a returning Nikki and Brie Bella caused a disqualification.

Tonight's episode of SmackDown also featured the return of Miz TV with special guest Jelly Roll. While the rivalry for the Wyatt Sicks Lantern continued as Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga took on Uncle Howdy and Erick Rowan in a non-title matchup.

Here's everything you may have missed from the latest episode of WWE SmackDown from Phoenix, Arizona. Quick results at the end.

WWE SmackDown results:

The show kicks off with an angry Drew McIntyre storming through the crowd on a microphone, demanding that Nick Aldis come to the ring and make things right. Nick Aldis comes out and says there's nothing to make right. Aldis said McIntyre is looking for someone to blame, but he should be looking at the consequences of his own actions.

Drew McIntyre complains about Jacob Fatu getting involved last week and calls Aldis a corporate stooge. Aldis said McIntyre did everything he could to prevent Rhodes from getting a fair shot, and now he knows why, because when he finally got one, he beat him. McIntyre gets in the ring and stares Aldis down, calling this bulls---, declaring he's going to make this right or else.

This brings out Jacob Fatu, who questions what there is to fix, reminding McIntyre that he wouldn't even have been champion in the first place if it weren't for him. Fatu said he fixed the problem he made last week. Fatu said he screwed McIntyre and wants to know what he's going to do about it. McIntyre responds by quitting WWE and leaving through the crowd.

The MFTs are backstage, and Solo Sikoa once again asks Tama Tonga to watch over the Wyatt's Lantern and keep it safe. Shinsuke Nakamura and Tonga once again exchange words. However, this time Sikoa returns and tells Nakamura to stay away from his family.

Nick Aldis is backstage with Jacob Fatu. Both men are frustrated over McIntyre quitting. This brings in Trick Williams, who gets into it with Fatu. Aldis doesn't appreciate Trick's disrespect and books a match between Fatu and Williams for later tonight.

Uncle Howdy and Erick Rowan (w/ the Wyatt Sicks) defeated Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga (w/ the MFTs). This was exactly the kind of match you'd expect these four to have. The finish saw Nikki Cross get the Lantern back, distracting Sikoa long enough for Uncle Howdy to hit him with Sister Abigail and score the pinfall victory.

After the match, Cross hands Howdy the lantern back, only for him to get taken out by Tama Tonga, who takes the lantern back for The MFTs.

Backstage, we see Damian Priest and R-Truth watching the monitor and talking about their upcoming title match. Truth mistakes the MFTs for The Judgment Day. They are interrupted by Los Garza, and after a quick back-and-forth, Priest said he'll get a match made between the four of them for later tonight.

We hear from Giulia and Kiana James, who hype up James' match with Tiffany Stratton later on in the show.

Jade Cargill defeated Michin. The finish of the match saw Cargill hit Michin with Jaded to score the pinfall victory.

After the match, Cathy Kelley tries to interview Cargill, but the microphone is ripped out of her hand. Cargill cuts a promo on Rhea Ripley in an attempt to hype up their match at WrestleMania 42 after their segment bombed last week. Ripley comes out and dares Cargill to say something to her face, and Cargill leaves instead. Ripley tells Cargill after WrestleMania she will be her b---h.

Nick Aldis and Cody Rhodes briefly converse backstage. Rhodes tells him the contract looks good. We then get another week of Rhodes and Sami Zayn being passive-aggressive with each other. Followed by another confrontation between Zayn and Aleister Black. Zayn tells Black to stay away from him. Looks like this could turn into a WrestleMania match.

Rhea Ripley tries to be friendly with Michin and B-Fab backstage, putting over her effort in her match against Jade Cargill. Michin verbally bites her head off. B-Fab tries to cool things down and removes Michin from the situation. Back at ringside, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair come to the ring for their title match, but are interrupted by The Bella Twins, who announce that they have the next shot at the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles after tonight.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend defeated Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss via disqualification to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles. The Bellas being at ringside set up the finish for this match. When the two teams were brawling at ringside, but Bellas got taken out. This resulted in Brie getting in the ring later and attacking Jax right as Bliss was about to secure the win for her team.

After the match, Jax and Legend lay the other two teams out as the champions stand tall.

Jelly Roll is shown backstage interacting with R-Truth, Damian Priest, and Randy Orton. Elsewhere, we see the Bellas bicker with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair backstage. Bliss and Flair are upset that they cost them the titles by getting involved in the match. The Bellas remind them they have the next title shot.

Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated Los Garza. This was a very competitive match that saw Truth and Priest each hit a member of Los Garza with their finish before scoring the double pinfall victory.

We get two backstage segments that see Alex Shelley once again trying to help out Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano. Chris Sabin comes in and tells him they have a match with Fraxiom soon for a chance to get another shot at the titles. In the background, you can see Jade Cargill speaking with B-Fab, and the two leave together. There's also a quick interaction between Danhausen and The Miz, and Danhausen once again curses The Miz.

The Miz hosts Miz TV with Jelly Roll. Miz's microphone goes out at the beginning, which makes sense because he is cursed. The Miz wants to mentor Jelly Roll, but he says no. The two begin arguing, and Kit Wilson comes out and sides with Miz. Jelly Roll and Wilson bicker, and Wilson shoves Jelly Roll. He goes to punch Wilson, but knocks out Miz instead.

Ilja Dragunov and Apollo Crews are in the locker room laughing at what happened to The Miz. Carmelo Hayes comes in and continues trying to get Dragunov to accept his open challenge. Elsewhere backstage, Tiffany Stratton cuts a promo for her match with Kiana James. Chelsea Green tries to interrupt, but Stratton pushes her down the hall in her wheelchair instead.

Tiffany Stratton defeated Kiana James (w/ Giulia). The finish saw Giulia getting into it with Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre at ringside, distracting Kiana James long enough for Tiffany Stratton to take advantage and hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to score the pinfall victory.

Cathy Kelley interviews Trick Williams backstage about his match tonight with Jacob Fatu. Williams is interrupted by Sami Zayn, who reminds him that he said he was going to main event WrestleMania and now he's losing all of his matches because he can't back up his mouth. Williams said Zayn was hating, and if he didn't have a match tonight, he'd knock him out.

Trick Williams defeated Jacob Fatu. The finish saw Drew McIntyre get involved behind the referee's back and attack Fatu, letting Williams hit Fatu with two Trick Knees to score the pinfall victory.

After the match, McIntyre lays out Fatu with a Claymore.

Nick Aldis announces that Jacob Fatu will face Drew McIntyre next week. Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes come to the ring to sign the contract for their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. Rhodes puts Orton over and signs the contract. Orton is hesitant to sign the contract, saying this was supposed to be McIntyre.

Rhodes puts Orton over again and convinces him to sign the contract. Once he does, Orton snaps and brutally attacks Rhodes, leaving him bloody. Jelly Roll tries to calm Orton down, and he gets pushed down. This snaps Orton out of his trance, and he sees what he's done and leaves as Jelly Roll checks on Rhodes.

To the surprise of probably no one, Orton returns and strikes Rhodes with a steel chair. Orton goes in the ring and sits down in a chair with the WWE Championship as SmackDown goes off the air.

Quick results:

  • Uncle Howdy and Erick Rowan defeated Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga
  • Jade Cargill defeated Michin
  • Nia Jax and Lash Legend defeated Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair via disqualification to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles.
  • Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated Los Garza
  • Tiffany Stratton defeated Kiana James
  • Trick Williams defeated Jacob Fatu

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Published
Matt Black
MATT BLACK

Matt Black got involved in the wrestling media industry over two decades ago, covering WWE video games released by Acclaim, THQ, and 2K. He has been covering professional wrestling for multiple digital outlets since 2019. He is the former Senior Editor of WrestleZone and has extensive knowledge of the entire wrestling industry. In his spare time, Matt enjoys cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He's also a diehard comic book movie fan and doesn't pick sides when it comes to the endless debates of Marvel versus DC.

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