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WWE Friday Night SmackDown comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Jan. 3, 2025) with a live show emanating from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Royal Rumble premium live event scheduled for early next month in Indianapolis.
Advertised for tonight: It’s a new era! Indeed, the blue brand will be a three hour show starting tonight and moving forward.
For this one, we’re getting Nia Jax defending the women’s championship against Naomi, Andrade taking on United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match, and a whole lot more!
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the SmackDown live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. (Note: Links to illegal streams are prohibited. Pics and GIFs are allowed.)
WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JAN. 3
Inclination of direction, walk and turn and twist adrift with the children of creation, futuristic dreams we sift. Clutching violently we whisper with a liquefying cry, any deadly final answers that are surely doomed to die, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a recap of the main event scene of the last month or so.
“American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He talks about SmackDown going to three hours tonight and Raw going to Netflix starting Monday and his excitement is tempered ever so slightly because as much as he’d like to be involved, he can only be involved so much because technically he’s not cleared to wrestle. And he’s not cleared to wrestle because of Kevin Owens.
He talks about his scheduled ladder match against Kevin Owens—
Enter Drew McIntyre.
He gets in the ring and wordlessly hugs his former Dashing Ones (remember 2010? I sure do!) teammate before getting on the mic as a “okay sure” expression crosses Cody’s face. Drew begins, saying he’s not here to hurt Rhodes, he’s here to help him. He’s not on his list and they go way back and he needs to tell him because nobody else will— he’s about to screw up his entire life’s work.
Everything he’s done, all the dues he’s paid, climbing to the center, right now is the best in-ring wrestling they’ve ever had and if you look at the numbers, the best overall by far, and Cody is the quarterback of it all. But Nick Aldis is breathing down his neck, refusing to clear him, there’s a guy running around with a replica title like these idiots in the crowd, pretending he’s a world champion and being billed as much at live events.
All while Cody’s neck dangles by a thread and he can see that he needs a friend. Rhodes recapitulates his “help, not hurt” thesis, McIntyre says he always tells the truth and Cody says he’ll tell him the truth back. He’d love to say he saw Drew carry the place while he was gone, he’d love to say that they were kindred spirits, he’d love to see that he’s grown to be a beast in the ring and on the mic, he’d love to say that… but he doesn’t believe McIntyre.
And he feels the tension and he can feel that it’ll devolve, so if Drew wants to throw hands right now, come and get it. McIntyre says he’ll see the truth one day and leaves, telling him to watch his back… AND KEVIN OWENS ATTACKS CODY FROM BEHIND!
Referees and road agents and security arrive and pull them apart and give Rhodes a chance to recover.
Now we get the usual montage of talent arriving at the arena and we go to break.
Andrade el Idolo vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) (WWE United States Championship)
Nakamura with knees in the ropes right out the gates, to the floor, el Idolo dives on him and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Andrade with a dragon screw and a flying elbow! Kip-up, but Shinsuke puts some offense together, diving Kinshasa connects… NOPE! Turnbuckle exposed, el Idolo kicks him into it, corner knees, cover… STILL NO! Diving moonsault to the standing moonsault, cover for two!
Drawing Nakamura up, underhooks, slips out, elbow connects, inverted exploder but Andrade lands on his feet, back elbow… SO CLOSE! Jockeying for position, Shinsuke puts him face-first into the top of the ringpost and throws him back inside! Lining him up…
Shinsuke Nakamura wins by pinfall with Kinshasa, retaining the WWE United States Championship.
Post-match, LA Knight runs in and drops Nakamura with a lariat! Grounded punches, BFT denied and Shinsuke runs away, title in hand! LA grabs a mic and says “YEAH” a bunch before saying things go crazy when you steal his title and one way or another he’s coming to collect because what comes around goes around and he’s gonna stomp his ass to dust every time he turns around.
Apollo Crews is walking backstage and looking at his phone when Pretty Deadly roll up to threaten him for snitching last week.
Crews says everybody knew they were lying last week fingering Los Garza, and Legado del Fantasma rolls up.
Santos Escobar tells them if they’re gonna lie it should be to their face, Pretty Deadly beg off, and Escobar says they’re ridiculous if they think they’re not gonna cop an ass-beating for all this. Los Garza attack, Nick Aldis and referees appear to pull them apart.
Pretty Deadly call for them to be reprimanded but Nick asks them to stay and chat as we go to break.
Back from commercial Nick Aldis is talking to Pretty Deadly trying to get to the bottom of things when DIY roll up to ask why he’s listening to Apollo Stooge.
Aldis says he knows what’s going on and everyone is on very thin ice. DIY talk up Pretty Deadly and basically offer to trade them a title shot if they make sure DIY leave tonight as champions.
