Friday Night SmackDown aired this week from inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York as the show returned to three hour episodes for the first time since June of last year, and many key events took place featuring the women on this week’s show as we say hello to 2026.
Our first match of the night was the blockbuster eight-woman tag team match. Just before it however, we saw the Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Kabuki Warriors backstage conversing before they were met by Nia Jax and Lash Legend. Jax tells Asuka and Kairi that just so they know, even though they beat them a few weeks ago, they’re trying to stay good with Nick Aldis, so teaming up with them is a little difficult. Legend laughs and tells them that it will be worth it when they help the Kabukis to a victory tonight, and then they can go on and win the tag team titles. The Irresistible Force says that’s a great idea, and then Asuka and Kairi can owe them a shot at the titles. Asuka laughs in response, with The Empress stating that they will be happy to owe them a beating. On Monday, they will retain their titles, and then they can face Nia and Lash anytime; Sane adds that they should be ready for the Kabuki Warriors, before Asuka yells “KAIRI!!!”, startling her.
With the Kabukis, Nia, and Lash going up against this Monday’s opponents Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY alongside Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, the match was underway afterwards and started with the heel team ganging up on the babyfaces. Asuka and Rhea went at it in the early goings, with Asuka using her kick-based attacks at The Eradicator, although Ripley soon threw both Kabuki Warriors out of the ring and tagged in Bliss, who took out both Asuka and Kairi and left them lying on the floor.
The show returned from commercials with Bliss fighting off Jax and Legend in order to make a tag to Flair, who hit a crossbody that landed on both women and warded them off with a series of chops and kicks, following it up with a clothesline to Legend and Natural Selection to Jax. Unfortunately for The Queen, Jax kicked out of a moonsault. With Flair attempting to go for what Michael Cole described as what he believed to be a “slingshot spear”, The Irresistible Force countered with a leg drop and a headbutt before tagging in Asuka, who became the legal woman as Flair tried to get a quick pinfall and a Figure Eight, stopped only by Kairi Sane, who targeted Flair by hitting the Insane Elbow to help her partner break free.
Flair then tagged in IYO SKY, with the former Damage CTRL teammate hitting the double missile dropkick onto Asuka and Sane. The crowd cheered for The Genius of the Sky as she looked to tag in Ripley, intent on helping her double team Asuka, but alas, Nia Jax pulled The Eradicator off before SKY’s hand could reach her. The Empress tagged in Legend, who struck SKY mid-air with a kick but only yielded a 2 count before the second commercial break.
The match made its final return with Asuka and IYO battling it out. Sane was tagged in by Asuka, and helped her partner execute a neckbreaker on SKY. With all members of the babyface team reaching their hands out for a tag, their efforts would be thwarted by Asuka, who gave Bliss a cheap shot to send her to the floor. With Flair leaving to tend to Bliss, that left Ripley as the only woman SKY could tag in, and that she did, with Ripley unleashing her signature brutality on Sane and even pushing her into Asuka to the sound of loud cheers.
Gearing up for Riptide with Sane as the recipient, Asuka’s attempt to stop it was blocked by referee Daphanie LaShaunn, although that gave Jax an opportunity to clothesline Ripley herself, which brought out Charlotte to kick The Irresistible Force out of the ring only to be laid out by a kick from Asuka, who got hit with a Sister Abigail from Alexa, who was then hit with a right forearm by Lash, who then was hit by a dropkick by Rhea.
With only Ripley and Sane left, The Pirate Princess tried the Insane Elbow yet again, only to be caught by Ripley, who hit Riptide for real this time and tagged in IYO to hit a moonsault for the victory.
Nick Aldis was in his office talking to someone about having big plans for SmackDown in 2026, and he wants Jordynne Grace to be part of those plans. The camera pans over to reveal the NXT star, who says that he has given her a lot to consider, when Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre walk in. Green claims that she cannot go out for her scheduled United States Championship defense against Giulia because of the freezing temperature inside the arena. Aldis notes that she’s interrupting their conversation and introduces Grace, potentially the newest member of the SmackDown roster, but Green says hi, hello, and goodbye, because she has important championship matters to tend to. Grace points out to Aldis that some people are going to make this decision a lot easier, before leaving the office.
Green says that she is mentally unwell from the emotional series finale of Stranger Things this week, which will be crossing over with Raw on Netflix this coming Monday. Aldis can agree with her thoughts on the finale, but Green also has to say that she had a new year’s resolution to make sure she is the “greatest, first, fourth, and final Women’s United States Champion”. Aldis questions if it would feel better to be a fighting champion, but Green is fighting, claiming that she is fighting for her life on the internet. Aldis says that if accomplishing her goals is so important, how about he accomplishes a goal by stripping her of the Women’s United States Championship, deem her unfit for purpose, and impeach her. Green gets upset and walks off.
Candice LeRae accompanied Johnny Gargano for his match against the new United States Champion, Carmelo Hayes, with Gargano using her to stop Hayes from hitting a suicide dive. The Poison Pixie looked on with intent throughout the fast-paced match, and showed her support for him as he tried desperately tried to win the title, even getting up on the ring apron to try and distract Hayes, only for Hayes to ultimately retain the championship; LeRae was upset in the aftermath of the match.
Zelina appeared with Aleister Black to issue their last words to Damian Priest before their Ambulance Match tonight, simply saying that it’s time that her and Black put the final nail in the coffin of Priest’s own delusions.
Cathy Kelley was backstage with the WWE Women’s Champion, Jade Cargill. Kelley said that footage circulated of a recent match between herself and Michin at a WWE house show; this lead to Michin reportedly being sidelined with a shoulder injury. The Team Blue interviewer asked Cargill if the injury was intentional on her part.
Cargill said it was, and who was going to stop her? The women of Team Blue know what’s up, and Michin messed around and found out, and that’s on her. Cargill said that injuries happen, and these “pigeons” know their place. Speaking of pigeons… Jordynne Grace. Grace confronted Cargill and said she had to decide whether or not she’s going to sign to SmackDown, so she just wanted to come and get a good look at all of her options. Cargill suggests she sign somewhere else because this is her show, and she’s that bitch. Grace introduces herself, but says that Cargill is “one of those” [bitches].
The Women’s United States Championship match between Chelsea Green and Giulia took place during the show’s final hour. The Beautiful Madness wasted little time with a series of kicks aimed at Green, not allowing her any chance to breathe. While Giulia got into Alba Fyre’s face at ringside, Green took advantage by hitting a suicide dive onto her before the commercial break. It wasn’t long before Giulia took control once again with more strikes, playing it dangerously with Green and letting out just about any kind of maneuver to make her hurt. This continued until the two punched each other in a back-and-forth manner, at which point Green turned it around by clotheslining Giulia.
With Green finally hitting the Un-pretty-her on Giulia, the referee wouldn’t count as he was preoccupied with Kiana James, who was pulled off the ring apron by Alba. This allowed Giulia to take advantage for a moment, only for Green to try and get on the turnbuckles, at which point Giulia got up, headbutted her, and executed a double underhook suplex, which she then turned into the northern lights bomb to get the victory and become the new Women’s United States Champion. Giulia stood on the ramp to pose with the belt as Fyre tried to comfort Green.
Cathy Kelley was back at it again, now interviewing Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY, congratulating them on securing the pin over Kairi and noting it as a statement with their upcoming Women’s Tag Team Championship opportunity coming this Monday. When asked how they were feeling, Ripley said that they were waiting a long time to get their hands on The Kabuki Warriors, and even if the titles weren’t on the line, it’d still be fully worth it, but fortunately for them, the titles are on the line; they’ll be coming home with them. SKY says that they will finally be champions together, with her and Ripley doing SKY’s signature head taunt.
Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss entered the scene, stating that as much fun as they had tag teaming tonight, Ripley filled in the remaining words: the alliance is over, they want to be tag champs again, and once they get the titles, they’ll be next in line? Bliss however, says that they did not come to say that. Coming from experience, they know the Kabuki Warriors can be a little sneaky, so they just genuinely wanted to say good luck. Ripley and SKY are unsure if Bliss means it, but Flair just has to say that they’re next in line. Ripley replies by saying that if they want seconds, it’ll be her and SKY’s play, and their pain, lightly mocking Bliss’s theme music.
Candice LeRae was seen again, now backstage telling Johnny Gargano that his nose wasn’t broken (his nose was seen bleeding a bit during the earlier match), when Nathan Frazer and Axiom stopped by to poke fun at his loss. Gargano reminded Axiom that he still had his blue mask (Axiom wore a purple mask), a beautiful gift from his wife Candice, and if him and Frazer want it so bad, they can take it from her. When Frazer accuses Gargano of hiding behind his wife, Gargano says he just happens to be standing there. The segment ended Axiom telling him he would go to Nick Aldis and get him to book a match in order to get his mask back.
Our main event was the Ambulance Match between Aleister Black, flanked by his wife Zelina, and Damian Priest. During the commercial breaks, she could be seen covering the ambulance doors and later pushing the stretcher down the ramp to help Black tie Priest to it. Her main involvement came when Black instructed her to open the door to the ambulance. She would open it only to discover a third appearance from Rhea Ripley, a friend and ally of Damian’s, who chased after Zelina until they got in the ring, where Ripley hit Riptide on her, waving menacingly at Black afterwards. Priest ultimately won the match by throwing Black into the ambulance and shutting the doors, finally settling the score with Black and Zelina.
Friday Night SmackDown airs next week from inside the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany, but no matches or segments are currently confirmed for the women as of this writing.
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s edition of SmackDown in the comments below.