The road to WWE Royal Rumble 2024 winds down tonight in “The Sunshine State.”
WWE Friday Night SmackDown goes down this evening at 8/7c on FOX live from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
On tap for tonight’s show is LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance & Kayden Carter defending against The Kabuki Warriors, Carmelo Hayes vs. Austin Theory, The Pride & The Final Testament go face-to-face, Carlito vs. Santos Escobar.
Featured below are complete WWE Friday Night SmackDown results from Friday, January 26, 2024. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-10pm EST. on FOX.
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN RESULTS (1/26/2024)
The WWE Royal Rumble 2024 “go-home” episode of Friday Night SmackDown kicks off with footage of Kayden Carter & Katana Chance and The Kabuki Warriors arriving ahead of tonight’s title showdown. We also see Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso arriving. Footage is then shown of the conclusion of last week’s show.
Eladio Carrion Introduces Randy Orton
Eladio Carrion, the performer of the new RKO song that he performed on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” earlier this week, makes his way out from the back as we get our first shot inside the arena.
Michael Cole joins Corey Graves on commentary for this week’s show, filling in for the recently released Kevin Patrick. Carrion gets in the ring and says we have an amazing show tonight. He then introduces Randy Orton.
Randy Orton, AJ Styles & LA Knight Talk Royal Rumble
Orton gets on the mic and talks about the legendary Universal title reign of Roman Reigns being the reason for the lengthy success of The Bloodline in WWE. He talks about how he’s gonna put an end to that on Saturday night when he beats him for the title.
AJ Styles’ theme hits and out he comes. He tells Orton not to forget that it’s not just Reigns in that match. He says if Orton is overlooking him, he’s just one of many, and he’ll remind everyone why that’s a mistake this weekend.
LA Knight’s theme then hits and out comes “The Mega Star” talking trash to both Orton and Styles. He talks about how it’s interesting that he’s got a match against The Enforcer of The Bloodline just 24 hours before his title opportunity. He vows to beat him tonight.
As Knight heads to the back, Styles and Orton are left alone in the ring. “The Phenomenal One” blasts “The Apex Predator” with a Pele kick and leaves him laying to end the opening segment.
Carlito vs. Santos Escobar
The theme for Carlito hits and out he comes accompanied by the LWO duo of Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro. As he settles in the ring for our opening match of this week’s show, we shift gears and head into a pre-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Carlito in the ring awaiting the arrival of his opponent. The theme for Santos Escobar hits and out he comes with Angel and Humberto. They remain at ringside, as does the LWO. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
Santos jumps into the early offensive lead and then we head into a mid-match break. When we return, we see Santos tear the shirt off Carlito and continue to pummel him. Carlito eventually fires up and takes over on offense as the crowd in Miami comes to life in the background.
LWO and Legado Del Fantasma end up breaking out in a big brawl at ringside. Cruz Del Toro hits a wild high splash to the floor and then out of nowhere, NXT Superstar Elektra Lopez hits the ringside area and attacks Zelina Vega. The distraction allows Santos to pin Carlito for the win.
Winner: Santos Escobar
Jimmy Uso With A Proposition For AJ Styles
Backstage, we see Jimmy Uso approach AJ Styles and tell him they have an opportunity to take out LA Knight tonight, which is good for Styles and The Bloodline heading into the Fatal-4-Way at Royal Rumble.
The OC walk up after Uso leaves and asks Styles what that was about. He tells them none of their business and walks off as we head into another commercial break.
Royal Rumble Entry Picks Begin
We shoot backstage where SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and NXT GM Ava Raine are standing by when they are approached by a number of Superstars who begin rolling the tumbler to pick their entry number for this year’s men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches.
We return to a lengthy video package featuring Bayley talking about the origins of Damage CTRL and their mission heading into the Royal Rumble on Saturday. From there, we shoot to R-Truth picking his number and freaking out, but not understanding that it was his Royal Rumble entry spot.
Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter (C) vs. The Kabuki Warriors
Now we return inside the arena where the theme for The Kabuki Warriors hits and out comes Damage CTRL duo Asuka and Kairi Sane. They settle in the ring and then the theme for their opponents hits and out comes the reigning champions.
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance settle inside the squared circle and then the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. We see some good back-and-forth action with neither team establishing any real lead, until Carter and Chance hit dueling diving kicks to Asuka and Sane on the floor.
On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this title tilt continues. When we return, we see Asuka help her team take over. Sane adds to the punishment to the champs but then Carter and Chance start to fight back as all four brawl at ringside.
We see Carter and Chance hit their double-team Keg Stand finisher off the ropes in the corner but when they go for the pin on Asuka, Sane jumps in to break it up at the last possible second. The champs go for the After Party but Asuka and Sane hit double-team action.
We see Sane slam one-half of the champs back-first into the corner of the announce desk — hard. Ouch. Back in the ring, The Kabuki Warriors double-team the other member and hit a double-team spot for the win. We have new champs.
Winners and NEW Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions: The Kabuki Warriors
Paul Heyman Lays Out Wisdom To The Bloodline
Backstage, we see Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and “The Wise Man” Paul Heyman standing around in The Bloodline locker room. Heyman tells Solo Sikoa he needs to send a message, and have no mercy in doing so tonight. He smirks and says he will. Uso asks if he just smirked. He says that was scary.
Heyman then closes in on Uso and whisper-hypes him up by telling him how important Saturday night is. He tells him he needs to win the Royal Rumble and go on to beat Seth “Freakin'” Rollins for the other world title in WWE.
Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits Go Face-To-Face With The Final Testament
Back inside the arena, the theme for Bobby Lashley hits and out comes “The All Mighty” one himself accompanied by The Street Profits duo of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins. As The Pride trio settles into the ring, we head to another commercial break.
We see another “Rumble Ready” commercial from Hulk Hogan, teasing his possible participation in the 30-man Rumble bout on Saturday night.
When we return, Lashley talks about how much he and the Profits have accomplished and then tell The Final Testament to quit beating around the bush and come out and fight. The Final Testament makes their way out but all of them, except Scarlett, stop at the top of the stage. Scarlett goes into the ring.
Lashley asks if they have their lady do their fighting for them. Paul Ellering gets on the mic and puts over Karrion Kross and the AOP. Kross then gets on the mic and says they are face-to-face, but they aren’t fighting tonight. Lashley says that’s where he’s wrong.
He goes to fight him, but Scarlett jumps on his back and scratches at his eyes. Kross and the AOP hit the ring and do a four-on-two beat down of the Profits and then do the same to “The All Mighty.” They stand tall to end the face-to-face segment.
Austin Theory vs. Carmelo Hayes
We see Jimmy Uso enter the room with Aldis, Ava and the golden tumbler. He rolls it, opens it and takes out his number. Apparently it’s not a good one, because he’s not happy. Back inside the arena, Austin Theory’s theme hits and out he comes accompanied by Grayson Waller.
As Theory settles in the ring for his rematch against former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, we shift gears and head into a quick pre-match commercial break.
When we return, Hayes makes his way out and settles in the ring as Cole and Graves sing his praises on commentary. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Theory jumps into the early lead on offense but spends too much time talking trash and taunting him, so Hayes takes over.
Theory rolls out to the floor and re-groups with Waller. Hayes heads out after him but the ref stops him. Theory then takes advantage and sucker chops Hayes in the throat. He throws him out to the floor to Waller, who blasts him with a cheap shot as we head into a mid-match commercial break.
Once we return from the break, we see Waller getting involved at ringside again leading to the finish. Hayes goes for a roll-up on Theory, but Theory reverses and holds the tights for the win. Waller helps Theory with a post-match attack until Trick Williams runs out to make the save. Hayes goes to dap it up with him, but Trick tells him off-mic he didn’t come out for him.
Winner: Austin Theory
LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa
It’s main event time!
We shoot backstage where Eladio Carrion talks about kicking off the show and then offers his prediction for Randy Orton winning the Universal title at Royal Rumble. After that, we see The Bloodline walk in and intimidate him. He says he is predicting that with all due respect. Paul Heyman tells Solo to give him a pass. They walk off.
On that note, we head to another commercial break. When we return, the theme for LA Knight hits and out comes “The Mega Star” to the thing for the final match of the evening, and the final bout leading up to this year’s Royal Rumble premium live event on Saturday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.
The theme for his opponent hits and out comes “The Enforcer” of The Bloodline, Solo Sikoa, accompanied by Paul Heyman and Jimmy Uso. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Knight goes right after Solo early on, and fans chant “Yeah!” as each shot he throws lands. Solo fights back and pummels Knight into the corner of the ring.
After some more back-and-forth action, we see Solo settle into a comfortable offensive lead. On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return, we see Knight firing up for a comeback, only to be slammed down with authority by a Samoan Drop from Sikoa.
Knight starts to finally fire up on offense and then we see AJ Styles appear out of nowhere to cut his legs out from under him. The ref calls for the bell.
Once the match is officially over, we see Styles continue to beat down Knight at ringside near the commentary table. Jimmy Uso comes over to help him. He grabs a steel chair and stands next to Styles. Styles sees him and Uso looks nervous so he sets the chair down and slides it to him.
Solo walks over and pushes past Jimmy and tells AJ to finish Knight, or he will. Styles blasts Solo with the chair. Randy Orton’s theme hits and out comes “The Apex Predator” to a massive pop. He begins taking out Jimmy Uso and then slams Solo on the announce table on the floor.
Orton does the draping DDT to Uso in the ring and then ducks a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles. He hits him with the draping DDT as well. He drops down into Viper Mode and pounds the mat and then blasts Styles with an RKO for a huge pop.
He holds up one finger to say he’s the one now. The crowd chants his name and his theme plays again. He poses on the corner but then LA Knight hits him with his BFT finisher. His theme plays and the show goes off the air on that note. Thanks for joining us!
Winner via DQ: LA Knight
