One Match, One Moment, One Promo: 01/09/26 by Darkstar Shady

One Match, One Moment, One Promo:

January 9-12

Welcome back to your favorite weekly WWE rundown blog, where we run through the best spots from SmackDown and Raw. I’ve been given too much power, seeing as how I am the sole person that decides what constitutes the best moments. 

Before we get into it, there are a few things I want to talk about:

• Rumor has it, Cody’s WrestleMania matchup with Roman Reigns is no longer in the works. Seeing as how they haven’t even started to build towards it besides some tension at War Games, that’s completely fine. We don’t need to run Cody vs. Roman III now, or ever. I’m not sure what Cody will be doing come WrestleMania, but I wouldn’t hate seeing him mix it up with the midcard talents to shake up the U.S. title scene.

• On the opposite end of the roster, Tiffany Stratton should be returning soon, and she’s rumored to be heavily featured heading into WrestleMania. This is absolutely great news. Every clock runs on Tiffy Time in this house, and that is not going to be changing. I don’t care what matchup they put her in, Tiffany Stratton needs to be featured heavily in every WrestleMania going forward.

• When I posted my Shady’s Spotlight about women’s wrestling the other day, Blake Monroe was rumored to be heading up to the main roster. Immediately after, those rumors were put to rest and she is now back on NXT tv, with rumors saying she is going to be heavily featured through Stand & Deliver. WWE really needs to get her out of the NXT vortex; Blake Monroe is a main event star anywhere in the world, and the fed needs to allow her to thrive.

With that out of the way, let’s get into this week’s Raw and Smackdown.

One Match

I don’t know how this could be considered for anything but Drew McIntyre taking on Cody Rhodes in Three Stages of Hell. It was giving shades of Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle’s Ironman Match for the WWE Championship way back in 2003.

The two men pushed the limits of what they could go through, with tables and chairs making appearances throughout the second stage. Cody hitting the Cody Cutter off the steel cage was crazy. I don’t hate Drew winning, and Jacob Fatu mixing it up with both men worked reality well. I’m really excited about what's next for The American Nightmare.

One Moment

The crowd on Raw was absolutely loving Bayley, and I love that. 

Bayley really played up the love from the crowd, and even Kairi Sane was dancing along with all of the singing. I love Bayley being appreciated for her talent. All six women in the triple threat tag match had great reactions to Bayley being serenaded. I especially loved Liv going back to the corner and Roxanne covering her ears.

One Promo

It wasn’t a long promo, and I know it won’t end the way I want it to, but Finn Balor is going after the World Heavyweight Championship. 

Finn Balor is one of my absolute favorite wrestlers, and he has not been getting the love he deserves from the fans. Part of that is that he hasn’t been used to his full potential. Hopefully this is the start of him being showcased and used in main event feuds again, and not just a one-off title match. 

Honorable Mentions

• Carmelo Hayes and Shinsuke Nakamura had a solid match with each other. The continuation of the open challenges for the U.S. title is only making the title better by showcasing how much talent the roster actually has.

• Liv Morgan. 

• Giulia and Alexa Bliss were having a great match. It makes sense it was interrupted, but I would have loved to see a clean ending. Either way, Giulia is getting a much better second run already.

• Rhiyo’s joint entrance continues to be a highlight of the shows. I just love how connected the two are.

That’s all I’ve got for this week, but make sure you’re ready for more blogs to come! The bWo isn’t stopping this year, and we’ve only got more ideas by the day! 

As always, make sure you mention me over on Twitter if you wanna fight about what deserved the top spots.