Friday night fight night kicks off 2026 with a bang, with a loaded card and a renewed three-hour format that’s undoubtedly going to set the pace for this new year. We’ve got grudge matches, bouts with title implications, and a lot more on the first WWE Friday Night SmackDown of 2026. Without further ado, let’s ring in the new year in style. Here’s a full WWE SmackDown preview for January 2, 2026. Let’s run it down.
High Stakes
WWE Universe, it seems like we’ve entered the “golden age” of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Division. On the first Friday Night SmackDown of 2026, we have a showcase match of the best teams the division has to offer, and a rematch of sorts from WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2025.
Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, IYO SKY, and Rhea Ripley will be taking on The Kabuki Warriors, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend. All of the teams involved have a chance to prove why they should be the one helming the division as 2026 unfolds, with every pairing making statements that they want to be the top dogs by being the champion.
Asuka and Kairi Sane better watch their backs, because it’s not Bliss, Flair, or Team RHIYO they should only be worried about; Legend and Jax have also expressed interest in gunning for the gold a number of weeks back. Regardless, it’s a star-studded 8-Woman Tag Team Match to ring in the new year.
Who will come out on top? Will Ripley, SKY, Bliss, and Flair recreate their win in San Diego, or will The Kabuki Warriors, Legend, and Jax, rewrite the narrative?
The Final Straw
Aleister Black and Damian Priest have gone through hell and back, trying to annihilate each other’s careers. The two have traded wins back and forth, with their supposedly final meeting being a Last Man Standing Match that saw Aleister Black come out on top via a fireball and a lot of help from his wife, Zelina.
WWE Universe, it’s not done, as these two will go at it again, and hopefully for the final time to end this brutal and barbaric war once and for all in an Ambulance Match. The stipulation is simple: beat down your opponent to their limit so they can no longer answer the call and stuff them in the back of the Ambulance to win the match.
There’s no more fitting stipulation than this, since Black and Priest made it crystal clear that they’re not here to have a match or get into a fight; they’re both here to destroy each other and impose their dominance over the other.
Will Aleister Black put the nail in the coffin when it comes to this rivalry? Or will the “Archer of Infamy” write his own ending to the story?
WWE SmackDown Preview and Match Card (1/2/26):
- Jade Cargill vs. Michin
- Ambulance Match: Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black
- 8-Woman Tag Team Match: Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. Nia Jax, Lash Legend & The Kabuki Warriors
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
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