{"id":151116,"date":"2026-01-20T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=151116"},"modified":"2026-01-20T01:55:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T06:55:59","slug":"could-cody-rhodes-battle-with-jacob-fatu-derail-his-wwe-royal-rumble-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/20\/could-cody-rhodes-battle-with-jacob-fatu-derail-his-wwe-royal-rumble-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Cody Rhodes\u2019 Battle with Jacob Fatu Derail His WWE Royal Rumble Plans?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 9, 2026, an episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, Cody Rhodes faced a furious Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship in a Three Stages of Hell match, where three matches would be contested in order to determine the winner. <\/span><\/p>\n

The score was tied one to one after a regular match and a Falls Count Anywhere match. Things got really ugly in the steel cage match. Jacob Fatu interfered, surprisingly attacking Rhodes, allowing McIntyre to claim the title for himself. <\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he following week, Rhodes and Fatu had an extremely heated confrontation<\/a>. That led to a\u00a0match being made at Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event<\/a> this Saturday. The Royal Rumble is the very next Saturday, with Rhodes being the first person<\/a> to declare for the match.\u00a0Wrestling\u00a0two weeks in a row shows confidence, but could it severely\u00a0impact\u00a0his success in the rumble?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0Dominating\u00a0Win against Fatu Could Be Motivating for Rhodes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s extremely clear that Rhodes and Fatu have earned their match against each other. Fatu thinks that Rhodes was the guy who attacked him months ago<\/a>, forcing him out of the ring. Rhodes sees Fatu as the guy who cost him his Undisputed WWE Championship, something that he obviously cherishes for good reason. Accepting the match holds more weight for Rhodes than it does for Fatu. He knows his upcoming schedule is rough, but he loves that. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beating someone who cost him his title on the way to beating twenty-nine other men to get the title back, potentially, is gratifying to him. He\u2019s willing to put his body on the line early in order to re-energize himself after the loss. Beating Fatu could put him on the fast track to reclaiming his gold. If things go according to plan, McIntyre\u2019s reign could end extremely prematurely.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Lucky Win or Loss Could Handicap Him Majorly<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Everyone knows that when Rhodes is capable of performing extraordinary feats, he can do them. Infamously failing to win the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 39, he fought back and won the title the following year. However, that was two years ago, and he only had to wrestle Roman Reigns. If he barely squeaks by Fatu or loses the match, he\u2019ll have a much larger mountain to climb next Saturday. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like he\u2019ll face Fatu and then McIntyre for his rematch. There\u2019s an extra step in that plan, and the additional step is outlasting twenty-nine other men in the Royal Rumble. Knowing him, he\u2019ll enter at number one or number thirty, with no in-between. Even if he does enter at number thirty, if he\u2019s banged up, he won\u2019t be performing at one hundred percent. He has to win definitively, or else his rumble experience could be disastrous.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stakes for Him are High against Fatu<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no question that Rhodes has been extremely impressive ever since returning to WWE in 2022. He\u2019s solidified himself as a top performer and someone who they can rely on for many things. However, he\u2019s a human being, so disaster can strike if he takes things too far.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s worrisome about his match against Fatu at Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event. Only seven days separate that match from the Royal Rumble, where he\u2019ll resume his quest to take back his Undisputed WWE Championship. <\/span><\/p>\n

Things have to go right; he won\u2019t get another title shot opportunity until the Elimination Chamber on February 28. If that happens, the rumble winner might choose McIntyre, robbing him of any chance of a rematch. Winning against Fatu should be his number one priority for Saturday. If things don\u2019t go well, it could be a long road to another title opportunity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for more on the WWE Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event (SNME) XLIII, Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/amp-ad><\/p>\n

You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>A&E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On January 9, 2026, an episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, Cody Rhodes faced a furious Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship in a Three Stages of Hell match, where three matches would be contested in order to determine the winner. The score was tied one to one after a regular match and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":150968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,4,3],"tags":[98,3006],"class_list":["post-151116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-cody-rhodes","tag-jacob-fatu"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151116"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151133,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151116\/revisions\/151133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}