Cody Rhodes will enter next week’s Royal Rumble after losing the WWE title. (Credit: Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 2026, just one week before the Royal Rumble, had been positioned as a pivotal show on the road to WrestleMania 42.
Among the most important matches at SNME XLIII was former WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. rising star Jacob Fatu. Yes, that says “former” champion because earlier this month a returning Fatu inadvertently cost Rhodes the WWE Championship in a Three Stages of Hell match against now-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
Since then, Rhodes’ blood has been boiling, and his issues with Fatu, a fellow Babyface, came to a head at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 2026 from the Bell Centre in Montreal.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 2026 Results for Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu
Although WWE doesn’t always stack its Saturday Night Main Event cards, that wasn’t the case this time around. Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu was anything but a filler match, instead being a bout with significant Royal Rumble and WrestleMania implications.
Rhodes was seeking his revenge on Fatu, who, in turn, was looking to pick up the biggest singles win of his young WWE career. In the end, however, neither man got the decisive victory he was looking for. Rhodes vs. Fatu never even officially started. Instead, a wild, lengthy brawl erupted between the two bitter rivals, adding to this simmering feud.
Here are the top highlights and key moments from the Fatu vs. Rhodes match that never officially happened at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event:
- Before the bell even rang, Fatu attacked Rhodes, and during the brawl, referee Chalres Robinson was laid out. A group of referees and security guards came out as the brawl continued in an attempt to break it up.
- Fatu hit a dive off the top turnbuckle onto Rhodes and the group of security guards on the outside. The refs attempted to escort Fatu to the back, but he was attacked from behind by Rhodes. The fight returned to the ring, and Rhodes clotheslined Fatu to the outside before hitting a dive.
- The refs continued to try to stop the melee, which spilled into the crowd. Rhodes and Fatu exchanged blows throughout the crowd before Fatu hit Rhodes with a back body drop followed by a body slam onto the concrete floor. As the refs continued to attempt to break up the brawl, Rhodes attacked Fatu once again.
- The battle continued all the way up the steps in the crowd to the top of the bottom level and into the concourse area. Rhodes threw a trash can at Fatu, and then knocked out a couple of security guards. Fatu slammed a security guard through a table.
- Back in the arena, the security guards still couldn’t get the fight under control, and SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis followed the brawl back toward the ring. Atop a platform on the floor seats level, Fatu tossed a security guard onto a group of security guards before Drew McIntyre showed up.
- McIntyre threw Fatu threw a table and then picked up Rhodes, slamming him into another table with a massive powerbomb. That earned some NSFW chants from the crowd. The WWE Champion waltzed his way to the ring and
With neither Fatu not Rhodes getting a win in Montreal, WWE fans can likely see where this is headed.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 2025 Results: What’s Next for Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu?
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event clearly set up Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre for what is shaping up to be one of the top storylines of WrestleMania season.
Earlier this month, McIntyre, who’d been feuding with Fatu prior to Fatu’s TV absence, finally toppled Rhodes after previously failing to do so multiple occasions. Ironically enough, it was Fatu’s help that got him to the finish line, but McIntyre didn’t exactly return the favor in Montreal. Instead, he send both Rhodes and Fatu crashing through a table.
The clear-cut creative direction for this is a massive WWE Championship match involving all three stars. The only real question is exactly when that bout will happen.
WWE recently completely revamped its WrestleMania 42 plans, and McIntyre is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of that. Well, perhaps Fatu is as well. The two leading options for the WWE title match at WrestleMania are now McIntyre vs. Rhodes in singles action or a triple threat match also involving Fatu.
Anyone who’s watched SmackDown in recent weeks can obviously see that these three stars are going to be the focal point of the title picture between Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 42. Even with McIntyre set to defend his WWE title at the Royal Rumble against the winner of Saturday’s Fatal 4-Way match, that should not have any significant effect on the immediate futures of Rhodes and Fatu.
Instead, McIntyre is a virtual shoo-in to defeat whoever he faces at Royal Rumble while Fatu and Rhodes will continue to target both McIntyre and each other in the weeks ahead. It will eventually be inevitable that these three stars battle it out in a triple threat match with the WWE Championship. That match, however, could take place at Elimination Chamber, WrestleMania 42 or even on an upcoming episode of SmackDown.
Regardless, with no other stars on SmackDown being pushed as WWE title contenders, the non-outcome of Fatu vs. Rhodes at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event simply reinforces expectations regarding what most hardcore fans could see coming a mile away: a three-way dance among SmackDown’s finest.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakeoestriecher/2026/01/24/wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-results-as-cody-rhodes-jacob-fatu-have-wild-brawl/
