WWE is laying the groundwork for its next Undisputed WWE Championship challenger on today’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown at the OVO Wembley Arena in London, England.
The company has scheduled four separate singles matches, with each winner advancing to a fatal four-way match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in Montreal on January 24th that will determine the new No. 1 contender. The eventual winner of that four-way will earn a future shot at the WWE Title, currently held by Drew McIntyre.
The qualifying matches announced for tonight are The Miz vs. Randy Orton, Matt Cardona vs. Trick Williams, Damian Priest vs. Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn vs. Ilja Dragunov.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter at F4WOnline.com, there is early speculation regarding how WWE plans to structure the outcomes. Meltzer suggested that Orton, Williams, Priest, and Zayn are the likely winners of their respective matches, setting up a fatal four-way featuring those four names.
Meltzer further speculated that Sami Zayn is a strong candidate to ultimately win the four-way and emerge as the top contender, positioning him for a championship match against McIntyre at the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
That line of thinking is tied to Zayn’s evolving relationship with Saudi Arabia. While Zayn was previously unable to compete in the country due to his Syrian background, Meltzer noted that he is now viewed as a major babyface there following his public acceptance of the culture.
From a storyline perspective, the potential match carries added weight. Zayn has never defeated McIntyre in singles competition, nor has he ever captured a world championship in WWE.
Also advertised for today’s WWE SmackDown is the first blue brand appearance by “The Scottish Warrior” Drew McIntyre since he captured the Undisputed WWE Championship on last week’s show, as well as Carmelo Hayes defending his WWE United States Championship in the latest weekly Open Challenge.
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MORE WWE SMACKDOWN LONDON SPOILERS: Possible Spoiler On Surprise Planned For Today’s WWE SmackDown Taping In London
New Undisputed WWE Champion @DMcIntyreWWE kicks off his reign TONIGHT on #SmackDown in London!
📺 8e/7c on @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/rnOCyKz7DO
— WWE (@WWE) January 16, 2026
