WWE SmackDown Is Rumored To Be Plotting A Massive Title Change, And I Think There's Two Reasons Why

The 2026 TV schedule is underway, and even in the early weeks of January, there are plenty of great events to tune into. Wrestling fans have the luxury of recording SmackDown so that they can watch college sports or make other plans, but I would cancel them tonight. There's a big title change being rumored for this evening, and it's worth tuning in live for.

Bodyslam+ reports that there is an internal push from many in WWE to let Drew McIntyre win the Three Stages of Hell Match against Cody Rhodes (via Sports Illustrated). Obviously, this is huge news because it's for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, meaning one of the company's biggest belts would change hands on cable television. It's a wild rumor, but one I could see happening for two reasons.

Drew McIntyre Is Past Due For A Big Win

Drew McIntyre has been in the main event scene for a long time, and it's well-deserved. He's consistently put on quality matches with the top talent in the company, but has rarely been "the guy" with the championship in hand. In fact, he's been humiliated more often than not, having lost in his home country and having his couple of chances at glory immediately taken from him.

Wins and losses in the WWE may not be a huge deal to the performers themselves, but they matter to fans. If Drew McIntyre is constantly taking on top talent and losing, why should he be considered a top talent? We saw this problem with the late Bray Wyatt a couple of times in his career, where the crowd eventually lost hope that he'd ever overcome the champion when it was time for a feud. To remain as threatening as the WWE wants fans to perceive him, Drew needs to win, and taking down Cody in this brutal stipulation match for the title would go a long way, even if it's happening on USA and not on a PLE.

With SmackDown Moving Back To 3 Hours, It's Time To Make A Big Splash

For the time being, SmackDown is back to three hours on USA. The move couldn't come at a better time as the company seeks to set up key storylines ahead of WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. Of course, to really justify that time slot, the WWE needs to keep the action moving and compete against all the other things early in the year that are worth watching.

I'm specifically talking about live sports. We're in the midst of the College Football Playoffs, the NFL playoffs, and the height of the NBA and NHL seasons. There's a lot of live sports to prevent wrestling fans from watching live, and how better to pull them in than by hinting that something massive will happen if they do?

Putting the belt on Drew McIntyre shakes up the company in a big way, and has me genuinely wondering what this means for WrestleMania 42. Granted, I'm still hesitant to believe such a move would actually happen, because I've been burned by rumors of McIntyre winning before. Will this time be the time the WWE actually pulls the trigger? I guess I'll watch and find out.

SmackDown airs live on USA Network from Berlin at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm hoping the night ends up being as exciting as advertised, and we aren't disappointed yet again by the rumor mill.