Welcome to a week that did not slow down for anyone. SmackDown used the three-hour runtime the right way and ended with an angle that changed the temperature of the brand. Raw had the anniversary shine and the big-fight framing, then played it safer than the moment demanded. NXT: New Year’s Evil reminded everyone what “story-first” actually looks like when every segment has stakes and consequences. You are getting the whole board in one place, plus the honest contrast between brands when the calendar flips and the pressure ramps up.

For anyone reading while SmackDown is still live, you can breathe easy. Zero spoilers up top, no landmines, no ruined finishes. Just the setup, the themes, and why this week matters heading into the next stretch.

Then, when you hit the back half, you get the main event of the newsletter: MrTeshk’s Two Sense. Heavy. Clear. Direct. The kind of piece that puts a flag in the ground and dares the main roster to catch up, because if WWE is serious about 2026 feeling like a new era, the blueprint is already sitting right there in NXT.

We are stoked to hit the ground running in 2026, and this is exactly how you start a year. Let us get into it.

P.S. Want to listen instead? Hit Listen Online at the top right of your email or browser!

January 3, 2026
From KeyBank Center — Buffalo, New York

A busy, story-driven SmackDown that used its extended runtime well and ended with one angle that completely redefined the road ahead.

The three-hour SmackDown era is officially back, and while that phrase usually triggers concern, this episode leaned toward the productive version of extended runtime. The show stayed active, rotated talent effectively, and never felt stuck in neutral. Multiple stories advanced, several matches were given room to breathe, and the night built steadily toward a closing stretch that changed the emotional temperature of the brand.

But once Drew McIntyre crossed the line he crossed, everything else became context.

🎤 The Miz, Randy Orton, and the perfect welcome-back pop

SmackDown opened with The Miz doing what he has always done best when given space. Loud grievances, self-importance, Buffalo catching strays, and that familiar tone where you keep listening because the next line might accidentally be true.

Then the arena exploded.

Randy Orton’s return landed exactly the way returns should. No speech. No delay. Just music and a crowd that sounded like it had been waiting months to let loose. Miz tried to attach himself to the moment, floated a partnership, even teased “Miz-KO,” which alone tells you he learned absolutely nothing.

Orton let him believe for half a second, then reset the night with an RKO. The second one was pure crowd service, and Buffalo happily accepted.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
Orton did not need words. The reaction said everything.

🔥 Eight-woman chaos and Lash Legend’s breakout moment

The first major match of the night benefited from the three-hour format. WWE gave it time, let the bodies rotate, and allowed the match to find a rhythm instead of sprinting to spots.

Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Rhea Ripley, and Iyo Sky felt like a natural superteam. Nia Jax changed the tone every time she entered. The Kabuki Warriors stayed sharp and aggressive. Lash Legend quietly stole the moment of the match with a boot to Iyo Sky that looked brutal enough to end a segment on its own.

Iyo pinning Kairi Sane was the right decision with the upcoming Women’s Tag Title match in mind.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
Strong television wrestling with a moment that elevated it.

🔁 Matt Cardona returns and WWE keeps it simple

Pretty Deadly without Pretty Deadly still feels incomplete, but Kit Wilson served his role as the irritant perfectly.

Matt Cardona walking out under that name on WWE television was one of those full-circle wrestling moments. WWE did not overthink it. Cardona got a reaction, worked a clean sprint, hit his offense, and got the win.

That was the assignment, and it was executed cleanly.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Short, effective, and exactly what it needed to be.

🧠 Sami Zayn finds the emotional lane and Trick Williams adds friction

Sami Zayn delivered one of the strongest promos of the night by keeping it human. The story about his son asking about John Cena’s legacy, then asking Sami how many world titles he has won, landed because it was simple and honest.

Sami did not sound desperate. He sounded aware.

Then Trick Williams arrived and dismissed him with confidence and arrogance. Sami’s response was perfect. You have talent, but you have not been humbled yet. That is a feud sentence.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Grounded, personal, and volatile in the right way.

🏆 Carmelo Hayes vs. Johnny Gargano keeps the U.S. Title hot

If there is one argument for three-hour SmackDown, it is letting this match breathe.

Carmelo Hayes controlled the pace like a champion. Johnny Gargano pulled the crowd into that familiar spiral where logic gives way to belief. The counters, timing, and trust between them made every nearfall matter.

Nothing But Net ended it clean.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
One of the best pure wrestling matches on the show.

🔥 Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre turn the night personal

This is where the episode changed.

Cody Rhodes spoke like a champion who understands the weight of the title. Calm. Measured. Confident. He framed Drew McIntyre as envy-driven and made his case clearly.

Drew escalated everything.

He did not just announce the Three Stages of Hell match for Berlin. He went to Cody’s bus, found a photo of Cody with Dusty Rhodes, and burned it in the ring while Cody was powerless to respond.

That is not cheap heat. That is deliberate, calculated villain work. The crowd did not just boo. They hated him.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The strongest storytelling beat of the night and the reason Berlin now feels inevitable.

🇮🇹 Giulia regains the Women’s U.S. Championship

Heel versus heel dynamics made this tricky, but the result mattered more than the path. Giulia regaining the title gives the division a more serious anchor and feels like a necessary correction.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
Right winner, solid execution.

🚑 Priest vs. Black closes the chapter with violence

The Ambulance Match felt like WWE committing to a real ending. Weapons, escalation, and spectacle without losing the thread. Rhea Ripley’s involvement made sense and earned a huge reaction.

The finish felt definitive.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
Big, brutal, and satisfying as a feud-ender.

⭐ Three Stars of the Night

🥇 Drew McIntyre
🥈 Carmelo Hayes & Johnny Gargano
🥉 Damian Priest

Final thoughts

This was a strong three-hour SmackDown that justified its length. Orton’s return added instant energy. Trick Williams feels like a real addition. The U.S. Title continues delivering. Priest and Black closed their rivalry properly.

But the episode belongs to Drew McIntyre.

Berlin is no longer just a destination. It is a reckoning.

Score: 7.5 / 10

January 3, 2026
From Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

A highly promoted anniversary Raw that looked like a major moment but failed to deliver meaningful progression once the bell rang.

This episode had every ingredient to feel important. New year energy. Netflix anniversary branding. A Stranger Things crossover. A long-built World Heavyweight Championship main event. Instead of momentum, Raw delivered a cautious, overproduced show that mistook presentation for substance and rarely committed to anything bold.

🎭 Women’s Tag Team Championships set the tone

The Kabuki Warriors vs. Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky opened the night, which was the correct structural call. In-ring, the work was solid because the floor is high with this much talent involved.

Ripley and Iyo winning the titles should have felt like a launch point for the division. Instead, it landed softly. The Stranger Things aesthetic around the arena did not elevate the moment and the win did not clarify direction or stakes moving forward.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️¾
Good wrestling, minimal impact.

🗣️ Gunther and AJ Styles circle without escalation

Gunther continuing to live off the John Cena tap-out still works. AJ Styles stepping in as the voice of pride and legacy makes sense on paper.

What did not work was the lack of urgency. The segment played it safe. Familiar talking points. A slap. A future match announcement. On an anniversary episode, that is not enough.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️½
Functional setup with no bite.

🏆 Women’s Intercontinental Championship resets quietly

Maxxine Dupri vs. Becky Lynch had an opportunity to change a character or ignite a chase.

Instead, Becky reclaimed the title through a quick, cheating pin and the moment felt transactional. If this loss does not harden Maxxine or redefine her arc, the reign will be remembered as a brief experiment rather than growth.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️¼
A title change without transformation.

👢 Stephanie Vaquer and Raquel Rodriguez repeat the beat

Raquel attacking Vaquer’s injured foot made sense once. Doing it again backstage without adding a new wrinkle did not.

This was repetition without escalation. The angle advanced, but it did not deepen. Violence alone is not character development.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️
Movement without momentum.

⚔️ Liv Morgan returns, but the moment never lands

Liv Morgan’s return should have mattered more than this did.

The match was fine, but the finish leaned on distraction-heavy shortcuts that robbed it of closure. Liv won, but the story felt incomplete in the worst way.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️
Result achieved, energy lost.

🥊 World Heavyweight Championship delivers wrestling, not consequence

CM Punk vs. Bron Breakker had the strongest build on the show. Punk as champion. Bron as the future. Heyman looming over everything.

The match itself was good. Bron looked explosive. Punk looked resilient. The table spot was wild.

The problem was the ending. Punk retained and nothing shifted. No defining character beat. No sharpened direction. On a night framed as historic, the booking refused to commit.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Strong work, hollow resolution.

⭐ Three Stars of the Night

🥇 CM Punk
🥈 Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky
🥉 Bron Breakker

Final thoughts

This Raw confused spectacle with progress.

The Stranger Things theme was cosmetic.
The Netflix anniversary branding was marketing-first.
The wrestling was mostly solid.
The storytelling lacked teeth.

Raw should have been setting the tone for 2026. Instead, it played not to lose. For an episode designed to feel like an event, the absence of consequence was impossible to ignore.

Score: 3.5 / 10

January 7, 2026
From the WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida

A tightly structured, story-first NXT that turned roster turnover into momentum and made every segment feel intentional.

NXT ran a familiar template on paper, but unlike Raw, every match and angle carried purpose. Characters advanced. Stakes escalated. Consequences mattered. This was NXT doing what it does best: making the future feel urgent and alive.

💥 The Blake Monroe chaos sets the tone

Thea Hail never even got the chance to start her title defense.

Blake Monroe detonated the opening stretch with steel steps, chairs, officials swarming, and Thea getting ragdolled like Blake was trying to erase her from the show entirely. What mattered most was not the attack itself, but how NXT responded. The show did not panic. It pivoted.

Matches were paused. Ava scrambled backstage. The night reshuffled itself in real time.

This felt like a living show reacting to violence, not a production hitting pause.

Segment impact: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Controlled chaos done right.

🎤 Ricky Saints injects pressure into the night

Ricky Saints stepping out while officials checked on Thea could have felt awkward. Instead, it felt perfectly on brand.

Saints framed himself as the constant while others get called up. He dismissed departures. He dismissed the locker room. And most importantly, he made it clear that whoever walked out of the main event with the NXT Championship would immediately have a target on their back.

This was not filler promo time. It was future pressure.

Segment impact: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Efficient ego with real stakes attached.

⭐️ Tatum Paxley vs. Izzi Dame finds the show’s heartbeat

This is where New Year’s Evil fully locked in.

Tatum Paxley has become one of the most organically supported acts in NXT because she wrestles like someone fighting through something, not posing for cameras. The crowd is with her instantly.

The match had grit, momentum swings, and genuine emotional release. The Spanish Fly ignited the room. Cemetery Drive ended it decisively.

This was not a roll-up. This was closure.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
Character-driven wrestling with payoff.

🏆 NXT Women’s Championship stays smart

Jacy Jayne vs. Kendal Grey is the perfect example of “template done right.”

Yes, interference. Yes, numbers. Yes, the heel champion survives. But nothing about it felt lazy. Kendal Grey looked like a present-tense threat, not a future project. Her suplexes, survival instincts, and desperation submissions all landed.

Jacy retaining with help keeps the division intact and protects Grey.

That is how you build someone.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Everyone came out stronger.

🥀 Women’s North American Championship changes hands with meaning

Thea Hail entered hurt and refused to back down. Her open challenge promo landed because it fit NXT’s world.

Izzi Dame answering it felt predatory, and her winning the title felt like a genuine power shift. This was not about match quality. This was about consequences.

Opportunities opened. Someone took advantage.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
Not perfect, but deeply effective.

🗣️ Ethan Page becomes the gravity point

The Ethan Page pile-up worked because it was fast, loud, and purposeful. Multiple challengers. Multiple egos. One clear direction for next week.

This was setup without stagnation.

Segment impact: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Efficient table-setting.

👑 NXT Championship delivers the future in real time

Oba Femi vs. Leon Slater was the match Raw wishes it framed this well.

This was not big man versus fast kid. This was inevitability versus ambition.

Slater wrestled like someone thinking years ahead. His knee work, his snap offense, his desperation counters all screamed readiness. The crowd believed in every nearfall because NXT trained them to.

Oba sold just enough to make Slater matter, then ended it with Fall From Grace.

That is how you make a star without changing the belt.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
A breakout performance wrapped inside a championship defense.

🌊 The closing message: the next wave is here

Leaving the title in the ring. Ava addressing call-ups. Evolve talent framed as the next step.

The message was clear.

People leave. Opportunities open. NXT keeps moving.

This is what Raw lacked. Direction.

⭐ Three Stars of the Night

🥇 Oba Femi
🥈 Leon Slater
🥉 Tatum Paxley

Final thoughts

NXT and Raw ran the same structural template this week.

One felt like a corporate checklist.
The other felt like a living ecosystem where everything had consequence.

New Year’s Evil was proof that story-first wrestling still works when you trust it.

Score: 9 / 10

There is a quiet realization settling in as we move toward 2026, and it is one WWE fans are starting to say out loud more often. NXT has become the most complete product in the company. Not just in match quality, but in vision, pacing, and long-term execution.

This is not a fluke hot streak. This feels deliberate.

What we are watching right now is not a throwback to the Black and Gold era, but something more sustainable. That version of NXT thrived on indie buzz and instant credibility. This version thrives on development done right, where talent is not rushed, characters are allowed to grow, and payoffs actually feel earned.

Look at the recent call-ups reshaping the conversation. Oba Femi leaving NXT feels monumental because of how finished he already is. He was not protected with shortcuts or mystery. He was built slowly as a dominant force, a final boss, and now whichever brand gets him inherits a ready-made star.

Je’Von Evans tells a similar story from a different angle. His athleticism jumps off the screen, but more importantly, the crowd already understands who he is. That does not happen by accident. NXT gave him reps, trust, and room to connect.

Then there is Jordynne Grace, whose presence alone raises the credibility of any division she touches. NXT did not treat her like a guest appearance or a novelty. She was presented as an equal, and that matters.

Trick Williams might be the clearest success story of them all. Trick did not just learn how to wrestle. He learned how to carry television. He learned timing, confidence, and how to command a segment. His call-up is no longer about potential. It is about timing, and the timing is right because NXT did the work.

What truly separates this era, though, is that NXT does not feel hollow after those departures. The pipeline is not just full, it is confident.

Shilo Hill walks in and immediately feels like he belongs. Tony D’Angelo understands character and storytelling in a way that cannot be taught overnight. Ricky Saints carries himself like someone who expects the spotlight and has already convinced you he deserves it.

On the women’s side, the depth might be stronger than it has ever been. Fallon Henley and Kendal Grey are not just filling time. They are being given arcs, stakes, and progression. Their matches mean something because their stories do. Add in the looming main roster presence of Blake Monroe and Jacy Jayne, and it becomes clear how stacked this system really is.

This is where the conversation turns uncomfortable for the main roster.

The issue with Raw and SmackDown is not the format. It is not the length. It is not even the roster depth. The issue is execution.

NXT uses the same basic template as the main shows. Segments, backstage moments, promos, matches. The difference is commitment. NXT commits to character progression. It commits to consequences. It commits to payoff.

Nothing feels accidental. Nothing feels like filler. Even the misses feel intentional, because they serve a larger story.

As WWE heads into 2026, they do not need to reinvent themselves. They already have the answers in-house.

NXT is the blueprint.

If the main roster is willing to learn from what is working here, the future of WWE is not just promising. It is secure.

That is my two sense.

Be Good People🤘
mr.teshk

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