Sami Zayn vs. Drew McIntyre WWE Title Match Set for 2026 Royal Rumble After 4-Way Win at SNME

Sami Zayn beat Randy Orton, Trick Williams and Damian Priest in a Fatal 4-Way match at Saturday Night's Main Event in Montreal to earn a WWE Championship match against Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble on Jan. 31.

On the Jan. 16 episode of SmackDown, four qualifying matches were held to determine which four Superstars would vie for a WWE title opportunity.

The field for the Fatal 4-Way was set when Orton defeated The Miz, Williams beat Matt Cardona, Priest took down Solo Sikoa and Zayn got the better of Ilja Dragunov.

SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis laid out the path to a WWE Championship match after McIntyre shockingly won the title from Cody Rhodes on the Jan. 9 edition of SmackDown.

McIntyre and Rhodes did battle in a Three Stages of Hell match that came down to a steel cage match. When McIntyre was about to escape the cage and win, Jacob Fatu returned after several months on the shelf.

Fatu stopped McIntyre from escaping and attacked him, but when Rhodes attempted to intervene, Fatu shifted his attention toward The American Nightmare.

Amid the chaos, McIntyre slithered through the cage door, securing him the fourth world title win of his WWE career.

The Scottish Warrior didn't have much time to celebrate his victory, as several of SmackDown's top Superstars threw their proverbial hat in the ring for a title shot.

On Saturday, Zayn prevailed in front of his hometown fans and took a huge step toward becoming world champion for the first time in WWE.

Zayn made it clear to McIntyre on last week's episode of SmackDown that he intended to become WWE champion at McIntyre's expense, and he will have that opportunity at Royal Rumble 2026 in Saudi Arabia.