BEHIND-THE-SCENES SECRETS 🚨 Nick Aldis warns Cody Rhodes about Drew McIntyre backstage at WWE SmackDown! 👇

The tension surrounding Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre didn’t just erupt under the bright lights of SmackDown — it reportedly spilled into the backstage area in a way that revealed just how seriously WWE officials are treating the growing chaos.

On the January 2, 2026 edition of WWE SmackDown, multiple reports describe an intense behind-the-scenes moment in which SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis pulled Cody Rhodes aside and issued a firm warning about Drew McIntyre, urging the Undisputed WWE Champion to keep his emotions under control as their explosive rivalry heads toward a brutal showdown in Berlin.

While fans inside the arena witnessed the fiery escalation between Cody and Drew, what happened backstage added a more strategic, almost “management vs. mayhem” layer to the story.

The basic issue is simple: Cody Rhodes is desperate to get his hands on Drew McIntyre after weeks of taunts, disrespect, and psychological warfare — but WWE has placed strict restrictions on the champion.

According to coverage from the episode, Aldis once again reminded Cody that if he touches McIntyre before their scheduled title match, Cody risks severe consequences, including the possibility of losing the championship. That warning wasn’t just a casual suggestion; it was framed as an official line Cody cannot cross.

This backstage confrontation matters because it exposes what WWE is trying to protect: the integrity of a massive main event. The company has heavily promoted Rhodes vs.

McIntyre as one of the most personal and violent rivalries on SmackDown, and the January 9 championship match isn’t a normal title defense — it has been confirmed as a Three Stages of Hell bout, a rare 2-out-of-3 falls match where each fall has a different stipulation.

Drew McIntyre revealed the match types during the January 2 episode, confirming that the first fall will be a traditional match, the second will be Falls Count Anywhere, and the final fall, if needed, will take place inside a Steel Cage.

That is the kind of structure WWE uses when it wants a rivalry to feel like a war rather than a contest.

But the biggest challenge for Cody Rhodes isn’t the match format — it’s the mental trap McIntyre has built around him.

Drew’s entire strategy has been designed to provoke Cody into losing control, because if Cody lashes out too early, he doesn’t just lose a fight… he could lose his title without even entering the ring.

WWE has leaned heavily into this storyline because it highlights a dangerous truth about Cody’s character: he wants to be the hero, the champion, the son carrying Dusty Rhodes’ legacy with pride, but that pride can be weaponized against him.

And on January 2, McIntyre took that psychological warfare to a level that stunned even veteran wrestling fans.

In one of the most controversial moments of the night, Drew set fire to a photo of Cody with his late father Dusty Rhodes, then went even further by mocking Dusty’s death in an attempt to emotionally break Cody.

The scene was designed to push Cody to the edge, because Drew knows that if Cody finally snaps, it gives McIntyre exactly what he wants: a disqualified champion, a stripped title, and a moral “victory” before the bell even rings in Berlin.

That’s why Nick Aldis stepping in backstage is more than a generic authority-figure segment. Aldis isn’t simply acting as management; he’s functioning like a pressure valve to prevent Cody from detonating early. He knows McIntyre’s provocation isn’t random — it’s calculated.

Drew has a documented pattern of creating chaos, attacking referees, and forcing officials to intervene, which is exactly why Aldis previously suspended him in late 2025 after a chaotic incident involving Cody Rhodes.

The history matters because it proves Drew isn’t just “heated” — he’s intentionally disruptive, and Aldis has been dealing with the fallout for weeks.

So, what exactly did Aldis reportedly warn Cody about backstage?

The message, according to coverage of the storyline, was essentially this: Drew McIntyre is not trying to beat you in a wrestling match yet — he’s trying to beat you in your own head.

Aldis cautioned Cody that Drew will keep escalating the disrespect, keep poking at family, and keep pushing for an emotional response because that is Drew’s easiest path to taking the championship.

It’s not enough for McIntyre to simply win the title; he wants to humiliate Cody, to make Cody lose control, and to rewrite the story so it looks like Cody destroyed himself.

What makes the warning feel even more dramatic is that Cody cannot respond the way a champion usually would. In most wrestling rivalries, a babyface champion eventually snaps, hits the villain, and gives the audience a cathartic payoff. Here, Cody is trapped.

Every time he wants to strike, he has to hold back. Every time he wants revenge, he has to swallow it. And that restraint makes him look vulnerable — not physically, but emotionally.

Fans aren’t just watching a feud; they’re watching whether Cody can maintain self-control when someone drags his father’s name into the mud and sets part of his legacy on fire.

Behind the scenes, that makes Nick Aldis’ role even more crucial. The General Manager is the only figure who can enforce consequences, and he’s the only one who can keep Cody from accidentally handing Drew the championship through a moment of rage.

In storytelling terms, Aldis has become the “line” between Cody remaining the hero… or Cody becoming the very thing Drew wants him to be: reckless, reactive, and beatable.

The bigger picture is that WWE is building this feud like a ticking bomb. On one side, Cody Rhodes is the champion trying to preserve his legacy and his father’s memory.

On the other, Drew McIntyre is a ruthless challenger who believes Cody’s reign is built on emotion and symbolism rather than dominance — and he is determined to prove that when the pressure peaks, Cody will crack

Nick Aldis’ backstage warning is a signal that WWE knows exactly what it’s doing: this isn’t just about who wins in Berlin, but about whether Cody can survive Drew McIntyre’s mind games long enough to even make it there as champion.

And as SmackDown heads toward January 9, one thing is becoming clear — the most dangerous part of this rivalry may not be the steel cage, the Falls Count Anywhere chaos, or even the Claymore kick.

It may be the moment Cody Rhodes finally decides he can’t hold back anymore.