Drew McIntyre will challenge Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship for the third time in this reign, as promised by Nick Aldis during Friday’s “WWE SmackDown,” with spoilers coming out of the pre-taped Boxing Day show indicating that he chose the stipulation for their trilogy bout on the January 9 episode emanating from Berlin, Germany. 

McIntyre was shown during “SmackDown” in a vignette meeting with General Manager Aldis to discuss his return to TV; McIntyre had refused to allow Rhodes to move on, and Aldis was willing to acquiesce his demand for another title match, provided he pay his fines and apologize for the attack on referee Dan Engler. That segment ended with Rhodes attacking McIntyre, and Aldis was shown in a subsequent segment telling Rhodes that McIntyre now held all of the cards.

Next week’s show is due to see McIntyre play that hand, setting the bout with Rhodes for January 9 in the first Three Stages of Hell match in over 12 years. The stipulation sees the contest between talent determined over the course of three matches in one night, often each with their own specific sub-stipulation; the last one saw John Cena defending his WWE Championship against Ryback in a Lumberjack match, Tables match, and then finally an Ambulance match.