I’ve said it many times before, and it’s worth highlighting again here: Even on weekends where there isn’t a major WWE event, AEW pay-per-view or even a TNA card, there are still so many options.
The latest weekend TV guide has tons of options all around the clock: A triple-header from NJPW, Halloween-themed fight cards from NXT and GCW, a special trip to Ryogoku for MARIGOLD, and more. Here are nine different events to consider over the next 72 hours:
Friday
NJPW Super Junior Tag League Night 2 / 5:30 a.m. ET / NJPW World
NJPW will present a trio of events this weekend as part of the Super Junior Tag League, which kicked off just yesterday. Today’s card (which will have aired by the time this article is published, but is available for replay via NJPW World), from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, has all tournament contenders scheduled to compete.
With both A and B Blocks set to wrestle, the event will be two-and-a-half hours of straight tournament action. Batting lead-off in the Block portion of the night will be defending tournament winners Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles, who will look to follow up on a Thursday victory by beating House of Torture’s Dick Togo and Yoshinobu Kanemaru:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shoma Kato vs. Shingo Takagi & Yota Tsuji
- Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles vs. Dick Togo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (B Block)
- Master Wato & YOH vs. Clark Connors & Daiki Nagai (A Block)
- Tiger Mask & YAMATO vs. El Desperado & Kuukai (B Block)
- Gedo & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Jakob Austin Young & Templario (A Block)
- KUSHIDA & Yuki Yoshioka vs. Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori (B Block)
- Dragon Dia & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. DOUKI & SHO (A Block)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown / 8 p.m. ET / USA Network
Friday Night Smackdown will head to the Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona for this week’s episode of TV. While nothing has been officially announced for the show thus far, we know a pair of singles matchups that are likely to take place following backstage segments last week. Among the bouts likely to take place is a clash between WWE Women’s World Champion Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James.
After their championship match ended in a brawl last week, it would seem likely that we could also hear from Cody Rhodes and/or Drew McIntyre as well.
- Tiffany Stratton vs. Kiana James
- Axiom vs. Johnny Gargano
GCW: Shotzi Blackheart’s House of Horrors / 8 p.m. ET / TrillerTV+
Ready to be spooked? GCW will present their Halloween-themed card on Friday night from the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, New York. Friday’s lineup is full of match stipulations – “Doorway To Hell,” “Trick or Treat Street Fight,” a casket match and a blindfold match – which are sure to deliver one of the more unique Halloween experiences of the year. If you are craving something more indie on Friday, GCW is the standout option.
- Atticus Cogar vs. Charles Mason (Casket Match)
- Matt Tremont vs. Joshua Bishop (GCW Ultraviolent Championship) (Doorway To Hell Match)
- Shotzi Blackheart vs. Emersyn Jayne (Trick or Treat Street Fight)
- 1 Called Manders vs. Isaiah Broner (Lights Out Match)
- Slade vs. HC Loc (Extreme Rules Match)
- Marcus Mathers vs. Cheech (Blindfold Match)
- YDNP vs. High Seas (GCW Tag Team Championships) (Garbage Plate on a Pole Match)
CMLL International Women’s Grand Prix / 10 p.m. ET / Youtube or TrillerTV PPV)
The fourth-annual CMLL International Women’s Grand Prix will take place on Friday night at Arena Mexico, featuring an 18-woman Cibernetico match involving a diverse selection of talent.
Friday’s main event will feature a unique ruleset for fans who aren’t familiar with these events: The bout will begin as a nine-on-nine elimination tag bout, with Team Mexico facing Team World. However, once an entire team is taken out of the bout, it will become an elimination match featuring the remaining members of the surviving team, who will battle it out until a single wrestler remains standing. This match is quite the marathon experience – the men’s one, which took place in August and was won by Mistico, went 82 minutes!
A solid mix of talent from all around the wrestling world will be represented, as AEW’s Thekla, Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Mina Shirakawa and Diamante will tag alongside STARDOM’s Hazuki and Koguma, TJPW/MLW’s Shoko Nakajima, and RevPro’s Kanji. The CMLL side includes many recognizable names, including Persephone, La Catalina, and Zeuxis.
Like other recent high-profile CMLL cards, the event will be available to watch not only via their paid Youtube subscription service, but also as a one-time pay-per-view on TrillerTV, which will have an English commentary feed available.
- Dragon de Fuego & Dragon Legendario vs. El Elemental & Yutani
- Hechicero vs. Xelhua
- Mascara Dorada & Titan vs. Barbaro Cavernario
- Lluvia, Persephone, La Jarochita, India Sioux, La Catalina, Zeuxis, Reyna Isis, Skadi & Olympia vs. Thekla, Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Mina Shirakawa, Hazuki, Koguma, Shoko Nakajima, Diamante & Kanji (Mexico vs. World Cibernetico)
Saturday
NJPW Super Junior Tag League Night 3 / 4 a.m. ET / NJPW World
The Super Junior Tag League’s A Block will get the spotlight when NJPW heads to the Kumagaya Citizen Gym on Saturday night. The main event of the night will see House of Torture’s DOUKI and SHO, the defending IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, try to get past the unlikely pairing of Gedo and Hiromu Takahashi, who are 1-0 thus far. Whether or not Gedo and Takahashi plan to keep teaming beyond this tournament, a win in Saturday’s main event could set them up for a future title shot.
- Katsuya Murashima & Toru Yano vs. Tetsuya Matsumoto & Zane Jay
- El Desperado, Kuukai & Masatora Yasuda vs. Dick Togo, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi
- Boltin Oleg, Shoma Kato, Tiger Mask & YAMATO vs. OSKAR, Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori & Yuto-Ice
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA & Yuki Yoshioka vs. Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
- Clark Connors & Daiki Nagai vs. Dragon Dia & Ryusuke Taguchi (A Block)
- Master Wato & YOH vs. Jakob Austin Young & Templario (A Block)
- Gedo & Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI & SHO (A Block)
NXT Halloween Havoc / 7 p.m. ET / Peacock
WWE will stay in Arizona for a second night, as NXT will head to Prescott Valley for Halloween Havoc on Saturday evening.
While this card received somewhat of a fast two-week build following NXT’s “Showdown” special with TNA, in that short amount of time the brand has found an interesting program between Tatum Paxley and women’s champ Jacy Jayne. Paxley got a sudden push just over a week ago when she won a #1 contenders battle royal, a booking decision which has been received well by fans at the Performance Center, who have gotten behind her as an underdog in the division. Will Paxley get her long-awaited first-ever wrestling title, ending Jayne’s long reign? Or will The Culling get in her way, like they have before in pivotal matchups? We’ll find out tomorrow.
Saturday night will also see Ricky Saints put his NXT Championship on the line for the first time against Trick Williams, who is returning after dropping his TNA title earlier this month. If Williams wins, he’ll follow in the footsteps of Samoa Joe and become the second-ever wrestler to hold NXT’s top men’s title three times in their career.
Some cross-promotional action will take place earlier in the night: AAA’s El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. will try to take Ethan Page’s North American title in a “Day of the Dead Match,” TNA’s Hardy Boys will look to keep hold of their NXT gold against DarkState, and viral sensation Mr. Iguana will team up with La Parka to meet high-flying fan favorites Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater.
- Leon Slater & Je’Von Evans vs. La Parka & Mr. Iguana
- Zaria vs. Blake Monroe (Vacant NXT Women’s North American Championship)
- Ethan Page vs. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (NXT North American Championship) (Day of the Dead Match)
- Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs. DarkState (NXT Tag Team Championships) (Broken Rules Match)
- Jacy Jayne vs. Tatum Paxley (NXT Women’s Championship)
- Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams (NXT Championship)
AEW Collision / 8 p.m. ET / TNT
The latest episode of AEW Collision will air this Saturday night, including an all-star tag bout with $400,000 on the line. Starving for cash, The Young Bucks will try to co-exist with past rivals FTR to overcome JetSpeed and Jurassic Express, with a win earning them a six-figure payout.
Saturday’s show will also feature an appearance from AEW World Champion Hangman Page, and the continuation of an ongoing Conglomeration vs. Death Riders feud with Tomohiro Ishii meeting PAC in a singles bout. It was also announced on Thursday that Bryan Keith will face off against Ace Austin, a matchup between two of the more underrated talents on the roster.
- Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, Jack Perry & Luchasaurus
- Bryan Keith vs. Ace Austin
- Thekla vs. Mina Shirakawa
- PAC vs. Tomohiro Ishii
- Hook in action
- Hangman Adam Page to appear
Sunday
MARIGOLD Grand Destiny / 1 a.m. ET / WrestleUniverse PPV
IYO SKY will make an incredibly rare non-WWE appearance this weekend, meeting fellow Japanese wrestling superstar Mayu Iwatani in the main event of MARIGOLD’s trip to Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo.
SKY and Iwatani have a shared history from when they both fought in STARDOM, including a 27-minute title match back in 2017. Over half a decade removed from their last in-ring showdown, their rivalry will be re-ignited as part of MARIGOLD’s second-ever trip to the legendary sumo hall venue.
The co-main event will see Miku Aono try to kick off her first-ever reign with the MARIGOLD World Championship by getting past Utami Hayashishita. Aono worked her way through the 16-woman Dream Star Grand Prix tournament earlier this year to earn a shot at the title, which Hayashishita has held for nearly 300 days.
There are some other notable bouts lower on the card, too. One that has stuck out for me is the battle between Kizuna Tanaka and Shinno, up-and-coming talents who will be cornered by their mothers, two ex-Joshi stars in their own right (Yumi Fukawa and Michiko Omukai).
The event will be offered on WrestleUniverse via PPV for the price of 4,000 yen (roughly $26 USD).
- Kizuna Tanaka vs. Shinno
- Nagisa Nozai & Rea Sato vs. Chanyota & Erina Yamanaka vs. Hummingbird & Nao Ishikawa vs. Minami Yuuki & Nagisa Tachibana vs. Komomo Minami & Yuuka Yamazaki vs. TBD & Shoko Koshino
- Maria & Riko Kawahata vs. CHIAKI & Misa Matsui (MARIGOLD Twin Star Championships)
- Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Seri Yamaoka
- Mai Sakurai vs. Victoria Yuzuki (MARIGOLD United National Championship)
- Utami Hayashishita vs. Miku Aono (MARIGOLD World Championship)
- IYO SKY vs. Mayu Iwatani
NJPW Super Junior Tag League Night 4 / 3 a.m. ET / NJPW World
Finally, NJPW’s busy weekend will come to a close on Sunday at the Uonuma City Horinouchi Gymnasium. B Block favorites Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles will be back in the main event spot, meeting the duo of KUSHIDA and Dragon Gate veteran Yuki Yoshioka. If you aren’t digging the MARIGOLD card (or simply don’t want to pay 4,000 yen to watch the show), there’s another option on early Sunday morning in NJPW.
- Clark Connors & Daiki Nagai vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Zane Jay
- Masatora Yasuda, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs. DOUKI, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi
- Dragon Dia, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shoma Kato vs. Callum Newman, Jakob Austin Young & Templario
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuya Murashima, Master Wato & YOH vs. Gedo, OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Hiromu Takahashi
- El Desperado & Kuukai vs. Dick Togo & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (B Block)
- Tiger Mask & YAMATO vs. Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori (B Block)
- KUSHIDA & Yuki Yoshioka vs. Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles (B Block)
