Another busy weekend in the world of professional wrestling has arrived! Along with the annual Royal Rumble, this weekend includes: World title action from Mexico City, an up-and-comer in Joshi wrestling facing a legend, a high-profile AEW debut in Texas, and much more!
Here are eight events for you to consider, plus where you can catch each one.
Friday
MARIGOLD New Year Golden Garden / 4 a.m. ET / Wrestle Universe
The action this evening has already gotten underway, as MARIGOLD went live this morning with an event from Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan. I decided to highlight this card due to the main event, which sees rising talent Komomo Minami challenge Mayu Iwatani for her Super Flyweight Championship.
Minami is coming off a breakout performance from last weekend, fighting to a 15-minute time limit draw against Victoria Yuzuki. The 22-year-old will now face the legendary Iwatani, who has been on a solid run of impressive showings in the promotion as of late. That match could be a strong way to get the weekend started.
- Victoria Yuzuki & Erina Yamanaka vs. Natsumi Showzuki & Megaton
- Utami Hayashishita & Chika Goto vs. Misa Matsui & Rea Seto
- Miku Aono & Kouki Amarei vs. Nagisa Nozaki & CHIAKI
- Seri Yamaoka, Yuuki Yamazaki & SYOKO Koshino vs. Nao Ishikawa, Hummingbird & Nagisa Tachibana (3D Trios Championships Tournament First Round)
- Mayu Iwatani vs. Komomo Minami (MARIGOLD Super Flyweight Championship)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown / 8 p.m. ET / USA Network
A little over 24 hours before WWE hosts the annual Royal Rumble, Friday Night Smackdown will go live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Not much has been announced for tonight’s three-hour presentation, at least as of right now. However, you can expect a face-to-face between Undisputed Champion Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn, who will battle for the world title on Saturday night. Along with that confrontation, we’ll likely hear more from many of Smackdown’s upcoming Rumble entrants, like former champ Cody Rhodes.
Important note: For viewers in the U.S., Smackdown will air at its usual start time of 8 p.m. ET on a tape delay. However, for those in countries where Netflix carries Smackdown, you’ll be able to watch the show live at noon ET.
CMLL Viernes Espectacular / 10 p.m. ET / Youtube
CMLL, which has been on fire with sell-out crowds to begin 2026, has a solid lineup set for this evening at Arena Mexico. Before a main event featuring El Sky Team, the card will see AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli defend his CMLL World Heavyweight Championship against young up-and-comer Xelhua, a matchup which could certainly deliver. The lineup will also include Flip Gordon’s first singles bout since returning from injury, as well as a trios match featuring ROH’s MxM Collection. Many potential bangers on tap for late Friday night.
All the action will be available via a paid subscription to CMLL’s Youtube channel.
- Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro vs. Polvora & El Coyote
- Felino Jr., El Cobarde & El Hijo de Stuka Jr. vs. Akuma & Los Gemelos Diablo
- Soberano Jr., Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. Johnny TV, Mansoor & Mason Madden
- Flip Gordon vs. Barbaro Cavernario
- Claudio Castagnoli vs. Xelhua (CMLL World Heavyweight Championship)
- Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Volador Jr., Ultimo Guerrero & Difunto
House of Glory: City of Angels / 11 p.m. ET / TrillerTV+
New York-based House of Glory will hit the road this evening and present their first-ever show in Los Angeles, California. “City of Angels” will see HOG hit up the famous (and recently reopened) Globe Theatre for a lineup full of solid bouts.
Amid his quest towards an AEW title opportunity, Andrade El Idolo will appear on this weekend’s show, battling TNA legend The Amazing Red. Other bouts on the card include Zilla Fatu defending his title against Lucha Underground star Willie Mack, plus Mustafa Ali and Shotzi Blackheart in action. If you want to watch something of the indie flavor tonight, this is for you!
- Zilla Fatu vs. Willie Mack (HOG Crown Jewel Championship)
- Jay Lyon & Midas Black vs. Danny Limelight & Slice Boogie
- Infamous vs. Starboy Charlie (HOG Cruiserweight Championship)
- Mustafa Ali vs. Ca$hflow
- Andrade El Idolo vs. Amazing Red
Saturday
WWE Royal Rumble 2026 / 2 p.m. ET / ESPN Unlimited
The annual WWE Royal Rumble will take place this weekend in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 60 men and women will hit the ring in hopes of securing a Wrestlemania main event (or at least title) opportunity on Saturday.
While the Rumble matches are certainly one of the biggest matches of the year for many viewers, a big focus has been put on this week on another matchup on the card: AJ Styles vs. Gunther.
Styles, who said he wants to retire in 2026, wagered his career in a match against “The Ring General” this weekend. Are we really just a day away from the end of Styles’ lengthy, prolific in-ring career? Or will he pull off what can arguably be considered an upset win on Saturday to extend his career? The Rumble will always be iconic, but it’s the Styles match which feels the most intriguing on the lineup right now.
- AJ Styles vs. Gunther
- Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn (Undisputed WWE Championship)
- 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble Match
- 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble Match
AEW Collision / 8 p.m. ET / TNT
AEW Collision’s month-long residency at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will wrap up tomorrow night with a five-fight lineup headlined by a new exciting arrival.
Tommaso Ciampa, who only announced his WWE departure last week, will make his AEW in-ring debut when he faces TNT Champion Mark Briscoe in Saturday’s main event. Ciampa would be making a huge splash upon entering the company if he could already claim gold.
Two other title matchups will go down earlier in the night: The Babes of Wrath will put their women’s tag belts against the Sisters of Sin, and in a last-minute addition to the show, Kazuchika Okada will defend his International title against Adam Priest. The bout will be Okada’s first time defending the International belt since he lost unified champ status last month.
Saturday’s show also has the in-ring debut for The Rascalz, as well as a Darby Allin match against NJPW talent Clark Connors. A lot to look forward to as part of the latest Collision.
- Darby Allin vs. Clark Connors
- Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Lio Rush & Action Andretti
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Adam Priest (AEW International Championship)
- Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron vs. Julia Hart & Skye Blue (AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championships)
- Mark Briscoe vs. Tommaso Ciampa (TNT Championship)
Sunday
NJPW Road to the New Beginning Night 5 / 4:30 a.m. ET / NJPW World
NJPW’s Road to the New Beginning tour will continue on Sunday night with a trip to the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The main event of the night will serve as a preview for next month’s top title bout, a meeting between top IWGP champ Yota Tsuji and Jake Lee. Six matchups are set to go down before then, including the grand finals of NJPW’s annual Young Lion Cup, showcasing the promotion’s rising trainees.
It’s not a big event, sure, but if you want to see what’s going on with NJPW before the company’s significant card in a little over a week, this is a solid primer for you.
- Shoma Kato vs. Katsuya Murashima (Young Lion Cup 2026 Finals)
- Shota Umino, Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemura vs. Gedo, OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
- Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Boltin Oleg & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.
- Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Zane Jay vs. Daiki Nagai, Drilla Moloney & Robbie X
- Aaron Wolf, Master Wato, Toru Yano & YOH vs. Dick Togo, DOUKI, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi
- Callum Newman & Jakob Austin Young vs. David Finlay & Hiromu Takahashi
- Francesco Akira & Jake Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori & Yota Tsuji
Orange Crush & JCW: Superpower Slam 2026 / 7 p.m. ET / TrillerTV+
Wrestling art company Orange Crush and Jersey Championship Wrestling will come together on Sunday for Superpower Slam 2026, a fundraiser in New York for the Little Oaks Center for Neurodevelopment.
They have pulled out all the stops for the charity event, making it a super-indy lineup worth catching. There’s no shortage of interesting matches on this show to point out: Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty, and JetSpeed against Megan Bayne & Joey Janela stick out as two matches that I’m looking forward to seeing.
There are tickets still on sale for those who want to attend this stacked show. For others, a subscription to TrillerTV+ will get you access to all the action.
- Paul Walter Hauser vs. Mad Dog Connelly (PROGRESS Proteus Championship) (Lumberjack Strap Match)
- Kevin Knight & Mike Bailey vs. Megan Bayne & Joey Janela
- Gringo Loco, Latigo & Vengador vs. Komander, Rey Horus & Mascarita Dorada
- Nixi XS vs. Jordan Blade vs. Janai Kai vs. Gabby Forza
- Jordan Oliver, Alec Price, Man Like DeReiss, Ryan Clancy & Terry Yaki vs. KJ Orso, Charles Mason, Manny Lo, Griffin McCoy & Darian Bengston
- Matt Tremont vs. Labron Kozone
- Willow Nightingale vs. Mara Sadè
- Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty
- 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire vs. Adam Priest & Mance Warner
- Billie Starkz vs. Effy (JCW World Championship)
- Atticus Cogar vs. Bear Bronson (GCW Championship)
