We’re definitely heading into one of the more relaxed weekends in professional wrestling, with no major PPV/PLE offerings from AEW or WWE set for the next few days. But, there are still many viewing options to consider this weekend, including the New Japan Cup finding a new first-time winner, CMLL presenting a stacked card tonight, two nights of “Slam Dunk” AEW action, and more. Here’s a preview of what’s going on over the next 72 hours.
Friday
NJPW New Japan Cup Night 11 / 4 a.m. ET / NJPW World
After weeks of competition, NJPW’s annual New Japan Cup comes to a close this weekend. Semi-final action took place this morning in Niigata, Japan, determining who will compete for the single-elimination tour’s trophy tomorrow.
What makes this year’s tournament interesting is that, no matter who wins, this year will crown a first-time champion. Could it be a chance for United Empire leader Callum Newman, or Kazakh wrestling ace Boltin Oleg, or will either Shota Umino or Yuya Uemura emerge on top? Amid a much quieter weekend in wrestling, it’s certainly one of the more intriguing storylines to follow.
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
- Satoshi Kojima, Taichi & Masatora Yasuda vs. Hirooki Goto, Tatsuya Matsumoto & YOSHI-HASHI
- El Desperado, Master Wato & YOH vs. DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Francesco Akira, HENARE, Jake Lee & Jakob Austin Young vs. Daiki Nagai, Drilla Moloney, Shingo Takagi & Taiji Ishimori
- Aaron Wolf, Tomoaki Honma & Toru Yano vs. Dick Togo, Don Fale & Ren Narita
- Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Gedo, OSKAR, Yota Tsuji & Yuto-Ice
- Yuya Uemura vs. Boltin Oleg (New Japan Cup Semi-Final)
- Shota Umino vs. Callum Newman (New Japan Cup Semi-Final)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown / 8 p.m. ET / USA Network
Why Randy, why? One week after viciously attacking Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton will appear this evening at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, to address his actions. What made Orton go back to his Legend Killer ways against his Wrestlemania opponent? We’ll find out in a few hours.
Two tag title matchups are also set for this evening. On the men’s side, the newly-formed duo of Damian Priest and R-Truth will try to dethrone Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga of the MFTs. The women’s match will see The Bella Twins look for their first title reigns in over a decade (15 years in Brie’s case), taking on Nia Jax and Lash Legend.
- Tama Tonga & Solo Sikoa vs. Damian Priest & R-Truth (WWE Tag Team Championships)
- Nia Jax & Lash Legend vs. Nikki Bella & Brie Bella (WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships)
- Randy Orton to explain his attack on Cody Rhodes
CMLL Viernes Espectacular / 10:30 p.m. ET / Youtube
CMLL has loaded up tonight’s Arena Mexico card, making it arguably the most interesting show of the weekend.
The main event of the night will see AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli look to extend his run against CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, taking on former titleholder Hechicero. The matchup is their second-ever singles meeting, following up on a late-2024 showdown which saw Castagnoli win in 18 minutes.
The co-main event is just as interesting, as the stellar El Sky Team of Mistico, Mascara Dorada, and Neon will wager their trios titles against the returning Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia, who are all coming back to Mexico for the first time in months.
It’s worth highlighting that the show will also feature the retirement match of 52-year in-ring vet El Satanico, who will meet Atlantis and Blue Panther in a three-way. After more than 1,400 in-ring appearances for CMLL over five decades, he’ll step into the ring one last time tonight.
As is usually the case for larger CMLL shows, this will not only be available via the promotion’s paid Youtube subscription service, but will also be for sale as a one-off pay-per-view on TrillerTV.
- Lluvia, Zeuxis, Dark Silueta & Valkyria vs. Persephone, La Jarochita, La Catalina & Skadi
- Averno, Mephisto & Euforia vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero & Toscano
- Atlantis vs. El Satanico vs. Blue Panther
- Marcela vs. La Magnifica vs. Princesa Sugehit
- Max Star vs. Calavera Jr. vs. Virus vs. Polvora vs. Hombre Bala Jr. vs. Calavera Jr. vs. Cancerbero vs. Coyote
- Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & Daniel Garcia (AAA World Trios Championships)
- Claudio Castagnoli vs. Hechicero (CMLL World Heavyweight Championship)
Saturday
NJPW New Japan Cup Night 12 / 2 a.m. ET / NJPW World
This year’s New Japan Cup will wrap up on early Saturday morning with a card from the Aore Nagaoka in Niigata. We don’t know the full lineup at the time of writing this on Thursday evening, as we still have to see how Friday’s semi-finals play out first. If you’re on the West Coast in North America, this show will be on at 11 p.m.!
House of Glory Superclash 2026 / 8 p.m. ET / TrillerTV+
House of Glory will hit up the Suffolk Credit Union Arena this Saturday for an event as part of the annual Big Event EXS professional wrestling convention in New York. They have brought a solid lineup to the convention, including AEW’s Mina Shirakawa facing HOG women’s champ Shotzi, The Acclaimed going up against The Mane Event, a fun indie act that has been featured heavily in HOG, and Sammy Guevara facing Amazing Red. It’ll all be available for subscribers on TrillerTV+.
- Infamous vs. Sweet Cheeks (HOG Cruiserweight Championship)
- Anthony Bowens & Max Caster vs. Jay Lyon & Midas Black
- Sammy Guevara vs. Amazing Red
- Deonna Purrazzo vs. Indi Hartwell
- Mina Shirakawa vs. Shotzi
- Dijak vs. Charles Mason (HOG World Championship)
AEW Collision Slam Dunk Saturday / 11 p.m. ET / TNT
With NCAA March Madness coverage dominating the schedule for Turner channels this weekend, AEW has changed up its game plan for its Saturday night program, Collision. Instead of airing a two-hour program on Saturday, this weekend’s Collision has been split into a pair of hour-long broadcasts, taking place tomorrow night and on Sunday. While pencilled in for an 11 p.m. start, it’s worth noting that each episode will only begin whenever NCAA programming ends.
Both one-hour AEW presentations this weekend have some fun stuff planned for them. Tomorrow, we’re seeing underrated NJPW junior heavyweight Robbie Eagles mix it up against TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher in the main event. The show will also include The Sisters of Sin against The Brawling Birds, as well as The Faccion Ingobernable in action.
- Rush, Dralistico & The Beast Mortos in action
- Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter vs. Julia Hart & Skye Blue
- Kyle Fletcher vs. Robbie Eagles (TNT Championship)
Sunday
AEW Collision Slam Dunk Sunday / 11 p.m. ET / TNT
Some late-night wrestling will close out the weekend, as the second portion of Collision’s Slam Dunk series will air sometime on Sunday evening. The most notable pairing of the night has to be the trios title matchup, with new champs JetSpeed and Mistico facing Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, and El Clon. I find it hard to believe that the match will be anything less than a banger. Another match worth pointing out is the clash between ex-TNT champ Tommaso Ciampa and Lio Rush, who recently returned with a new look.
- Lena Kross & Megan Bayne in action
- Tommaso Ciampa vs. Lio Rush
- Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal & Lee Johnson
- Mistico, Kevin Knight & Speedball Bailey vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander & El Clon (AEW World Trios Championships)
Three more options for you…
- The second week of AAA’s annual Rey de Reyes event will air on Saturday night, including a tag title bout which sees the duo of Pagano and Psycho Clown defend against The War Raiders. We’ll also see El Grande Americano get presented with the sword he won after prevailing in the Rey de Reyes four-way last weekend. (Youtube)
- DDT will present a five-hour show from Korakuen Hall on Sunday, with Yuki Ueno vs. KANON headlining a six-title evening. Many will be interested to hear that the show includes Konosuke Takeshita on the mid-card, going head-to-head with Kazuki Hirata for the first time since 2015. (Wrestle Universe)
- Sareee will host a self-promoted 15th anniversary card on Sunday inside the Yokohama Budokan, presenting a stacked lineup full of big names from the Joshi scene. Before the night closes out with a bout which sees Sareee team with Takumi Iroha against Chihiro Hashimoto and Syuri, other bouts will include big names like Natsupoi, VENY, HANAKO, and fast-rising STARDOM newcomer Fuwa-chan. (SareeeLive.com)
