A gigantic lucha anniversary bonanza, tournaments wrapping up and just getting off the ground in Japan, TV offerings from WWE and AEW, plus some fun indie action: It’s all going down over the next few days, and we have put together a proper guide to get you ready for each show.
Here’s a rundown of seven shows taking place this weekend, plus when and where to watch each one.
Friday
WWE Friday Night Smackdown / 8 p.m. ET / USA Network
After getting revenge on CM Punk last week, avenging his loss from months ago and, more importantly, regaining the Undisputed WWE Championship, Sami Zayn is back on top of Smackdown. Zayn plans to celebrate that win tonight when he appears as part of the live broadcast from the Hilliard Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. What will Zayn say, just a week after he proved that his long-awaited, albeit short, first-ever world title reign was proven to not be a fluke?
Little is known about tonight’s show, other than we’ll also get an interview with Cody Rhodes, who is still reflecting on his Sunday Night’s Main Event loss to Randy Orton. More segments will likely be revealed this afternoon.
- Sami Zayn to appear after capturing Undisputed WWE Championship
- Cody Rhodes appears in interview following loss to Randy Orton
CMLL 93rd Anniversary / 10 p.m. ET / Youtube & MyAEW PPV
The biggest card this weekend, both in notoriety and in size, will be CMLL’s 93rd Anniversary lineup.
With 10 matchups in total, CMLL is going all out this year for their anniversary show from Arena Mexico. This evening’s card has intriguing matchups up and down it, but none more exciting than the main event.
For those out of the loop, let me explain how CMLL will close out the night. A four-way elimination tag match will take place, with each team being made up of singles rivals. Averno and Mistico, Dragon Rojo Jr. and Barbaro Cavernario, Star Jr. and Zandokan Jr., and Templario with Ultimo Guerrero.
These rivals will try to work together and win the match. Why? Because the team that wins will immediately face eachother in a Lucha de Apuesta match (mask vs. mask, mask vs. hair, or hair vs. hair).
This unique dynamic that CMLL has done many times before is one of the more interesting matchup styles in wrestling. You’ll see staunch enemies team together; moments later one duo will fight with eachother! By the end of the night, someone will lose their mask or their hair.
There are way too many other interesting bouts lower on the show: Andrade El Idolo meets long-time rival Volador Jr., Hechicero defends against both Claudio Castagnoli and Zack Sabre Jr. in a three-way, Bandido meets Soberano Jr., and much more. It’s quite the stacked lineup to celebrate the oldest wrestling company in the world.
There’s a case to be made that some matches could be cut from this show for the sake of brevity. We’ll see later tonight whether the decision to have it a larger spectacle than before was worth it. Fans on the East Coast will be tuning in at the late-night hour of 10 p.m. ET. Those who want to tune in can catch the show with a top-tier paid subscription to CMLL’s Youtube page, or, if they’d prefer English commentary, can purchase a pay-per-view broadcast of the show via MyAEW.
- Maika, Mei Seira & Ema Maishima vs. Sanely, Kira & Candela
- Blue Panther vs. Jeff Jarrett
- Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. El Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. vs. Calavera Jr. I & Calavera Jr. II vs. Mascara Dorada & Neon (CMLL World Tag Team Championships)
- Titan vs. Komander (CMLL World Welterweight Championship)
- Bandido vs. Soberano Jr.
- Persephone vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Starlight Kid vs. Mina Shirakawa (CMLL World Women’s Championship)
- Volador Jr. vs. Andrade El Idolo
- Hechicero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (CMLL World Heavyweight Championship)
- Averno & Mistico vs. Dragon Rojo Jr. & Barbaro Cavernario vs. Star Jr. & Zandokan Jr. vs. Templario & Ultimo Guerrero
- Lucha de Apuesta Match (Winning team of co-main event faces off in Apuesta match)
Saturday
MARIGOLD Dream Star Grand Prix Night 8 / 5 a.m. ET / Wrestle Universe
Joshi brand MARIGOLD is in for a busy 24 hours starting Saturday, as the brand’s Dream Star Grand Prix will wrap up across two events. The tournament, which MARIGOLD is running for the third year in a row, works in a similar format to STARDOM’s 5Star Grand Prix: Wrestlers have competed in four blocks over the past few weeks, fighting to place atop their different divisions. The top performer in each block, which will be finalzed by tomorrow morning’s card, will be moved into a four-woman single-elimination tournament on the grand final card.
Here’s a look at how the final night of block action is set to go:
- Victoria Yuzuki vs. The Lady AI vs. CHIAKI
- Megaton vs. Rea Seto (League D)
- Chika Goto vs. Nagisa Tachibana (League D)
- Kouki Amarei vs. Shinno (League D)
- SYOKO. Koshino vs. Hummingbird (League C)
- Mai Sakurai vs. Diana Strong (League C)
- Komomo Minami vs. Mila Smidt (League B)
- Mayu Iwatani vs. Nagisa Nozaki (League B)
- Yuuka Yamazaki vs. Aleah James (League A)
- Misa Matsui vs. Erina Yamanaka (League A)
- Miku Aono vs. Natsumo Showzuki (League A)
AEW Collision / 8 p.m. ET / TNT
AEW will head to the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia, this weekend for a live edition of Collision. Thus far, we have two segments known for the show:
Andrade El Idolo, who has promised to defend his AEW National Championship on a weekly basis, will face off against Daniel Garcia of the Death Riders. Plus, in her first AEW in-ring appearance since dropping the women’s world title at Redemption, Thekla will be in the ring against Zayda Steel.
As is usually the case with live editions of Collision, more matchups and segments will likely be revealed over the 36 hours as we inch closer to the show.
- Thekla vs. Zayda Steel
- Andrade El Idolo vs. Daniel Garcia (AEW National Championship)
MARIGOLD Dream Star Grand Prix Night 9 / 10 p.m. ET / Wrestle Universe
As mentioned before, MARIGOLD will stay in Korakuen Hall for a second straight night, wrapping up their Dream Star Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon (late Saturday night in North America!). We’ll know the full lineup for this show, including the semi-final participants, once the final night of block action wraps up.
- Dream Star Grand Prix Semi-Final
- Dream Star Grand Prix Semi-Final
- Dream Star Grand Prix Final
NOAH N-1 Victory Night 6 / 11 p.m. ET / Wrestle Universe
As MARIGOLD’s tournament wraps up, NOAH’s N-1 Victory chugs along with Night 6 this weekend. This card features a highly anticipated rematch between Yoshiki Inamura and Shane Haste, who faced off in a stellar GHC Heavyweight Championship match over the summer. I’m also curious to see how Chen (formerly Dante Chen in NXT) will do. He’s looked fun so far, and I still have my eye on him in this tour. Overall, NOAH’s N-1 tour has been an enjoyable watch!
- Manabu Soya, Yuto Koyanagi & Hiroto Tsuruya vs. Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Katsumi Inahata
- Kouga, Titus Alexander & Hiroya Namiki vs. OZAWA, Masa Kitamiya & Tadasuke
- Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & RYUSEI vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Kenoh & Black Mensore
- Kai Fujimura, YO-HEY & Jun Masaoka vs. Alejandro, Dragon Bane & Daiki Odashima
- Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Alpha Wolf (A Block)
- Yuki Iino vs. Chen (A Block)
- Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Takashi Sugiura (A Block)
- Yoshiki Inamura vs. Shane Haste (A Block)
Sunday
PWJ Gamble It All 2 / 6 p.m. ET / IWTV PPV
We don’t put too many independent shows on these previews, but you always have to make an exception when a show is just so stacked. New Jersey-based brand Pro Wrestling Junkie has quite the lineup set for Sunday evening with Gamble It All 2.
There’s a really fun selection of names on this card: Indie star Charles Mason facing off against Maple Leaf Pro interim champ Stu Grayson, Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo teaming up in mixed tag action, New York vet JTG facing off against Marcus Mathers, and much more. This is a fun little way to end the weekend, if you’re craving some wrestling on Sunday night.
- Zayda Steel vs. Kay Lee Ray
- Marcus Mathers vs. JTG
- Izzy Moreno vs. Gypsy Mac (PWJ Women’s Championship)
- Steve Maclin & Deonna Purrazzo vs. Diamond Virago & Daron Richardson
- J Boujii vs. Shane Rose vs. Journey Fatu vs. Brandon Cutler vs. Vaughn Vertigo (PWJ Massacre Championship)
- Dustin Waller & Kylon King vs. Joseph Sawyer & Samuel Shaw (PWJ Tag Team Championships)
- Charles Mason vs. Stu Grayson (PWJ Championship)
