It’s officially Halloweekend! Professional wrestling has a busy slate of events going down over the next few days, giving you lots of viewing options as the month of October comes to a close. This weekend has festive shows from WWE, AEW and CMLL, tours from NJPW and STARDOM underway, and more AAA action. Here’s a preview of what to catch over the next few days.
Friday
NJPW Super Jr. Tag League Night 5 / 5:30 a.m. ET / NJPW World
This weekend’s slate of programming already kicked off this morning, as NJPW presented Night 5 of this year’s Super Jr. Tag League. We’re nearing the end of this year’s tour already, with the finals scheduled for Tuesday. The second-to-last night of B Block action went down today. After Titan and Daiki Nagai were mathematically eliminated earlier this week, today’s card saw House of Torture’s Dick Togo and SHO look to stay alive, as a win against AEW’s The Swirl is necessary for doing so.
I’m looking forward to catching today’s main event, a TMDK vs. United Empire battle. Francesco Akira and Jakob Austin Young will have to put UE drama aside and be on their A-game when they face the duo of Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles today.
- Masatora Yasuda, Mistico & Shota Umino vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Tatsuya Matsumoto & Kazuma Sumi
- Kuukai, Master Wato & Yushin Hatazawa vs. DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi
- KUSHIDA, Nick Wayne & Taisei Nakahara vs. Gedo, Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori
- Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs. Satoshi Kojima, Taichi & Yuya Uemura
- Blake Christian & Lee Johnson vs. Dick Togo & SHO (B Block)
- Hyo & YOH vs. Daiki Nagai & Titan (B Block)
- Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles vs. Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young (B Block)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown / 8 p.m. ET / USA Network
A special Halloween-eve episode of Friday Night Smackdown will go down tonight from the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia. Hosted by Danhausen, the “Very Nice, Very Evil” Smackdown has two major title showdowns scheduled for it: Trick Williams will get his long-awaited title shot against Sami Zayn, and Chelsea Green will put her belt up against Nikki Bella. Along with the two big bouts, it’s expected that we’ll get some curveballs thrown throughout the night by guest host Danhausen.
- Chelsea Green vs. Nikki Bella (WWE Women’s Championship)
- Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams (Undisputed WWE Championship)
CMLL Rey del Inframundo / 10:30 p.m. ET / Youtube or MyAEW PPV
CMLL’s Day of the Dead week will continue tonight with a special card from Arena Mexico.
The main event spotlight tonight will go to CMLL’s annual Rey del Inframundo match. The yearly showdown sees wrestlers representing different regions in Mexico face off for a special once-a-year Day of the Dead-themed title. The four-way match will feature Mexico City’s Calavera Jr. I, Puebla’s Xelhua, Guadalajara’s Rafaga Jr., and defending champ Guerrero Maya Jr.
A fair amount of the international focus for this show will be on a special AEW vs. CMLL match in the co-main, as former world champs Darby Allin and Hechicero will face off in a rematch. It’s also worth noting that Mina Shirakawa will be on the undercard as well, meeting India Sioux in a singles bout.
Subscribers to CMLL’s paid Youtube page can watch live on Friday. A one-off pay-per-view feed will also be available on MyAEW with English commentary.
- Magia Blanca, Rey Pegasus & Tornado vs. Felino Jr., El Cobarde & El Hijo de Stuka Jr.
- Olympia vs. Persephone vs. Lluvia
- India Sioux vs. Mina Shirakawa
- Vilador Jr. & Vegas Depredador vs. Soberano Jr. & Barbaro Cavernario vs. Zandokan Jr. & Difunto
- Darby Allin vs. Hechicero
- Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Calavera Jr. I vs. Xelhua vs. Rafaga Jr. (Rey del Inframundo Finals)
Saturday
NJPW Super Jr. Tag League Night 6 / 3 a.m. ET / NJPW World
The final night of A Block action in NJPW’s Super Jr. Tag League tournament is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Sitting atop the standings are Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori as well as DOUKI and Yoshinbou Kanemaru, tied with six points each. While odds are slimmer that KUSHIDA & Nick Wayne or Kazuma Sumi & Ryusuke Taguchi could sneak their way into that battle for first place, they aren’t officially out of the hunt either, with 4 points each. So many possible ending scenarios could potentially go down, and we’ll officially find out which one is reality in less than 24 hours.
- Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto, YOH & Hyo
- Dick Togo, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Daiki Nagai, Gedo & Titan
- Blake Christian, Lee Johnson & Yushin Hatazawa vs. Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Aaron Wolf, Boltin Oleg, Shota Umino & Toru Yano vs. Satoshi Kojima, Taichi, Taisei Nakahara & Yuya Uemura
- Kazuma Sumi & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Masatora Yasuda & Mistico (A Block)
- Kuukai & Master Wato vs. DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (A Block)
- KUSHIDA & Nick Wayne vs. Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori (A Block)
NXT Halloween Havoc / 7 p.m. ET / The CW
NXT’s annual Halloween Havoc event gets to actually fall on Halloween night this year, airing live on the CW from Orlando, Florida. Hosted by Danhausen (who is seemingly the only name WWE now associates with Halloween, judging by how busy he has been this week), NXT has a three-hour broadcast set for this weekend.
The top men’s match sees two NXT veterans face off for the title: Defending champ Grayson Waller, who returned to the show earlier this year to prove how soft the brand has become, will try to turn back ex-titleholder Tony D’Angelo. On the women’s side of things, #1 contender Wren Sinclair will try to cut short Kelani Jordan’s title reign in a match I think could be fun.
Lower on the card, plunder (treats) and underhanded tactics (tricks) are guaranteed. Myles Borne and Tavion Heights will face off in a “Weapons Wild” match, and a showdown between Charlie Dempsey and Zilla Fatu has a stipulation that will be revealed come Saturday. Plus, in a battle between two men who have spent recent months mastering their mists, we’ll see Naraku and Shiloh Hill battle.
- Charlie Dempsey vs. Zilla Fatu (Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal Match)
- Naraku vs. Shiloh Hill
- Izzi Dame vs. Zaria
- Myles Borne vs. Tavion Heights (Weapons Wild Match)
- Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair (NXT Women’s Championship)
- Grayson Waller vs. Tony D’Angelo (NXT Championship)
AEW Collision / 8 p.m. ET / TNT
A taped edition of AEW Collision will go down tomorrow night, with a staggering eight segments confirmed for the card. Among the busy card will be a STARDOM six-woman tag title showdown, faction warfare between The Conglomeration and The Cut, Hurt Syndicate’s first match in nearly two months, an Ilja Dragunov showcase and much more!
- Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin in action
- Megan Bayne & Lena Kross in action
- Konosuke Takeshita vs. Adam Priest
- Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Dante Martin
- Ilja Dragunov vs. The Beast Mortos
- Matt Sydal vs. Tommaso Ciampa
- Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn vs. Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong
- Thekla, Julia Hart & Skye Blue vs. Hazuki, Koguma & Fuwa-chan (Artist of STARDOM Championships)
AAA Heroes Immortales Week 2 / 10 p.m. ET / Youtube
The second of three weeks in AAA’s Heroes Immortales TV special will air tomorrow night. This week’s show was originally scheduled to include Rey Fenix defending his Cruiserweight title against Mini Vikingo. Instead, due to injury, Mini Vikingo had to withdraw from the show, and Fenix pivoted to presenting an open challenge. Which wrestler(s) will answer his call?
- Rey Fenix defends AAA World Cruiserweight Championship in Open Challenge
Goddesses of STARDOM Tag League Night 1 / 10:30 p.m. ET / STARDOM World
STARDOM’s annual tag league will kick off this Sunday, continuing throughout the month of November with 12 events in total before wrapping up on the 29th. Block action in the Red and Blue Leagues is scheduled to begin inside Korakuen Hall this weekend. Among the fun teams: World champ Suzu Suzuki teaming with fellow badass Rina Yamashita, Starlight Kid working alongside Maki Itoh, and CMLL’s Dark Silueta and Valkyria making the trip over to Japan.
- Hanan & Waka Tsukiyama vs. Kikyo Furusawa & Kiyoka Kotatsu (Red League)
- Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara vs. Saori Anou & Fuwa-chan (Red League)
- Mei Seira & Ema Maishima vs. Starlight Kid & Maki Itoh (Red League)
- Maika & Hanako vs. Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani (Red League)
- Saya Iida & Utami Hayashishita vs. Dark Silueta & Valkyria (Blue League)
- Suzu Suzuki & Rina Yamashita vs. Tora Natsuko & Ruaka (Blue League)
- Hina & Lady C vs. Ranna Yagami & Akira Kurogane (Blue League)
