The next week in pro wrestling promises to be one of the best all year (which is saying something). Here’s what is on tap.
Recommendation of the Week: AZM vs Starlight Kid
Just over a year ago, AZM beat Starlight Kid to win the High-Speed Championship for the second time. Since then, she overcame every challenger that was thrown at her, but now Starlight Kid gets that rematch that’s one year in the making. With the insane matchup between AZM and the IWGP Women’s Champion Mercedes Moné looming on the horizon, it’s possible that Starlight Kid might get her title back for the time being.
One thing is certain, whether you will watch this match or not, you are going to see the opening sequence of it on your timeline.
AEW
What looks like a shorter seven-match PPV card for AEW, gets a lot more interesting when you think about it further. The main match of the PPV is of course the 60-minute Ironman Match between MJF and Bryan Danielson. MJF and Bryan have made me much more excited with their intense confrontation on the last Dynamite. The Elite defend their Trios Titles against the House of Black. AEW’s Women’s Division has been under fire for the recent Outsiders storyline. The next checkpoint for the story is the three-way between Saraya, Jamie Hayter, and Ruby Soho. Samoa Joe has been dominant as the ROH Pure and the TNT Champion, but he’s facing his biggest enemy Wardlow. In another banger, Jon Moxley and Hangman Adam Page will absolutely destroy each other.
Stardom
There are numerous other quality matchups on the Stardom card. One of them being the second defense of Giulia’s World of Stardom Championship against Maya Yukihi. The trios of God’s Eye, 7Upp, Prominence and Cosmic Angels will battle to be the winner of the Triangle Derby. The soon-retiring Himeka faces off against the beast Chihiro Hashimoto. In the last 5STAR GP, Hazuki was unbelievably impressive and now she gets the chance to dethrone the dominant Saya Kamitani.
Hiromu Takahashi
Takahashi organized an impressive card with some of the best juniors in the World. AJPW’s Atsuki Aoyagi takes on Master Wato, who has certainly been gaining traction recently. Fans of High Flying action will love the five way co-main event involving Taiji Ishimori, YO-HEY, Soberano Jr., Shun Skywalker, and Ninja Mack. AMAKUSA, Fujita Hayato and Hiromu Takahashi team up against HAYATA, Kazuki Hashimoto and YAMATO.
NJPW x CMLL
Two things happen this week in NJPW. First, Fantastica Mania ends with some awesome matchups including the CMLL guys like Volador Jr, Templario, Mistico, Atlantis Jr, and Soberano Jr. Second, the New Japan Cup kicks off this weekend. The first matches are Tetsuya Naito vs. El Phantasmo and Taichi vs. SANADA. The Cup is always very hard to predict, so I’m not even gonna try.
GCW
Drew Parker announced that his match against John Wayne Murdoch will be his last Deathmatch. I am interested to see, whether he decides to go all out one last time, or whether he chooses to stay safe. Anyway, all the best to him. The next night, he faces Mike Bailey. The Mexican sensation El Hijo del Vikingo will face Alex Zayne.
WWE
NXT has quite a decent card this week, with Japanese legend Meiko Satomura taking on Zoey Stark, Wes Lee issuing an open challenge for the North American Championship and the first NXT UK Champion, Tyler Bate facing Carmelo Hayes. On Raw, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky defend their women’s tag titles against Becky Lynch and Lita.
GWF
The GWF is hosting the next yearly iteration of the Light Heavyweight Cup. One first Round Match is LJ Cleary vs. Peter Tihanyi. At that event, Pascal Spalter defends the GWF World Title against Kodai Nozaki. The winner of that will have to deal with the winner of the Number 1 Contenders Match between Bad Bones John Klinger and Mike D Vecchio.
REVOLVER
Revolver has a great event lined up with 2 lovely matches. Johnny Revolver, or whatever his name is currently, battles Ninja Mack, who has been making waves in the American Indies and in NOAH. The other big match is the collision involving KUSHIDA and Jonathan Gresham. This one will be one to watch!
West Coast
The West Coast Championship is on the line as Titus Alexander faces Nick Wayne in a TLC match. Lower on the card, Speedball Mike Bailey wrestles Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Timothy Thatcher.
Overview
This week again has an incredible amount of pro wrestling events, but the quality has risen by quite a bit compared to last week. AEW and STARDOM are must-watch in my opinion! Did I miss anything? What are you excited about the most? Send me all your feedback to @UpcomingWrestl1 on Twitter.
Stay tuned to the Five Star Network for all updates on the world of Joshi, Puro, and more!