Women’s wrestling owns the Friday-night spotlight. WWE has two championship matches and a Street Fight on SmackDown, while CMLL brings together talent from Mexico, AEW, Stardom, MLW, RevPro and Maple Leaf Pro for its Grand Prix de Amazonas. Saturday follows with AEW Collision and AAA Héroes Inmortales. This Late Bell separates confirmed cards from reported developments and rumors.
By David LaGuerre | Utica Phoenix | Reporting cutoff: 5 p.m. Eastern, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026
The weekend viewing board
| Show | Eastern time | U.S. viewing | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| WWE SmackDown | Friday, 8 p.m. | USA Network | Four matches officially advertised |
| CMLL Grand Prix de Amazonas | Friday, approximately 10:30 p.m. | CMLL YouTube channel membership | Official card; local start is 8:30 p.m. in Mexico City |
| AEW Collision | Saturday, 8 p.m. | TNT and HBO Max | Two matches confirmed as of deadline |
| AAA Héroes Inmortales | Saturday, 10 p.m. | WWE and AAA YouTube channels | WWE lists the live U.S. start time |
Cards can change. The arena doors or ticketed event time may differ from the television start, so the times above are the verified broadcast or stream windows rather than arrival guidance.
Confirmed: SmackDown puts two women’s titles on the line
WWE’s final official preview still lists four matches for the Oct. 23 SmackDown from Toyota Arena in Ontario, California:
- Chelsea Green defends the WWE Women’s Championship against Roxanne Perez.
- Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against Michin and B-Fab.
- Giulia faces Blake Monroe in a Street Fight.
- WWE Tag Team Champions The MFTs face Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki, collectively known as Bakusai, in a non-title match.
Green’s defense has the clearest immediate consequence. WWE is promoting a possible champion-versus-champion match between Green and Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan at Crown Jewel on Nov. 7. Perez already owns a non-title victory over Green, although WWE notes that Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez interfered. A Perez title win would therefore change the expected Crown Jewel direction; a Green win would keep that path intact.
The Street Fight may be the better measure of the night’s creative ambition. Monroe beat Giulia in Monroe’s Oct. 2 SmackDown debut. A stipulation match should now provide a finish strong enough to either close their issue or justify another chapter. The morning edition has the basic card; tonight’s question is whether WWE gives the three women’s matches enough time to feel different from one another.
Confirmed: CMLL’s international women take over Arena México
CMLL’s Grand Prix de Amazonas begins at 8:30 p.m. local time in Mexico City, which is approximately 10:30 p.m. Eastern. CMLL directs online viewers to the membership area of its official YouTube channel. Access may require a paid channel membership.
The main event is an 11-on-11 torneo cibernético. Team Mexico consists of Persephone, Olympia, Tessa Blanchard, Skadi, Thunder Rosa, Lluvia, Garra Negra, India Sioux, Kira, Zeuxis and Keyra. Team World features AEW’s Queen Aminata, Megan Bayne, Harley Cameron and Marina Shafir; Stardom’s Momo Watanabe, AZM, Miyu Amasaki and Mei Seira; MLW’s Masha Slamovich; RevPro’s Emersyn Jayne; and Maple Leaf Pro’s Alice Crowley.
Phoenix analysis: The attraction is not simply the number of promotions involved. The format gives wrestlers with different styles and levels of familiarity a chance to form temporary alliances, then survive as eliminations change the numbers. It is also a useful bridge into the rest of the weekend: Queen Aminata remains in Mexico for singles matches against Olympia on Saturday and India Sioux on Sunday.
Reported: Ric Flair hospitalized after a fall
Wrestling Observer/F4W reported Friday afternoon, citing TMZ, that Ric Flair was taken by ambulance to a hospital after falling outside a restaurant in Tampa, Florida. The report says Flair suffered cuts near his head and eye and that a concussion was possible. No diagnosis or complete update on his condition had been made public by the reporting cutoff.
Flair, 77, had already canceled a scheduled convention appearance in Washington state. According to F4W, he said a blood clot in his leg limited long-distance travel and that he was focused on getting healthy. This is a developing health story. The Phoenix is not treating speculation about the cause of the fall or Flair’s prognosis as fact.
Collision: only two matches are confirmed so far
AEW Collision is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern on TNT and HBO Max from the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As of Friday’s deadline, AEW had publicly confirmed FTR against the Motor City Machine Guns in match two of their best-of-five series. The Machine Guns lead 1–0. Swerve Strickland is also scheduled to face Myron Reed.
Those are the only matches we are listing as confirmed. AEW’s event page verifies the date and venue, but the promotion had not posted a complete official Collision preview. Rather than fill the gap with fan graphics or assumed matches, the Late Bell will wait for AEW’s final card.
Confirmed: AEW moves Dynamite to Friday for New Year’s Smash
AEW announced a two-night New Year’s Smash at Gateway Arena in College Park, Georgia. Dynamite will air live on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, followed by Collision on Saturday, Jan. 2. The Friday placement is the important schedule change because Dynamite ordinarily airs on Wednesday.
AEW’s event listing says premium-seat access begins Oct. 27, presales begin Oct. 28 and general ticket sales open Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. Eastern. The promotion has not announced matches or a broadcast start time, so neither belongs on a projected card yet.
AAA brings three title matches to Saturday night
WWE’s official weekly schedule lists AAA Héroes Inmortales for Saturday, Oct. 24, at 10 p.m. Eastern on YouTube. The first broadcast week is built around three championships:
- El Grande Americano defends the AAA Mega Championship against Dominik Mysterio.
- La Catalina defends the Reina de Reinas Championship against Flammer and La Hiedra in a three-way match.
- Los Perros del Mal defend the AAA World Trios Championship against La Parka, Mr. Iguana and Niño Hamburguesa.
AAA is also advertising Marisela Peña’s Hall of Fame induction. Additional taped matches are scheduled to air over the following two Saturdays, including Rey Fénix defending the Cruiserweight Championship against Mini Vikingo and El Fiscal facing Abismo Negro Jr. Those later matches should not be mistaken for Saturday’s live Week 1 lineup.
TNA’s audience rises after Bound For Glory
Wrestling Observer/F4W, using Wrestlenomics data, reports that the Oct. 15 TNA iMPACT episode averaged 252,000 viewers on AMC. That was a 17.8 percent increase from the prior week and TNA’s largest audience since July 23. The reported 0.05 rating among adults 18–49 tied the program’s best mark of the AMC era.
One week does not establish a permanent trend, but the increase gives TNA something measurable to build on while it signs established names and prepares Destination X. For complete Oct. 22 results, including Jason Hotch’s successful title defense and Shotzi Blackheart’s involvement, see today’s Morning Bell. For the Shayna Baszler signing and Canadian event announcements, see the Late Bell Extra.
Reported schedule change: NXT may move for election coverage
Fightful and Wrestling Observer reporting says the Nov. 3 NXT episode is expected to move to Wednesday, Nov. 4, because The CW will carry election coverage Tuesday night. TV Insider’s CW listing currently places NXT at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, opposite AEW’s Blood & Guts episode.
This is best described as a reported scheduling change, not a fully promoted WWE announcement. The CW’s own published schedule currently confirms the regular Tuesday, Oct. 27 NXT at 8 p.m. Eastern, but the network and WWE had not posted a dedicated Nov. 4 announcement by our deadline. Viewers should check local listings as the date approaches.
Raw, ROH and the rumor line
- WWE Raw: Monday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. Eastern on Netflix. No complete official match card was available by deadline.
- WWE NXT: Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 8 p.m. Eastern on The CW. The network schedule confirms the broadcast; Halloween Havoc follows Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. Eastern.
- ROH: Thursday’s results are covered in the Morning Bell. No separate Friday afternoon ROH match announcement was found that warranted repeating the recap.
- Rumors: No additional unnamed-source claim is being elevated in this edition. The NXT date item is labeled reported and supported by a television listing; AEW’s January dates and the four weekend cards above are official.
Primary sources and reporting
- WWE: official SmackDown preview
- WWE: weekly schedule, including AAA Héroes Inmortales
- CMLL: Grand Prix de Amazonas card
- AEW: Collision event listing
- AEW: New Year’s Smash announcement
- F4W: Ric Flair hospitalization report
- F4W: TNA ratings report using Wrestlenomics data
- TV Insider: Nov. 4 CW listing
Social media note: AAA’s official Instagram account posted an event promotion for Héroes Inmortales, and AEW posted its New Year’s Smash announcement. They are linked rather than embedded because stable native embedding and any third-party music or footage permissions could not be independently confirmed. No social video was downloaded, altered or reuploaded.
