Various: Zach Gowen Announces Retirement From His In-Ring Wrestling Career, Yota Tsuji MLW Debut Appearance Set for MLW Saturday Night SuperFight, Full Card for NOAH Wrestle Odyssey II, Indies/Misc.

Oct 16, 2026

Zach Gowen Announces Retirement From His In-Ring Wrestling Career

Former WWE talent Zach Gowen announced this past Wednesday on Facebook that he has officially retired from his in-ring wrestling career.

“First promo pic and last promo pic! My in-ring career has come to an end. Thank you to every promoter who gave me an opportunity to wrestle. I’ve had the privilege of performing for every major company over the past 24 years. Special thank you to the fans for not rejecting me. Pro wrestling provided a direction and outlet for a very lost kid. All I ever wanted to be was a professional wrestler and I accomplished that solely because you accepted me not as a sideshow act but as a legitimate pro wrestler. I’m deeply grateful.
The best moment of my career was wrestling for AEW in front of my wife, kids, and parents. That was the cherry on top after burning my career to the ground as a result of my crippling drug addiction then having the opportunity to not only rebuild my life but my passion then sharing that with the world while enjoying every second of it.
My victories are not the result of my talents but ultimately the result of God working through others allowing them to pour into and invest in me. I am the luckiest guy in the world.”

Prior to his announcement, Gowen had been wrestling since 2002. Gowen is most known for his time in WWE from 2003 to 2004. Gowen also made several appearances in TNA Wrestling from 2003 to 2006 and made an appearance in AEW in 2025.

Yota Tsuji MLW Debut Appearance Set for MLW Saturday Night SuperFight

As noted before, the October 10th episode of MLW Fusion featured a video airing teasing NJPW talent and current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji making his upcoming debut appearance in Major League Wrestling.

Thursday’s MLW Fusion show on Tubi featured another video airing featuring Tsuji announcing that he will be making his official debut appearance for MLW at their Saturday Night SuperFight event at the Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois.

YOTA TSUJI (@njpw_yotatsuji) IS COMING TO MLW?! Watch MLW FUSION: https://t.co/y45aGqILFw https://t.co/tVjSFJjB8W
— MLW (@MLW) October 16, 2026

Full Card for NOAH Wrestle Odyssey II

Pro Wrestling NOAH recently announced the full card for Wrestle Odyssey II, which takes place on October 25 at the Ryōgoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Dark match – Atsushi Kotoge & Hi69 vs. Hiroto Tsuruya & Hiroya Namiki
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Alejandro & Daiki Odashima vs. Team 2000X (YO-HEY & Jun Masaoka) (c)
Four-Way Tag Team match – Team 2000X (Alpha Wolf & Tadasuke) vs. Tetsuya Endo & Yuto Koyanagi vs. Los Tranquilos de Japon (BUSHI & RYUSEI) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita & Black Menso-re
Maybach Taniguchi & KENTA vs. Team 2000X (Masa Kitamiya & Takashi Sugiura)
GHC200 Championship: Shuji Kondo vs. HAYATA (c)
Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura vs. Kenoh & Kouga
GHC National Championship – Luis Mante vs. Naomichi Marufuji (c)
GHC Tag Team Championship Three-Way Tag Team match – The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. T.M.D.K. (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) vs. Yuki Iino & Manabu Soya (c)
GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship – Dragon Bane vs. Kai Fujimura (c)
GHC Heavyweight Championship – OZAWA vs. Tetsuya Naito (c)

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Ring of Honor announced that Bandido broke the all-time record for longest combined days as ROH World Champion at 709 days as of Thursday.

ROH also announced two new matches for the card of next week’s ROH TV show on HonorClub:

ROH Pure Championship – Mance Warner vs. Lee Moriarty (c)
Mina Shirakawa vs. Isla Dawn

PRODUCE Wrestling recently announced that ROH commentator Caprice Coleman will be making an appearance for the company at their Volume 7: Friday event on November 27 in Brooklyn, New York.

CMLL recently announced the full card for next week’s Domingo Familiar show on October 18 at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico. Among the notable new matches announced was a CMLL World Women’s Championship match of AZM vs. Persephone (c).

Mystery Wrestling recently announced that they will be holding a Direct live stream on November 5 on Twitch and YouTube to discuss the company’s plans for 2027.

Thursday’s Legacy Rise 2026 event for Pro Wrestling NOAH featured Dragongate talent Luis Mante being officially revealed as the identity of the MPI (Mysterious Phantom Invader).

As noted before, former WWE and AEW talent Mercedes Martinez’s retirement tour for 2026 was cut short this past August due to her recently suffering a torn ACL injury and officially retired from her in-ring wrestling career as a result. Martinez recently provided an update on Twitter announcing that she had underwent surgery for her torn ACL on Thursday. Martinez stated “Today’s the day! ❤️ ACL surgery is finally here. 🙏 TY to everyone who donated, shared, & sent love. You helped get me here & I’m forever grateful. Now begins the road to recovery. Almost 26 years in wrestling, & I’m not done fighting yet! 🖤 GoFundMe https://gofund.me/cfade9dc0“

Major League Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Saturday Night SuperFight event on November 7 in Cicero, Illinois: