Claudio Castagnoli’s next CMLL World title defense set

Claudio Castagnoli will have two challengers when he makes his next CMLL World Heavyweight Championship defense.

CMLL has confirmed that Castagnoli will defend his title against Euforia and Akuma in a three-way match at Arena Mexico this Friday night. The match was set up by Euforia and Akuma both answering an open challenge that was issued by Castagnoli.

This will be Castagnoli’s fifth defense since winning the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship from Gran Guerrero in November 2025. So far, the AEW star has successfully retained against Ultimo Guerrero, Roderick Strong, Xelhua, and Josh Alexander during his reign.

“I know I’m the best CMLL World Heavyweight Champion that you’ve ever seen,” Castagnoli said in the promo where he issued this open challenge. “Now I want to know who is going to step up when I come back to Arena Mexico next Friday, February 27 to defend this prestigious title.”

Friday night’s Arena Mexico show is still scheduled despite civil unrest in Mexico forcing CMLL to cancel an event that was supposed to be held in Guadalajara tonight. Along with Castagnoli working the show, AEW’s Johnny TV is set to compete in a hair vs. hair match in the main event against Angel de Oro.

CMLL airs its Friday night shows on YouTube for subscribers at the two highest subscription levels.

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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.