In a wild and violent unsanctioned steel cage match that saw a man get his ear torn apart by a fork, IWGP president and all-timer Hiroshi Tanahashi ended his final match ever in London with his hand raised.
Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Darby Allin were victorious over Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd and the Young Bucks at Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in the aforementioned match.
The good mood was quickly dashed as Ospreay, who was left alone in the ring to take in cheers and adulation for what could be his final appearance in quite some time, was attacked by Moxley and Castagnoli. They locked the cage and went to town on Ospreay with multiple DDTs, eventually Pillmanizing his neck in a chair like they did at All In.
The rest of Ospreay’s teammates, joined by The Opps, were unable to get in the cage to assist, only breaking things up when AEW doctors demanded the cage be raised.
Ospreay is expected to go into surgery for two herniated discs that have been bothering him for nearly a year. His timetable to return is unknown, but is assumed to be lengthy.
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As for the match itself, it was a spectacle as expected, marking the respective returns to the ring for Ospreay, Omega, Allin and Kidd who were all on the shelf for various reasons.
The end came when Castagnoli was left inside the ring with Omega, Ibushi and Ospreay. He was taken out, followed by Nick Jackson who was hit by an Omega/Ibushi Golden Trigger. Ospreay then landed a Hidden Blade on Matt Jackson followed by a Omega V-Trigger on Matt with an Ospreay Hidden Blade from the top.
The team then yielded to Tanahashi, wrestling in London for the final time with his retirement coming in January, who hit the High Fly Flow on Matt for the pin and win.
Despite his injury, Ospreay looked like Ospreay, fluid in what he could do and hitting an array of big spots including a moonsault off the top of the cage onto his opponents. Omega also looked crisp in his first match since July’s All In.
Seen below, the most grotesque spot in the match, perhaps of the year as well, saw Moxley take a fork to Allin’s right ear, digging through his earring hole which immediately began spurting blood. This came after Allin was thrown over the top rope by Castagnoli into the cage and after he was duct taped to a chair in the ring. After the incident, Castagnoli then slammed Allin while he was still in the chair.
It was Allin’s first match since last December as he took time off to climb Mt. Everest which may have been less punishing than the match itself.
The match did have its light-hearted moments such as the Bucks pouring out gummy bears instead of thumbtacks as requested which led to spots with the candy, and Tanahashi climbing a ladder to jump on his opponents, only to be coaxed down by Ospreay and Ibushi for his own safety.
The match, seemingly using the Blood & Guts cage with some modifications, saw a barbed wire board brought out and used by Tanahashi who rubbed Moxley’s head into it, countering himself being thrown into it.
Another notable spot saw Moxley use a ladder to escape the cage, aided by Wheeler Yuta on the outside. While Moxley escaped, Allin took chase and pulled Yuta up, pummeling him until he fell backward onto the unbreakable Japanese announce table. Allin then pursued Moxley with a kendo stick.
Allin later put Moxley between a stack of four tables (two by two) and went up to the top of the cage. Marina Shafir pulled Moxley out, but Kidd snuck up from behind, punched Allin low and climbed up to the top with him to the refrains of “Please don’t die.” Kidd pulled him up, but Allin raked his eyes, and then both men fell sideways through the tables, taking them both out of the match at that point.
