Tag: Aew X Njpw: Forbidden Door

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door predictions & preview: The incredible greatness of being

Posted on by Mike DellaCamera

The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects the views of the author.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door has redefined the modern possibilities within the wrestling industry, standing as a beacon of innovation, a true showcase of both the art and sport of professional wrestling.

There’s been some hand wringing about how there are no stories for this show, but that misses the point about what this show actually is: a pure wrestling exhibition with a kaleidoscope of talent from across the globe. It’s supposed to be fun and wrestling is supposed to be fun. Yes, having compelling stories makes everything better, but an annual spectacle like this is good for wrestling and great for the viewer.

Sunday is a jam-packed show with 14 matches counting the pre-show. Let’s jam through them and make some predictions. 

Editor’s note: This preview was submitted prior to AEW Collision.

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta), Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino vs. The Elite (Young Bucks and Hangman Page), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii

The saga of The Elite and Blackpool Combat Club continues on, undaunted and unceasing like the flow of time. I’m all for it. It’s just a wonderful blend of styles and wrestling ideologies. The addition of Kingston makes it even more compelling. He removes the governor from the engine. Anything is possible when the Mad King is on the scene (he tried to light Chris Jericho on fire!) He’s the best and it’s so good to see him back.

His return adds a significant amount of intrigue. Always true to form, Kingston hates just about everyone in this match with the exception of Moxley. Though, I do think he and Page would probably get along famously. He loathes the Bucks, can’t tolerate Yuta, and would most likely give up his entire existence to see Castagnoli fail. Spite and pettiness will drive a man to do outrageous things, and we will always appreciate a petty king.

Prediction: The Elite

Owen Hart Foundation tournament men’s quarterfinal: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

This is not the place for my New Yorker-length essay about Punk. The tl;dr version: Punk being back is objectively good for business and each side of this feud is acting all sorts of childish. Punk’s press conference was petulant teenager behavior and absolutely warranted punishment, but to make it seem like the guy committed kayfabe murder is a bridge too far. 

One of the best parts of the whole thing has been the passive aggressive social media posts and veiled references. It drives the Internet Wrestling Community™ insane, and anything that does that is aces in my book. (Just look at this thread.) Punk gave everyone PTSD! Punk should go to jail! I often wonder and worry about these people and if they have meaningful relationships.

But yeah, Punk didn’t come back to lose to Kojima.

Prediction: Punk

Adam Cole vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor

It was great to see Cole look like Cole when he wrestled MJF earlier this month. His match against Chris Jericho was…concerning to say the absolute least. Free from the smothering clutches and stench of that, Cole was back in the form that made him The Guy in every promotion he has ever been in. Healthy and primed for a summer run at the top of the card, its time to see if Cole can get it done as a top draw.

Far be it for me to besmirch my occasional co-worker — we have never met, for the record — but this is just another chance for Cole to prove his groove is all the way back. Lawlor is legitimately great and this spot is long overdue. Hopefully. he gets to show out a bit and is on our TV more regularly.

Prediction: Cole

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki vs Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito

It’s 2023. You have a Nintendo 64 with Goldeneye. You just ordered a pizza with extra cheese. Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki, and Sting are sharing a ring. You don’t know it right now, but this is as good as life will ever get.

This match is purely about vibes. Some of the best and worst vibes in all of wrestling are going to be in the ring at the same time. Suzuki? All-time vibes guy. He’s mastered the art of doing as little as possible in the ring and still getting massive reactions. Sting? One of the original vibe-based pro wrestlers. The man hung out in the rafters for months just vibing; never wrestling, just hanging out with some scaffolding and having the crowd frothing.

Meanwhile, Guevara has anti-vibes. The guy got booed when he announced that he’s going to be a girl dad. Guevara as a babyface is a spectacular, futile, failure and the sooner this odd experiment ends the better.

Sting hasn’t lost in AEW and in all likelihood won’t until his retirement match.

Prediction: Sting, Allin & Naito

AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Willow Nightingale

Nightingale is it. Regardless of the circumstances around her becoming the inaugural NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, she carries that belt. She was seen as good enough to wrestle Mercedes Mone for the title and is more than good enough to carry the mantle. Her steady growth over the past few years has made her ready for this spot — by far the biggest of her career to date. She’s handled every challenge thrown her way to this point, and is just going to keep getting better. A perfect example of having the unteachable — an organic, meaningful connection to the crowd.

Storm playing the slimy heel is the perfect contrast to Willow’s bubbliness. Storm is far too good of a wrestler to be saddled with all of The Outcasts’ shenanigans. Make no mistake that this is one of the best women wrestlers in the world. She just has a suboptimal gimmick right now. But when the bell rings, and its winning time, Storm always performs.

Prediction: Storm retains

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Katsuyori Shibata, Daniel Garcia and Zack Sabre Jr. in a four-way

I thought I was dreaming when this match was announced. Like the main event, this is a match that could only be imagined. A few years ago, Cassidy was a gimmick wrestler on the independents, Garcia was still finding his way on those same indies, and Shibata still had a broken brain. ZSJ was out there doing the damn thing, but still hadn’t fully found his lane as the cocky British dickhead. Now he has fully embraced who he is: the bendy man, the long mover, and the funniest interview in pro wrestling.

Cassidy keeps on keeping on with his incredible run of title defenses. Every time I think he’s going to drop the belt, I am proven to be, as always, spectacularly wrong. I am now convinced he is the only champion in the company that Tony Khan truly loves and trusts. He puts him on TV every week, pairs him with diverse, interesting talents, and lets him cook. Since I think he’ll retain on Sunday, he’s absolutely going to lose.

Prediction: Cassidy retains

IWGP World Champion SANADA defends against “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry (w/ Hook)

No amount of handsome can make this match compelling for me. Perry still hasn’t found it on the microphone, and no amount of swearing on live TV will mask that. Until he becomes a real three-dimensional, interesting character, his ceiling is right where he is now: good but not great and entirely forgettable in a sea of far more compelling personalities.

SANADA finally finished his story…and this is his reward? Last year, the NJPW title match had Jay White, Okada, and the Adams (Cole and Page). So you go from four main event-level performers (though your personal tastes may vary) to this? Being a small player in a desperate Perry heel turn seems awful and unbefitting of the NJPW World Champion.

Prediction: SANADA

AEW World Champion MJF defends against Hiroshi Tanahashi

Even in his rapidly breaking down state, Tanahashi is still deserving of our full attention.

At times, it’s painful to watch him try to move on his ever deteriorating knees. He was moving significantly better last year at Forbidden Door, but even then it was clear he was gutting through it. His knees and body might fail him, but his wrestling mind is as sharp as ever. Unrivaled at pacing a match, understanding the moment and controlling a crowd, Tanahashi could have a compelling match with a tree stump. We should enjoy seeing as much of we can of a true living legend that has done everything at the highest possible level, because there’s a time coming soon where we won’t be able to.

Even though MJF can do almost everything in the ring, he’s at his best when he does less. Working with someone like Tanahashi can hopefully bring out the best in MJF and quell some of the egregious self-indulgence that can make its way into his matches. Tanahashi’s limitations will prevent his worst qualities from peeking out. MJF has talked a lot of noise about not watching NJW, calling it a glorified indie, etc. But he’s a student of wrestling history and he is all too aware that Tanahashi is a living legend. This might not be the best match on the card, but there will be one or two moments where Tanahashi makes us believe he can win, like he always does.

Prediction: MJF

NJPW U.S. Champion Kenny Omega defends against Will Ospreay

You, dear reader, have already decided if you’re going to like this match. You decided the moment it was announced. Most likely, you decided before it was announced. People either love everything these two do, or find it overwrought, overdone, and entirely too much. From a purely bell-to-bell perspective, I tend to lean with the former. I am a fan of two grown-up theater kids showing incredible displays of athleticism. I enjoy it!

Like most people, I thought their match at January’s Wrestle Kingdom was very good. I didn’t think it was the best match I have ever seen, but it certainly was an athletic spectacle. I thought it would have been even better if it was 15 minutes shorter. The best thing that could happen to this match is if it has a 20-minute time limit and is somewhere in the middle.

Both Omega and Ospreay only know how to go full tilt in big matches. They are both driven by the desire to be seen as the best and to be the measuring stick for future generations. There’s more juice to this story and it won’t end on Sunday.

Prediction: Will Ospreay

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

The term “dream match” is certainly thrown out far too loosely, but this match actually feels like a dream. The steps to get here were unfathomable.

Six years ago, the odds of this match happening would have been infinitesimal. No casino in the world would have even taken a bet. Danielson was still in WWE and had just made his return after a two-year retirement. AEW was just a glimmer in The Elite’s eyes and not even a kernel in the mind of Tony Khan. Now, in 2023, in a world where the second and third largest wrestling companies in the world work together, anything is possible — even this.

The best big match performer of modern times is still somehow just 35. Okada is doing his best work in years, playing the role of the salty, grizzled young veteran. He’s been making it look easy for years and you can argue that he’s just entering his prime. Most wrestlers peak and find out who they really are in their 30s. If what he’s done up until now was him just getting started, the next phase of his career could be legendary.

This is the match, though. The Match. It exemplifies the meaning of the entire show: an exhibition of greatness. Bryan Danielson is the greatest wrestler I have ever seen, one with an unlimited wrestling vocabulary. There is nothing he can’t do in the ring. He hasn’t wrestled since Anarchy in the Arena which makes me think he’s been in the naturopathic version of a hyperbaric time chamber getting ready. He knows how much this match means, and how big it is in the modern history of pro wrestling. He’s going to be ready to put on a historic match with as good of a dance partner as he will ever have. But will his prep be enough? 

Okada lives for the biggest matches in the biggest moments, and few are bigger than this.

Prediction: Okada

Adam Cole vs. Tom Lawlor set for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Posted on by Josh Nason

Adam Cole now has a match for Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. 

Made on Friday’s edition of AEW Rampage, Cole will take on former NJPW Strong Champion Tom Lawlor on the pay-per-view from Toronto, Canada.

Cole came out for a promo and was interrupted by his recent rival/future tag team partner MJF. The AEW World Champion said he talked to Tony Khan and got Cole booked against Lawlor for Sunday. Lawlor and Royce Isaacs then attacked Cole from behind while MJF slowly made his way down to the ring, pretending to want to help. Once he finally got there, Lawlor and Isaacs took off.

Lawlor didn’t appear on last year’s Forbidden Door and this will be his first-ever sojourn in an AEW ring. Cole competed in a four-way for the IWGP World title at Forbidden Door where he sustained a concussion that kept him out of action until last March.

Here’s the current card for Sunday:

  • IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega defends against Will Ospreay
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defends against Jungle Boy
  • AEW World Champion MJF defends against Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Willow Nightingale
  • AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Daniel Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr. and Katsuyori Shibata in a four-way
  • Eddie Kingston, Tomohiro Ishii and The Elite (The Young Bucks & Hangman Page) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Shota Umino and Konosuke Takeshita
  • Adam Cole vs. Tom Lawlor
  • Sting, Darby Allin & TBA vs. Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara
  • Owen Hart Foundation men’s quarterfinal: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
  • Zero Hour pre-show: Owen Hart Foundation women’s quarterfinal: Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Bryan Danielson: I’ve wanted Kazuchika Okada match ‘for so long’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada have both commented on their upcoming match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. 

Okada and Danielson spoke with Sports Illustrated ahead of Sunday’s pay-per-view. Danielson told Justin Barrasso he’s wanted to wrestle Okada since before he even figured it was possible for him to do so. He also considers Okada to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. 

Danielson said: 

“I wanted this match for so long without ever thinking it was a possibility,” says Danielson. “I started watching him while I was in WWE, but there was no place to go work where that match would ever be possible. Then AEW started. That’s why this is so special to me. I wanted it for so long, and it’s now actually going to happen.”

“When Okada first won the IWGP championship, he started having all these incredible matches with Tanahashi,” Danielson continued. “He started building this incredible legacy. The Tanahashi matches, the Kenny [Omega] matches, those stand out to me—their 60-minute one was just unbelievable. The matches with Shingo [Takagi], the matches with [Will] Ospreay, the matches with Zack Sabre Jr.”

“When I watch Okada, I’m watching one of the best of all time. Now I get to experience actually being in the ring with him. What’s that like? That’s what I get to find out.”

Okada also spoke with Sports Illustrated about his upcoming match against The American Dragon. He said during the interview that he realized while watching Danielson wrestle Kenny Omega in AEW that he could do something incredible with him. 

Okada said:

“That is my strongest image of Bryan—when he was in Ring of Honor,” says Okada. “I haven’t seen many of his matches since he went to WWE. When I saw the time limit draw he wrestled with Kenny Omega in AEW, I knew he and I could do something incredible.

“I have respect for him. There’s no hate here. I think that’s the appeal—just pure, competitive wrestling.”

Okada was also asked about a potential match against CM Punk and responded:

“I’m not sure—The Young Bucks are kind of friends of mine,” Okada says with a laugh, alluding to the issues between the Bucks and Punk. “But if fans want to see the match, I want to do it. In Chicago.”

Danielson is focused on being mindful regarding his match with Okada. He wants to enjoy every second of it. 

“I’m telling myself to enjoy this moment, one I thought would never happen. Now I can do it in front of a passionate wrestling crowd in Toronto, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

Our own Dave Meltzer reported in today’s edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Danielson has been banged up since his Ironman match against MJF at Double or Nothing. Meltzer wrote:

Danielson has been hurting since the MJF match going more than [one hour]. He’s only worked one match since then, which was Anarchy in the Arena.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II takes place this Sunday, June 25, from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Okada vs. Danielson is expected to be the main event of the show. 

Wrestling Weekly: AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door predictions, The Bloodline implodes

Posted on by Victor Sosa

On a brand-new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and I discuss the end (maybe?) of The Bloodline in WWE, a big debut for AEW Collision and give our predictions and preview for this weekend’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door this Sunday.

We also talk about Edge, Seth Rollins, and more.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click Here To Listen (sub only)

Fight Game: Expectations for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and I are back with a brand-new Fight Game Podcast for subscribers.

It has been a crazy busy week so far, so we got right into our top five and discussed the following:

  • CM Punk and AEW Collision
  • A look at The Owen Hart Foundation tournaments
  • The optics of The Elite not being on TV this week
  • The next step in the Adam Cole/MJF storyline
  • Look at the Forbidden Door card so far
  • The Bloodline explodes into a civil war in WWE
  • NXT ratings being up and how the show has transitioned

Click Here to Listen for subscribers

Tony Khan AEW media call notes: CM Punk, ‘One Bil Phil,’ Forbidden Door II, more

Posted on by Ian Carey

The audio for Khan’s call can be found below.

Tony Khan answered questions from the media today to promote Sunday’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view. 

During the hour-long conversation, Khan denied reports his family has shown interest in purchasing Bellator, he addressed CM Punk’s “One Bil Phil” comment on Collision, and more. 

Notes from the call are below:

  • USA Today asked about The Elite and CM Punk being on the same card. Khan responded that it’s great to have so many superstars on Forbidden Door and he’s really excited about having Punk and The Elite on the show. However, he never spoke about them being in the same building at the same time. 
  • AdFreeShows asked about the “locker room dynamic” regarding Punk being back. Khan said so far it’s been a positive experience at the last two shows in Chicago. He then hyped up Punk’s upcoming matches this weekend. 
  • Khan said everyone was really excited about the television ratings for Collision. 
  • Bleacher Report asked about booking Jungle Boy vs. SANADA. Khan said Jungle Boy was his first pick for the match. He said the whole company believes in him and he has continued to develop over the years. 
  • DAZN asked where Bryan Danielson vs. Okada ranks as far as matches Khan’s been excited to book. Khan said it ranks near the top in terms of his anticipation as a promoter or fan. He’s also happy with how they’ve been building the match up in recent weeks. 
  • WrestleZone asked about the Owen Hart Cup tournament brackets and the lack of Canadians participating. Khan just said they wanted to give the strongest field possible and he feels they did that. He said there will be future Owen Hart tournaments in Canada and there will be chances for Canadian wrestlers to get involved. 
  • Fightful asked about CM Punk vs. KENTA not taking place at Forbidden Door. Khan responded that Punk vs Kojima is the match he wants to see and that Sunday’s pay-per-view has more stars on it than any show they’ve ever produced. As for anyone else who Punk was rumored to wrestle, Khan said he can’t comment on that. 
  • Ella Jay “A Wrestling Gal” asked about Stardom talent not being on the show. Khan mentioned the Stardom pay-per-view happening on the same day. He hopes to work with Stardom in the future.  
  • Khan said he has built stronger connections with NJPW’s Gedo and Takami Ohbari through organizing this show. He continued to talk about the injury problems the show suffered from last year. 
  • Khan was asked by Jim Varsallone about recent reports his family is interested in purchasing Bellator. Khan said he was surprised to see that report and doesn’t know what it’s about. Khan said they haven’t had any conversations about purchasing Bellator.
  • Amy from WrestleJoy asked about The Elite vs. BCC feud. Khan talked about the many different stories taking place within the match, including Moxley and Kingston, Takeshita and The Elite, Kingston and Claudio, etc. 
  • Khan was asked about women working in creative. He mentioned Madison Rayne and Sarah Stock as those who contribute and praised their work. Khan also said he gets the perspective of the top wrestlers as well. He noted that Rayne has been dealing with a foot injury. It was reported in April that she suffered the injury at a set of ROH tapings. 
  • Asked about opening the Forbidden Door with other companies, Khan responded by saying they have strong relationships with other promotions but nothing quite like what they do with NJPW. He thinks it would be great if they get involved with more companies, specifically mentioning Lucha promotions. However, he also mentioned the challenges regarding the promotional battle between CMLL and AAA. 
  • Our own Dave Meltzer asked the AEW president about Punk’s “One Bill Phil” comment and if it was a reference to a new and possibly lucrative television deal with WBD. Khan said Punk’s comment about David Zaslav was a throwback to when wrestlers on TNT would refer to Ted Turner on television. He said the company is continually growing and trying to reach the number that Punk referenced. 
  • Khan was asked about Goldberg being involved with AEW. Khan confirmed that he has had “nice conversations with Bill” about that very thing. He doesn’t see him as a good fit for Sting and Darby Allin’s partner on Sunday, however. 
  • David Bixenspan asked about CM Punk possibly having an ownership stake in AEW. Khan said that’s not the case but Punk wants the company to do well and was just using a colloquialism when he said he’s “trying to run a business.”
  • SEScoops asked about viewership for AEW Collision and what WBD would consider a success. Khan responded that the number they got was considered very successful. He said he doesn’t know the exact number that is projected week to week going forward, however.  
  • SB Nation asked about Kris Statlander and CM Punk coming back from major injuries. Khan said they’ve both hit the ground running and it’s good for returning wrestlers to get the ring rust out early. 

Click Here to Listen for free

Fight Game: Ranking the WWE champions, AEW Collision preview

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.

We got right into our top five of the week where we discussed the following:

  • Ranking the WWE titles in terms of which belts are most over
  • AEW Collision preview
  • The AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 card as it stands
  • Jey Uso’s choice on WWE SmackDown
  • A look at WWE Money in the Bank with some predictions for the briefcases

We then kicked off a new segment called Break It Down where we watched an old match and discussed the positives and negatives through 2023 eyes. We start with the May 20, 1996, episode of WCW Monday Nitro between Ric Flair and Eddy Guerrero.

Click here to listen (sub needed)

Stardom talent not expected at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II

Posted on by Ian Carey

Wrestlers from Stardom are not expected to appear at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II on Sunday, June 25.

Stardom’s Sunshine 2023 pay-per-view takes place from Yoyogi National Gymnasium the same day as Forbidden Door. The promotion’s top stars are all booked for matches on that show. 

Additionally, Stardom informed our own Dave Meltzer they have not been contacted by AEW regarding the event. 

Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio: 

There’s been some talk regarding Stardom and Forbidden Door and there’s nothing going on there.

This is from Stardom. First of all, none of the Stardom women have Canadian visas so even if they wanted to do something, it would have to be rushed, Stardom has a pay-per-view that day. From people in Stardom, there has been no talk from there side, they have heard nothing. They said the only contact that Stardom and AEW have had – they didn’t have any last year either – the only contact they’ve had, Stardom had contacted AEW about perhaps one of the women from AEW wrestling against KAIRI, I believe it was, at the Tokyo Dome show for the IWPG Women’s Championship and they couldn’t get the deal done. It never was never serious. It was going to be KAIRI and Tam [Nakano] at that show. But they did make an inquiry at that time, so that’s the only contact that there’s been. 

KAIRI could have a visa from her time working in WWE, I don’t know that she does. I was told nobody does, and she’s somebody but none of the other women for sure do. They have a pay-per-view that day and every key wrestler on the roster is booked on that pay-per-view. 

Meltzer provided the following update on the situation on Sunday afternoon:

A couple of notes off last night’s show. Pro wrestlers are exempt from needing visas to even though no Stardom talent has Canadian visas, that’s not apparently an issue although Stardom was of the belief it was, but have found out that wasn’t the case. That said, all the Stardom key talent is booked on a PPV in Japan the same day as Forbidden Door and there have been no talks with AEW that had even reached management as of yesterday in regard to talent at Forbidden Door and nobody is scheduled at this point and they are of the belief nobody will be scheduled at this late an hour. At this point only four or five have U.S visas and we’ve seen with so much of the Mexican and U.K. talent what a time consuming process that is to get these days.

Seven matches are confirmed for Stardom Sunshine 2023 on June 25. 

  • Stars (Momo Kohgo, Hanan & Saya Iida) vs. Waka Tsukiyama, Yuna Mizumori, & Sakura Aya
  • Syuri vs. Xena
  • Nanae Takhashi vs. Hanako
  • Tam Nakano, Natsupoli & KAIRI vs. Maika, Suzu Suzuki, & Mei Seira
  • Goddess of Stardom Champions The New Eras (Ami Sourei & Mirai) defend against Club Venus (Mariah May & Mina Shirakawa)
  • Artist of Stardom Champions Baribari Bombers (Giulia, Tekla, & Mai Sakurai) defend against Stars (Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki, & Koguma)
  • Queen’s Quest (Lady C, Hina, Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani, AZM & Miyu Yamasaki) vs. Oedia Tai (Netsuke Tora, Saki Kashima, Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, Ruaka, & Rina)

Fight Game: AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 promises a dream match for the ages

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.

We kicked things off talking about our new Top 5 format. We also talked a little bit about Dark Side of the Ring and this week’s Magnum T.A. episode.

Then, we got into our five important topics of the week. Within those, we discussed the following:

  • The two announced matches at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2, including a dream match
  • The Bloodline saga and why I am so into the Jey Uso character
  • The booking of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Bazler’s WWE Women’s Tag Team title defense
  • MJF and Adam Cole’s promo war on AEW Dynamite and whether it was good for Cole
  • Who we would choose as the next three AEW World champs
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes III at WWE SummerSlam
  • Gunther vs. Kevin Owens on WWE Raw as well as Bron Breakker’s challenge of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins
  • The AEW Collision main event and how differently we might book that show to separate it from Dynamite

Click Here to Listen

Spectrum Cable lists AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 for June 24

Posted on by Ian Carey

Spectrum Cable may have given away the date for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2. 

The company’s pay-per-view listings have the event scheduled for Saturday, June 24, 2023. The first Forbidden Door took place Sunday, June 26, 2023, from the United Center in Chicago. 

Last year’s Forbidden Door featured Jon Moxley defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship in the main event. Jay White also retained the IWGP World Championship in a four-way match against Adam Cole, Kazuchika Okada, and “Hangman” Adam Page. 

Shortly after the event, Tony Khan spoke to NY Post about the future of Forbidden Door events and noted that he hopes to keep them in North America.

Khan said:

“The idea of doing an event [in Japan] with AEW stars and New Japan stars is very potentially interesting, but if it happens it won’t be Forbidden Door. Forbidden Door is gonna stay in North America. It wouldn’t make sense with the time zones, the revenue.”

AEW would have two pay-per-view events before a second Forbidden Door show takes place. The company has AEW Revolution on March 5, 2023, from the Chase Center in San Francisco and the annual Double or Nothing show on May 28, 2023. ROH will also host a pay-per-view on March 31, 2023, from Los Angeles. 

‘The Forbidden Door’ documentary coming to NJPW World

Posted on by Ian Carey

A documentary on AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door is coming soon to NJPW World. 

On Wednesday, New Japan posted a teaser for the film featuring comments from William Regal, Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone, and Kazuchika Okada.

“COMING SOON to @njpwworld: With exclusive interviews and incredible behind the scenes footage, a new documentary looks at “Forbidden Door”s of the past, present and future,” NJPW tweeted. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Sting, and Shingo Takagi are also listed as having participated in the documentary. 

While NJPW is advertising the film as “Coming Soon” an exact date it will be available on the streaming service has yet to be announced. 

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door took place on June 26 from the United Center in Chicago. The show did an estimated 125,000-127,000 buys on pay-per-view. AEW President Tony Khan has stated that the event brought in more than $5 million in pay-per-view sales and $1 million in ticket sales. 

Rocky Romero on how AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door came together, Kenny Omega’s early role

Posted on by Denise Salcedo

After Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door was a wrap, AEW head Tony Khan thanked Rocky Romero for being the liaison between himself and Gedo to ensure that both sides found the collaboration satisfactory.

Romero was on the card itself, teaming with Trent Beretta as Roppongi Vice in the three-way ROH/IWGP Tag Team title match that also included FTR and Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb.

For Romero, this was a unique position to be in. I had the chance to speak to him following the show and he provided lots of insight as to how the event came together, the experience of working in-between AEW and NJPW, and some interesting news about the future.

“I just went back and forth between AEW and New Japan and tried to be sensible and try to be the one to communicate what the ideas were, but also the sentiment and overall what the show needed. Whether it be, ‘We need more of this’ or ‘We need more of this’ and ‘Let’s not forget about American fans or Japanese fans so we need to cater to them this way.’ I was kinda really trying to break that down, so that both sides could understand two completely different ways of doing business. The AEW model is obviously a traditional American TV model whereas New Japan is more of a Japanese tour-based model so it’s very different, the way they booked shows and do things.”

How Kenny Omega helped open the “forbidden door”

While we have seen glimpses of a working relationship between AEW and NJPW the past year or so, it wasn’t always like that. Romero explained how Kenny Omega was the person who helped open the doors between both companies after the relationship became strained following the exit of The Elite from NJPW. 

“…the New Japan/AEW relationship was kinda on ice when the Elite guys had exited New Japan and there was kind of a worry of how they were gonna go forward. Our president at the time didn’t really see the potential in maybe working with AEW. We already had partners in ROH and CMLL, so maybe they were thinking, ‘Let’s see how this AEW thing works out before jumping into it, so we don’t offend our partners Obviously those guys had left ROH too, so it was a very messy and complicated situation.

“Now jumping forward to, I would say, a year-and-a-half ago when Kenny (Omega) called me and had pitched the idea of kind of opening the doors a little bit. Obviously, (Jon) Moxley and (Chris) Jericho were still working with New Japan, but Kenny and the (Young) Bucks were a pivotal, important part of New Japan prior to AEW and they are EVPs, so they hold a lot of power. Not wanting to forget about them completely, we had to open the relationship and Kenny kind of opened that and said ‘Hey, I have this idea of KENTA coming into AEW and working with Moxley since they already had a storyline’ and that’s kinda where everything started.” 

From that point on, he became the liaison between both promotion. Since KENTA first appeared on AEW television in February 2021, he and Tony Khan have been in communication, exchanging talent to appear on NJPW and vice versa. These back and forth exchanges are part of what helped build a strong and trustworthy relationship for both AEW and NJPW.

“All of the things that you have seen, people showing up on AEW television, and AEW stars coming to New Japan Strong, that’s all been Tony and I going back and forth. It’s definitely built a really solid relationship between New Japan and AEW, where I know Tony has said, ‘I can truly say that both companies have trust in each other and confidence in the relationship.’ 

“So that’s really been the most important thing in all of this is building that. And both companies I think have the same view of ‘Let’s try to do something really cool for the fans and let’s try do something different’ because no matter what there is always another company that has such a stronghold on the professional wrestling business worldwide that teaming up only makes sense. These totally awesome products, one in Japan and one in America, can totally team up and not hurt each other’s business or revenue share or anything like that.”

Texting Tony Khan about a joint event

Tony Khan made the Forbidden Door announcement on AEW Dynamite. However, it never really became known how exactly the idea came together.

As it turns out, it was Romero.

“Now, nobody get mad at me if my memory doesn’t serve me well. I think that I sent a text to Tony and said, ‘I think it would be cool if somehow we can figure out how to do some kind of joint event’ and then it just kinda started from there. Then he immediately had ideas about what we could do card-wise, honestly starting with Okada, Jay (White), Hangman (Page). I am not sure if Cole was in the picture at that time or if he came later. 

“But that was already kind of an idea, so it’s funny that it worked out that way, all the way to Forbidden Door. This conversation was like ten months ago or so, I would say. I think that’s kinda how it started and then it just snowballed. So, I wanna say 10 months ago, it started with that text.”

The challenges of putting Forbidden Door together, beating “the curse”

Heading into Forbidden Door, there were a lot of issues that surrounded the show that led to many fans believing that the show was cursed. This included the removal of Bryan Danielson and CM Punk on the AEW side due to injuries and Tomohiro Ishii’s injury and Hiromu Takahashi’s fever on the NJPW side.

Romero spoke about the challenges they faced in pulling off the show. 

“The initial part of the negotiation was fairly easy and just working out details from there. Both sides were pretty giving because they wanted to make it work. Obviously, there is a huge potential for business, so once we got done with that part, we moved onto creative. That’s where it got difficult due to scheduling, other things, injuries, everything else that came down the pipeline, so then it got even more difficult.

“Finally in the last 24 hours or so, Hiromu got the fever, couldn’t come, couldn’t make the plane ride and then it was like This is crazy.’ Everybody was saying ‘This show is cursed’ and then I started to feel like ‘This show is cursed. Something bad is gonna happen!’ And then it goes off without a hitch the day of.

“It felt really good. For an event that I feel had a lot of mixed emotions, everybody seemed to have an opinion on the show, and a lot of people were saying ‘Oh, this will never do well.’ Then the sellout happened, pay-per-view numbers so far have been really really good, and 15,000+ people showed up to the United Center. Not a bad night for a show that was supposedly cursed, and wouldn’t do good business. Thanks to all the haters for hating on it. It also helped promote the show. That’s the funny thing: Everybody having an opinion on the show and saying how it wouldn’t work got people talking about it.”

Forbidden Door 2

Fans are wondering whether or not there will be a second Forbidden Door. Khan has already stated multiple times that he hopes to have more joint events like this one and Romero spoke about how much smoother a second show would hopefully go.

“I definitely think moving forward into Forbidden Door 2, when and if that happens, it will be a much smoother working relationship. Everything should be much smoother because now both companies have a true understanding of how each one works. The things we could do better and fix all of the problems — minus injuries and things that you can’t really (control). They just kinda happen unfortunately. That’s just the name of the game.”

Could the second show happen in Japan? Romero said NJPW is game for it.

“I know that that is something that New Japan is very interested in doing and it doesn’t necessarily have to be Forbidden Door 2. It can be Forbidden Door 3. It can definitely be in Japan. Forbidden Door was successful internationally, so I feel that can be left open. There are definitely tons of places you can go internationally with a card like Forbidden Door. I think Forbidden Door would be successful internationally. It just depends on the timing if we decide to do it in June of next year or if it needs to be accompanied by part of January 4th and 5th or something. I think there are a lot of options.”

Romero said they would like the build to be stronger for a second show, having AEW stars appear on NJPW and vice versa. He also explained how obtaining working visas for the talent played a major role in the storytelling leading up to the show.

“In terms of what we would do differently. I feel like scheduling would be a lot easier because we would know ‘x’ amount of weeks out if people need to come to America, whether it be in the U.S or Japan. The Japan side would have loved to have AEW people come over to help make storylines, but the problem obviously being that there wasn’t enough time to get visas and other things that were just beyond our control. Visas literally opened up three weeks before the build to Forbidden Door started, so it was almost impossible to really get visas at the last second.

“Now, knowing what we need to do, I think we can definitely fix it where I think it will be an even more exciting build. Imagine Bryan Danielson shows up to Dominion or something like that or CM Punk or Kenny show up. That would be really, really cool.”

Orange Cassidy was “tentative” about his match with Will Ospreay

Given what a strong night of wrestling action there was, I asked Romero what his favorite match of the night was. He swiftly answered Orange Cassidy vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship — a match he felt stole the show.

“Here is another example of the fans being like Oh, you could have done anything else with Will Ospreay.’ This was Tony’s idea to do Cassidy and Ospreay. I saw the potential in it because I was like ‘That’s so money because that’s a dream match that maybe you wouldn’t think of right off the bat but it’s a for sure dream.’ Everybody kinda forgets that Cassidy is such a great wrestler because he has such a fantastic gimmick. So, you have two great wrestlers. I thought that was gonna kick butt and it exceeded my expectations because it really stole the show.”

Romero also revealed that Cassidy felt “tentative” about being the guy to wrestle Ospreay on this high-profile event.

“Even going into it, Orange Cassidy was like ‘I am not sure.’ He was a little tentative, like ‘Maybe that’s not a great match for me.’ I was, like, “Dude, this is gonna be awesome.’ We actually talked about it after. He was, like, ‘Dude, that was one of my favorite matches of all-time that I’ve ever done I can’t believe I was tentative.’ I said, ‘If you’re not tentative and you care about what you do, then you really don’t care. So you gotta feel that way as a performer.’ But I think for the most part, Tony and I knew it was gonna be a home run.”

NJPW Strong PPV-sized event coming in October to the U.S.

After discussing Forbidden Door, Romero shared some exciting news regarding New Japan Strong. 

He informed me that for the NJPW Strong show taking place in Nashville as part of Starrcast weekend and Ric Flair’s Last Match on July 30th, they have signed some big stars for that show, heavily alluding to current IWGP Tag Team Champions, FTR.

“We do have NJPW Strong stuff coming up. We have a pay-per-view in Nashville that’s gonna be part of Starrcast. So that’s gonna be huge, that’s July 30th. We just signed some really big names for that, some really really big names. Maybe you’ll see some IWGP tag champions there.”

On top of that, he also revealed that NJPW Strong will be holding a “big pay-per-view sized event coming to the East Coast” later this year around October. He couldn’t reveal more info as contracts have yet to signed.

You can watch my entire interview on YouTube at the top of this post.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door does estimated 125,000-127,000 PPV buys

Posted on by Josh Nason

A big question going into last Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door was how it would perform on pay-per-view given the short time to build and promote it on TV with new faces, and whether AEW fans cared about the concept to begin with.

The question has been answered as the show did an estimated 125,000-127,000 buys, according to Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer said the early estimate shows streaming buys (BR, FITE.tv) down 18% while traditional cable buys are down nearly 24%. 

The show resonated more with American fans than not. 80% of the total buys were from inside the United States which he said is a higher percentage than normal. BR numbers were down slightly from Double or Nothing and Revolution, while European FITE and cable buys weren’t nearly as good.

Meltzer said the PPV got just 7000 buys on New Japan World, but it also aired live from 8 AM to 1 PM local time on Monday in Japan.

The number comes on the heels of May’s Double or Nothing which brought in 155,000 buys. This is the first time AEW has held PPVs on back-to-back months.

February’s Revolution did 173,000 buys, their best of the year so far. They will look to top that with September’s All Out which did a company best 205,000 buys last year.

This week, Tony Khan said Forbidden Door brought in more than $5 million in PPV sales and $1 million in ticket sales:

Young Bucks originally planned to win IWGP tag titles at Forbidden Door

Posted on by Ian Carey

The original plan for the Young Bucks at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door involved them winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that initial plans were for the AEW Tag Team Champions to face the heavyweight tag champions from NJPW at the pay-per-view. 

“Gedo’s original idea was for the Young Bucks to win the IWGP tag titles on the show and make it AEW vs. IWGP tag titles,” Meltzer wrote. “It was changed, and the Young Bucks were on board with that change.”

The decision was later made that it would be an interesting story for FTR to hold the IWGP, ROH, and AAA tag titles. It also sets up a match between FTR and the Young Bucks with four sets of titles on the line. 

“While belts mean less because there are so many of them, there is now a natural push for Young Bucks vs. FTR with four sets of belts at stake and being pushed as a unique match in wrestling history, and could logically be billed as the biggest tag team championship match in history, for that reason,” Meltzer continued. 

Matt & Nick Jackson have won the heavyweight IWGP tag titles once previously. They defeated Evil & SANADA for the belts at Dominion in 2018 and then dropped them to the Guerillas of Destiny at Fighting Spirit Unleashed that September. The Bucks are also seven-time former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. 

July 4, 2022 Observer Newsletter: Forbidden Door review, Logan Paul signs with WWE

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The joint AEW and NJPW Forbidden Door show on 6/26 in Chicago was the most unique major show of the year, and one that would seemingly answer a lot of questions.

The nearly five-hour show was unique in that shows of similar length were criticized for being too long. While they could have cut 30 minutes off Buy In and 11 matches would have been better than 13, when the show was over, we heard almost no complaints about length, or just about anything past the very end of the show and the post-match brawl.

The PPV show itself was one of the deepest in history when it comes to great matches. The live crowd was very hot for all but one match. While all the big names were over as expected, some of the biggest reactions came for the newcomers, Claudio Castagnoli, who as an ex-WWE guy making his debut would get that first-time pop as a surprise wrestler, but also Shota Umino and Clark Connors, and the surprise physical run-in spot with Katsuyori Shibata.

Subscribers can read this week’s issue here.