It's crossover time once again, and for us sickos that means the fourth annual AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door!
This year FD is a couple months later than usual, and it's also in London instead of All In. So instead of a hard-to-fill Wembley Stadium, the show will emanate from an absolutely packed O2 Arena. Since AEW is still struggling with US ticket sales for their weekly shows it's always a treat to see a show take place in a full large-scale venue to give the PPV that extra atmosphere. It's also neat that this FD has outsold the previous three.
The Forbidden Door concept is definitely losing its novelty due to NJPW not at all being a hot promotion right now, coupled with my not wanting to see AEW's storylines interrupted for special one-off stuff. But this year feels much more like an AEW show that happens to feature a handful of NJPW talents. Most of the matches do involve ongoing AEW content, so it should fit right into their continuity. The card is quite loaded up, albeit with a few caveats, and on paper looks like the strongest Forbidden Door lineup to date. Let's take a look....
AEW Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate vs. FTR vs. Brodido
Well the long-running tournament to determine new #1 contenders ended in a time limit draw, which feels a bit like a copout, but on the bright side the addition of Brody King and Bandido to this match will undoubtedly improve it. It will also be held under elimination rules, so THS is either retaining the titles or actually losing to another team. Conventional wisdom would favor FTR to win the titles and then defend them in Toronto against Cope and Christian, although I don't see why that match needs the belts involved. I'd actually love to see Brodido win here but I think that's kind of a longshot. If THS retains I dunno who else they have to defend against. I guess I'll go with FTR.
Pick: FTR
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Killswitch & Kip Sabian
This was of course supposed to involve Nick Wayne teaming with Kip, but Nick revealed last night that he has a broken foot and will miss a few months. Cue the return of Killswitch, finally healthy after battling a lung issue last year. Great to see him back. Obviously Team ACCC is winning this on their way to facing FTR at All Out, and Kip Sabian has to be eating the pin. I wonder if we'll see Killswitch reunite with Jack Perry as a heel team at some point. They both have a long history with Christian, so why not feud them with Cope and Cage?
Pick: ACCC
TNT Championship: Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Part of me was hoping they'd have Takeshita challenge Kyle here but that can always happen later. This is quite a mismatch of styles and sizes but should be a very fun bout. Takahashi hasn't had a really noteworthy singles match in a while, so this will be refreshing. Kyle is obviously keeping the belt.
Pick: Kyle retains
TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla
This'll be a crazy party match and should be a fun one. Mercedes has a RevPro match ahead of this so may end up with nine belts by Sunday. I'm curious if there's a plan yet for her to drop the TBS Title to anyone in particular. They're obviously gonna have her break Jade Cargill's reign first (she's only sixty days away).
Pick: Mercedes retains
IWGP World Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Nigel McGuinness
I'm stoked for this one. A true dream match of UK technical wizards. Nigel has looked great in the couple matches he's had in AEW, and he's in there with one of the best workers in the business. Nigel seems to be headed into a feud with Daniel Garcia, pending a Garcia heel turn, which should also yield some fine work.
Pick: ZSJ retains
AEW Women's Championship: Toni Storm vs. Athena
This one should be great and they've done a fine job of building up the longtime ROH Women's Champion as a legitimate threat. But it should be another case of Toni eking out a win over a fellow champion to further cement her as THE face of the women's division. As with Mercedes, I wonder if there's anyone earmarked to eventually dethrone Toni (not that I want her losing the title anytime soon). I would think either Statlander, Willow or Megan Bayne.
Pick: Toni retains
AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland
On one hand Okada's had the Continental Title forever, but on the other he just unified it with the International a month ago and the build for this match hasn't suggested a title change. Should be a fantastic match either way but I think Okada probably holds onto this belt until World's End. Maybe Swerve wins it then?
Pick: Okada retains
AEW World Championship: Hangman Adam Page vs. MJF
The build for this went from MJF cashing in his contract to MJF kidnapping Mark Briscoe and threatening to burn him alive unless Page agreed to waive the disqualification and countout rules about title changes, and to allow him to keep the contract to cash in later. While segment was well executed it does feel like a retcon and reopens the possibility of a Money in the Bank-style cash-in, which needs to be retired for all wrestling promotions. Cash-ins are fucking stupid and only two in the twenty-year history of MITB have been good: Edge in 2006 (which was undermined by him losing the title right back three weeks later) and Seth Rollins in 2015. Don't do them anymore, they suck. That said, I think the reason Mark Briscoe was involved here was so he could either a) thwart MJF's attempt to cash in after this match is over, or b) challenge for and win the guaranteed contract and call his shot against Hangman on a future Dynamite episode. If either of those things happens, then we're fine. Hangman's retaining in the official match, after that all bets are off.
Pick: Hangman retains
Unsanctioned Steel Cage Match: Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli/Gabe Kidd/Young Bucks vs. Will Ospreay/Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Darby Allin
Man, imagine if this babyface team had been assembled in 2019? Someone posted on Twitter something to the effect of "Will Ospreay says he's 'calling in some friends' and he calls in the fucking Avengers." This match is obviously going to be insane, particularly with Moxley and the Bucks involved to lay it out. However, goddamn are there a lot of injured people here. Ospreay may be undergoing neck surgery after this, Kenny is banged up and battling stomach issues, Ibushi has looked better than at anytime since 2021 but is nowhere near that level, and Tanahashi's knees are so fucked he can't run anymore. Looks like Darby's doing all the crazy stunts in this one. They obviously have to set up Mox vs. Darby one-on-one for All Out, so it seems like the heels ought to win this, but would they really have Ospreay lose in his hometown? I guess if he really is due for surgery and will miss a year (fuck, that sucks), it would make sense for Team Mox to win and take him out, no? And that would then add juice to the Mox-Darby feud.
Pick: I know most are picking the faces to win but I think a Death Riders mauling makes more sense
So there's your Forbidden Door 2025 lineup. As I said, it looks pretty fantastic and could eclipse even the excellent FD 2024 show. I just hope no one gets hurt....
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