Hey remember how I said it might be time for AEW to put a moratorium on the Forbidden Door concept? They must've read that (I'm sure they did not) and said "Oh yeah? Challenge accepted, motherfucker." Goddamn was this show incredible. I wasn't sure they could top the 2024 edition, which stood for me as the best one to date, but they did in fact top that one. The 2026 Forbidden Door is not only the new Forbidden Door yardstick, but for me it's the new 2026 PPV yardstick as well.
This show ran very long, to be sure - five hours for the main card, god help us - but it felt like one of those epic three-hour films that you don't really want to end despite the length. Even at five hours this show flew by for me. While a few of the matches went 4-5 minutes longer than they should have, Forbidden Door was bookended by two trios of amazing bouts, with three very good matches in the middle. I'd have perhaps made a couple of different booking decisions than they did, but that's all nitpicking. Any PPV in 2026 that bests this one, I gotta see.
After a solid pre-show that included a good Daniel Garcia-Drilla Moloney match, a fun Maika win over Skye Blue to advance to the Survival of the Fittest TBS Title match, and probably the best Divine Dominion tag title defense against Thunder Rosa and Olympia, the main show kicked off with exactly the match I predicted, The Young Bucks vs. El Sky Team vs. Unbound Company three-way. The crowd went absolutely apeshit for this match as expected, and the six men put together a thrilling 18-minute spectacle of creative offense and crowd-pleasing moves. There was one botch when Mistico attempted to hurricanrana his own partner Mascara Dorada onto a pile of guys on the outside, but aside from that everything looked great. The Bucks finished Titan with the Meltzer Driver (which currently doesn't have a name for some reason). I will say this match seemed to miss its peak in terms of crowd heat, so the finish didn't feel as big as it could have. But otherwise a fantastic opener. ****1/2
Shockingly the Kenny Omega-Zack Sabre Jr. match was second, and this was a gritty 26-minute battle. I'd say this is another match that could've been trimmed by a few minutes but it was still great. They traded tons of grapples and strikes and built to a lovely peak of big moves and counters. Kenny went for the OWA multiple times only for Zack to escape. Zack countered one of them with a triangle choke but Kenny got him up for a powerbomb and hit a V-Trigger and Kamigoye, before finally landing the OWA for the win. Kenny is almost certainly getting another crack at MJF next month, so this was a good high-profile win to put him back into contention. ****1/2
Yet another great match followed, as Jon Moxley defended the Continental Title against Bandido. This had the unfortunate task of following two very hot matches, but they got the crowd into it, with a totally different type of match. There was a great moment early on where Bandido did a monkey flip but Mox rolled through and got to his feet, and celebrated like it was some kind of checkmate. I laughed. Mox gained control soon after and ripped apart Bandido's mask to much crowd heat. Bandido had to wrestle the rest while trying not to show his face. Mox piledrove Bandido on the steps which caused a gusher, and at some point Bandido must've tagged Mox's brow for real because Mox started bleeding hardway. They traded their signature offense before Mox locked in the Bulldog Choke. Bandido did the Bret Hart counter for a nearfall but Mox held on until Bandido went limp. Mox shook Bandido's hand post-match and it looks like Brody King is next in line. Another great match, and I'm not sure there's ever been another PPV with three 4.5ers in a row to kick things off. ****1/2
The next match had an even harder time getting the crowd into it, but Shota Umino and Pac eventually did, with a fine contest. I think probably a large portion of the audience wasn't that familiar with Umino and the ones who were didn't at all think Pac was going to beat him. But these two worked hard and by the end there was some decent heat. The announcers played up the fact that Umino was Moxley's first "Death Rider," as Mox handpicked him to be his protégé in 2019, but Gabe Kidd just basically ousted him from Moxley's circle. At one point Pac did a release powerbomb out of the ring through a ringside table, which scared the bejeezus out of me and looked brutal. Pac almost won with the Brutalizer but Umino made the ropes and eventually hit a Paradigm Shift and his fisherman buster for the win. Post-match Mox came out and had a staredown with Umino, but Hiroshi Tanahashi hobbled his way to the ring (poor guy's knees are spaghetti these days) and Mox bolted. Really good match that hopefully sets up Umino vs. Mox at some point. ****
The AEW Women's World Title was next as Thekla defended against Starlight Kid. Seated at ringside doing hilarious "smell the fart" acting was Stardom President Taro Okada. The camera cut to him during Thekla's entrance and he made the most ridiculous angry face. This was another match where the wrestlers had to work hard to win the crowd over, but they did with flying colors. Starlight Kid came off as a rising star, and Thekla has become one of the most charismatic wrestlers in the company. I look forward to the inevitable Thekla-Toni Storm feud - the promos will be off the charts. Starlight got a lot of offense in this one but Thekla eventually outmaneuvered her, ducking a lariat attempt with a spider bridge, hitting a spear and two Curb Stomps for the win. They cut back to Okada again making a dejected face, and Thekla ripped off Starlight's mask, spit in it, and whipped Okada in the face with it which Okada hilariously sold. Very entertaining match and segment and I'm interested to see this Thekla-Stardom thing continue. ****
The weakest match on the show, though it was still fun, was Cope & Cage vs. The Dogs for the tag belts. This was definitely a good candidate for some trims as it didn't need to be 17 minutes. But all four guys looked great and the bout culminated in a memorable finish. Oddly the match was structured for the heels to work over Christian as the babyface in peril, even though he's not really a babyface. At one point Clark Connors lit a match, blew it out and immediately rubbed the hot end of it on Cage's forehead. After some traded big moves we got a ref bump, Cope and Connors hit each other with a simultaneous spear, and Finlay whacked Cope with the shillelagh. Suddenly the lights went out and the Bang Bang Gang appeared on the stage. When the lights came back up Jay White was standing in the ring and took out Finlay with a Blade Runner, allowing Cope to hit another spear for the win. FINALLY we get to see White vs. Finlay, ten years after I first saw them open some NJPW shows as Young Lions (former Enuffa.com contributor Landon Wayne wrote a piece about them HERE). Good match, but maybe should've been placed earlier on the show. ***1/2
The final three bouts comprised one of the best closing stretches of any PPV I've ever seen. I've never been a fan of the promotional gimmick known as the "triple main event," but I'll be damned if all three bouts didn't feel worthy of the final slot.
The women's Owen Cup Final was first, as two last-minute substitutions faced off, in Mercedes Moné and her superfan Maya World. These two got 24 minutes and by the end the crowd shouted dueling chants while also heavily pulling for Maya to pull of the unthinkable upset. I said in my predictions piece that it was too soon to pull the trigger on Maya, but I think they could've gotten away with it. Still I don't fault them for going with the safe bet in Moné. I am curious how Thekla vs. Mercedes will work as a title match, unless the plan is to do a title change before then - Willow Nightingale seems to already be gearing for a comeback, so maybe she unseats Thekla or challenges Moné for the title shot? Anyway, a few miscues aside this match was pretty great and built to a super dramatic peak. They did dueling triple suplex-type moves, Maya with her bridging fallaway slams and Mercedes with her Three Amigos suplexes. Late in the match Mercedes hit her Moné Maker but Maya kicked out, Maya locked Mercedes in her own submission move for a near tap-out. Moné ultimately countered into her own Statement Maker, and Maya struggled and struggled, almost reaching the ropes. Moné converted it into a pin attempt but Maya kicked out, and Mercedes hit the backstabber and locked in the SM once more, this time pulling way back and forcing a tapout. Almost immediately they cut to Renee Paquette interviewing Athena, who buried Maya to set up an ROH Title match between them. Looks like Maya's gonna end Athena's title reign. Great tournament final and they've set up a brand new star in the women's division. Side note to Tony Schiavone: I'm beggin' ya to stop qualifying women's matches by calling them "great WOMEN'S matches." Just call them great matches, which they are. ****1/2
Surprisingly the 12-man cage match, now dubbed Death's Door and featuring a circular cage that spans most of the ringside area, was in the penultimate spot, which was the right move on this show. Instead of the "death spot" match to bring the crowd down, they put a highly entertaining party match there to give the crowd a boost before the main event. I've long been against the idea of a "death spot" match, so hopefully we're done with those in AEW.
Man was this match fun, a great mix of violence and humor, like a dark comedy. We got some crazy table spots (the MJF team had branded tables with the hilarious Don Callis-MJF painting emblazoned on them), some thumbtacks onto which Darby Allin took a face-first bump (Jesus H. Christ that guy's nuts), and a couple of big bumps off the top of the cage, one from Kevin Knight after a stashed backpack exploded on him, and the other from Darby as he did the Coffin Drop onto a pile of dudes. But we also got lots of comedy spots, some involving other backpacks. Kyle O'Reilly's bag had a Nintendo console in it, and he blew into a game cartridge before inserting it, then whipped Kyle Fletcher with the controllers (those things gotta hurt). Orange Cassidy's bag had orange slices inside, most of which were handed out to his teammates as a refreshing treat, but one of which was squeezed into the cut on Fletcher's head. Roderick Strong had a large hockey bag and midway through the match it was revealed that Lio Rush was curled up inside. Rush attacked the heels and tried to get MJF's diamond ring (a la Gollum), but Okada came up behind and nailed him with a Rainmaker before the heels stuffed him back into the bag. Things finally got serious as everyone started hitting signature moves on each other. MJF tried to hit Mark Briscoe with the diamond ring but Orange Cassidy took one for the team instead. Briscoe hit the Jay Driller on MJF but Jake Doyle broke up the pin. MJF told Andrade to hold Briscoe in place so he could nail him with the diamond ring but Andrade released Mark at the last second and hit MJF with his spinning back elbow. Andrade took off his team T-shirt and revealed one that said "Fuck Don, Fuck MJF" before Mark hit Doyle with the Jay Driller to win. Aside from the fact that Mark should've pinned MJF to win this match since he's challenging him for the title, this was loads of fun and advanced both MJF vs. Briscoe and MJF vs. Andrade, plus Takeshita vs. Fletcher and Allin vs. Knight. Great semi-main event. ****3/4
For the second year in a row the men's Owen Final main evented a PPV, and for the second time it not only stole the show but proved to be one of the best matches of the year. Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland III was a very different type of match than the one they had two years ago. Where the first meeting was a fast-paced, athletic spectacle, this one was a fight to the death, so to speak. They went 35 minutes, starting off quickly but slowing things down for a while and eventually building to a fever pitch and a war of attrition. Ospreay bled early when Swerve slingshotted him into an exposed turnbuckle rod. Prince Nana had thrown coffee into Ospreay's face just before, which diluted the blood in such a way that Ospreay's entire face was red. Both guys did Hangman Page moves - Swerve hit a Deadeye piledriver and Ospreay later hit a Buckshot Hidden Blade for a nearfall. Ospreay went for a Styles Clash on the floor but Swerve fought it and Ospreay gave up and swung him face-first into the ring steps, causing an absolute gusher. Within minutes the mat and the announcers' side of the floor was covered in crimson. Ospreay hit a brutal-looking Styles Clash on the announce table, which did not break. Both guys got back in the ring and started leveling each other with signature offense, at one point resulting in swapped one-count pin attempts. They did the Ospreay-Danielson corner charge and once again Ospreay won that contest with a Hidden Blade. Swerve hit a low blow and a Vertebreaker for another nearfall, and then his own Hidden Blade and Big Pressure for yet another. The Death Riders showed up at ringside and their presence gave Ospreay enough fire to no-sell a House Call, hit a Hidden Blade, Paradigm Shift, Death Rider, and Tiger Driver '91 to win the match and the Owen. The Death Riders celebrated with him to end the show. I have a feeling Moxley's final test for Ospreay will be to get past him at Redemption. Then and only then a Jedi will he be.... This match was goddamn incredible. *****
Soooo yeah, eight ****+ matches, one of which gets the full monty, and only one match below that level at ***1/2. This is one of the best PPVs this company has ever put on. It's getting tougher and tougher to even rank all these top-tier shows, they keep breaking the mold. Just go watch this, you'll need five hours but it's worth every minute. But can we please, please, PLEASE start the main shows at 7pm Eastern instead of 8pm? PLEASE???
Best Match: Ospreay vs. Swerve
Worst Match: Cope & Cage vs. The Dogs, by default
What I'd Change: You could shorten a few of the lesser matches to streamline the show a little, but I never felt like the show dragged either
Most Disappointing Match: None
Most Pleasant Surprise: Maya World is a star in the making and I hope she doesn't get stuck on ROH TV.
Overall Rating: 10/10
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