Good morning, dear reader! It’s Sunday and we have an historic pay per premium live event, AEW’s Forbidden Door! As a fan of All Elite Wrestling from the beginning, and a person who is…aware of the existence of New Japan Pro Wrestling, I’m probably not the target audience for this show. But I don’t care! I love being exposed to new forms of pro wrestling. If it wasn’t for Robert Rodriguez putting Lucha Underground on his El Rey Network, I would never have developed my strong love for the lucha libre style. I could say the same for the bit of GCW I’ve seen, and even WWE’s NXT and NXT UK. New stuff is always worth a look, and if you decide it’s not your jam, fine. But at least give it a shot!
Speaking of that, I spent this weekend watching some matches featuring the talent that will be featured on tonight’s show. You’re not gonna know your Tanahashis from your Takahashis if you don’t put in the work! I’ll be listing recent highly rated (by Mr. Dave Meltzer and the folks at CageMatch.net) matches for participants after my predictions. They all seem to be available on NJPW World, the New Japan equivalent of the WWE Network; if you’re so inclined, drop ten bucks and subscribe for a month just to watch that stuff.
If you’re well versed in search-engine-fu, I was also able to locate a lot of these matches on lesser known video sites using the DuckDuckGo search engine rather than Google, as well.
I’ve also put together a Forbidden Door Primer playlist on YouTube of freely available matches that feature the NJPW talent, although the match quality on those varies WILDLY. Still, check a look and let me know what you think!
Let’s get to some predictions for AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door!
Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki versus Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino
My guess: Jericho Appreciation Society and Suzuki-Gun come out on top with some interference
Carrying over from their recent rivalry that will come to a head on Wednesday’s Blood and Guts show, Jericho announced that he was bringing Suzuki in as backup against the Blackpool Combat Club. We’ve seen Suzuki on AEW programming before, most memorably in the Bryan Danielson match that left Danielson’s chest a pile of ground chuck.
Shota Umino is a younger talent and Jon Moxley’s protégé from his days as the Death Rider (!) in New Japan. He’s still developing a character and a style, but there are worse guys to pattern your career after than Jon frickin Moxley, right?
I feel like whoever wins tonight loses at Blood and Guts, so I’ll go with my heart here and say Jericho and pals will get the win through nefarious means. This will probably be the messiest match of the night.
One to watch: Shota Umino versus Ricky Knight, Jr. in RevPro, 8/21/2021
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, and the Young Bucks) versus Dudes with Attitude (Sting, Darby Allin, Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu Takahashi)
My guess: Good guys win
Not much of a build for this, but do we need a full story for what’s essentially a one-off crossover event? No, no we don’t. Darby, El Phantasmo, and the Bucks will dive off stuff and we’ll be impressed, Sting will do the same and we’ll all cringe and hold our collective breath until he gets back up. Hikuleo is a big dude that has been on AEW a couple times recently, so he’ll toss some fellas around the ring. Shingo, from what my limited research has shown me, is legit one of the best to lace up a pair of boots. He’s been IWGP Champion and has had multiple five star plus matches against the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Kazuchika Okada, and longtime rival Will Ospreay. Almost feels like a waste of a generational talent to cram him into this match, but it’s probably pretty cool just to be involved however one can.
Two to watch: El Phantasmo versus Rocky Romero, NJPW, 5/24/2019 and Hikuleo versus Juice Robinson, NJPW, 9/26/2021 in a bullrope match
Will Ospreay versus Orange Cassidy
My guess: Ospreay stops having fun and murders Cassidy
This is the match a lot of people seem to be looking forward to the most! Ospreay is a worldwide phenomenon, an all time great, one of the best active performers in the world…and a jerk, if popular opinion is to be believed. He certainly comes off as one. So it’s interesting to pair him with the beloved King of Sloth Style, but maybe that’s the point. Maybe this match is designed to kinda rehab Will’s image while also giving Cassidy the comeback match of his life. Orange will have the opportunity here to show on a huge stage his skill set…assuming, of course, that Orange Cassidy can be bothered to try.
One to watch: Will Ospreay versus Shingo Takagi, NJPW, 5/24/2021
Zack Sabre, Jr. versus A Mystery Opponent Chosen By Bryan Danielson
My guess: Zack Sabre Jr. unless it’s somebody I really like
Look, it’s a little hard to predict a match when half the participants are unknown. ZSJ has spent the last month calling out Danielson, so it’s a shame that he’s missing this show. I hope we get Sabre, Jr. versus Danielson sooner than later, as it would likely be the technical match of the century, but it’s pro wrestling man; the cards are subject to change.
I’m hoping for a Cesaro debut here, but I probably say that every time there’s a Casino Battle Royale so I’m not holding my breath. I don’t know who else in or outside AEW has the technical wrestling ability to hang with ZSJ. I would have guessed Wheeler Yuta for the spot, but that would have been announced Wednesday and he’s already in a match. Daniel Garcia? Dustin Rhodes? A returning Kenny Omega? Ricky Starks or Swerve Strickland? None of these, aside from maybe Garcia, seem like the technical marvel that Danielson alluded to. All good choices, but when you tell us that Bryan Danielson hand picked an opponent for Zack Sabre, Jr., you gotta deliver someone special!
One to watch: ZSJ versus WALTER, Progress, 10/28/2018
PAC versus Miro versus Malakai Black versus Clark Connors for the All-Atlantic Championship
My guess: Miro drags the bastard, the pagan, and the replacement to Heaven’s gate and demands God wrestle him at All Out.
Questionable title logistics aside (Japan is not in the Atlantic Ocean, friends), I am really hoping for Miro to get on a solid run and make this new fancy cummerbund into a legitimate championship. He did it with the TNT title and I believe he can do the same for the All-Atlantic. Malakai Black could certainly use a title as well, but I think his stable doesn’t need gold to achieve their goals. PAC isn’t there from a storyline perspective. And putting the belt on Clark Connors, a man whose best matches are likely still in front of him, seems unlikely as well, especially given that he’s filling in for the injured Tomohiro Ishii.
That leaves the Redeemer as the only real option! A surprise visit from his lovely wife to present him with the title would be a nice moment, and one that would impress the importance of the moment on the fans.
One to watch: Clark Connors versus Tomohoro Ishii, NJPW, 6/21/2022
FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) © versus United Empire (Jeff Cobb and Great O-Khan) versus Roppongi Vice (Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero) for the IWGP and Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships, winner take all
My guess: FTR keeps collecting titles
United Empire has been a nice addition to the AEW Tag Team storylines, although they haven’t really gotten a chance to show what they can do. Jeff Cobb and Great O-Khan are both powerhouses, and will balance the speed of Roppongi Vice and the technical ability of FTR to make for a great match, I hope!
FTR seems like they’re on an historical run as of late, and it would be a shame to see it end here when there’s still so much more gold out there!
One to watch: United Empire versus Hirooki GOTO and YOSHI-HASHI, NJPW, 4/9/2022
Thunder Rosa © versus Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Championship
My guess: Thunder Rosa retains
I really like that they pushed this match into the Forbidden Door show. I know Rosa hasn’t had the best builds for her matches since she won the title, but this is an example of fast tracking a match with a good reason - women deserve to be on a big stage like Forbidden Door, and these are two of the best wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling. Toni has looked better every week, as she gets more comfortable with her new home. Thunder Rosa is fantastic, and I hope these two can really show that they deserve the spot they got on the show.
One to watch (because why not?): Toni Storm versus Meiko Satomura, WWE Mae Young Classic, 8/9/2018
Jon Moxley versus Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW Championship
My guess: Mox wins
This is probably the lock of the night, but also the one I’d be most happy to be blindsided by. A Tanahashi win would lead to some insane booking hurdles, and I do love me some chaos. But the sane choice is to have Mox win his dream match and defend the interim title until our AEW champ returns from injury. Moxley is doing some of his best work right now, and Tanahashi still has something left in the tank. This is another match I really hope can steal the show.
One to watch: Hiroshi Tanahashi versus Kota Ibushi, NJPW, 8/12/2018
“Switchblade” Jay White © versus Kazuchika Okada versus Adam Cole versus “Hangman” Adam Page for the IWGP World Championship
My guess: White retains
White just won this title a couple weeks ago over Okada, so there’s still some open wounds between the two. White also has history with Cole and Page, making this the most story-heavy match of the night. A four way match is typically just a lot of little matches smooshed together, but this is top level talent we’re dealing with. Okada is one of the best in the world, and White has improved drastically since I last saw him years ago. I feel like this match is the NJPW side of the Moxley versus Tanahashi match, where it just makes no sense logistically to have an AEW wrestler win. Okada held the title for 159 days, and it’s still a relatively young championship so short reigns won’t help it gain prestige. White remaining champ is the only option that makes any sense.
Two to watch: Jay White versus Tetsuya Naito, NJPW, 1/4/2020 and Kazuchika Okada versus Kenny Omega, NJPW, 6/9/2018
And that’s it! I’m really looking forward to this show, albeit more as a curiosity and an educational experience. I would bet there will be a couple surprises, as well as a match or two that really blows me away. At least, I’m hopeful!
Have a great weekend, enjoy the show, and we’ll see you here tomorrow for the AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door recap!
I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I write a Raw Recap on Tuesdays and Dynamite Details on Thursdays. There’s occasionally a Rampage report with a Side of SmackDown highlights on Saturdays as well, depending on what I have going on for the weekend. There’s also a weekly wrap up on Fridays, and I make predictions before any big AEW or WWE pay per premium live events as well as a review on Mondays.
Have a good one!
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