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For the first time ever, AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling are putting on a joint pay-per-view event this weekend in the form of AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door.
The show is slated to feature five championship matches involving titles from both AEW and NJPW, and most of the matches will feature some crossover with wrestlers from both promotions duking it out.
While big names such as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito and Kota Ibushi are missing from the card due to injuries and other factors, there is still plenty of star power and many never-before-seen matches on tap.
Ahead of Forbidden Door, here is a full rundown of the card and all the information you need for when and how to watch the event.
Where: United Center in Chicago
When: Sunday, June 26 at 8 p.m. ET (Buy-In pre-show starts at 7 p.m. ET)
Watch: B/R Live
Forbidden Door Match Card
- Interim AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jay White (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Adam Cole vs. Kazuchika Okada
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Toni Storm
- AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Miro vs. Pac vs. Malakai Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii
- Winner Take All ROH & IWGP Tag Team Championships: FTR (c) vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan (c) vs. Roppongi Vice
- Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Mystery Opponent of Bryan Danielson’s Choosing
- Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki vs. Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino
- The Young Bucks, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Sting, Darby Allin, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi
- Buy-In Match: Max Caster, Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn vs. Alex Coughlin, Yuya Uemura, The DKC & Kevin Knight
Top Forbidden Door Matches to Watch
Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
With Punk out for an undetermined amount of time due to injury, an interim AEW world champion will be crowned at Forbidden Door.
Punk had seemingly been slated to defend the AEW world title against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door before having to bow out, but now a former AEW world champ in Jon Moxley is taking his place.
Moxley defeated battle royal winner Kyle O’Reilly on a recent episode of Dynamite to earn his spot in the match, while Tanahashi beat Hirooki Goto at NJPW’s Dominion event.
While Moxley and Tanahashi did face each other in a four-way match recently and teamed together against Chris Jericho and Lance Archer on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, Sunday marks their first singles match against each other.
Mox is favored since he is part of the AEW roster and will be around when Punk returns for a match to determine the undisputed champion, but a Tanahashi win could be a fun way of throwing a wrench into things.
Punk vs. Tanahashi was already penciled in as match at Forbidden Door, so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that the eight-time IWGP heavyweight champion will beat Moxley and set the stage for that dream match in the future.
Jay White vs. Hangman Adam Page vs. Adam Cole vs. Kazuchika Okada
Despite some uncertainty leading up to Forbidden Door regarding the defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the title is set to be involved in one of the most highly anticipated bouts on the show.
In the weeks prior to Forbidden Door, both “Hangman” Adam Page and Adam Cole made it clear that they wanted to challenge Jay White for the title after White won it from Kazuchika Okada at Dominion.
It seemed to be headed toward a three-way match, but that changed on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite when Okada made a surprise appearance and helped Page fight off White and Cole.
With that, a four-way match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was booked featuring four of the biggest stars in AEW and New Japan.
Both Page and Cole have extensive experience wrestling in Japan, adding even greater meaning to their involvement against the best NJPW has to offer.
It would be a surprise if either Page or Cole wins, but a title change isn’t out of the question, especially since Okada just had the title until recently.
Since it is possible the title change from Okada to White was simply done to add more intrigue to Forbidden Door, a Rainmaker victory could potentially be in the cards.
Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm
The only women’s match on the Forbidden Door card is a big one, as Thunder Rosa will defend the AEW Women’s World Championship against Toni Storm.
While it can be argued that Rosa’s title reign has been somewhat disappointing due to a lack of consistent television time, she almost always delivers in the ring, and that should be true again at Forbidden Door against an opponent the caliber of Storm.
Despite having only been with AEW for about three months, Storm has quickly established herself as one of the top stars in the AEW women’s division, mixing it up with the likes of Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter and The Bunny, among others.
Meanwhile, Rosa won the title off Baker in March, and since then she has successfully defended it against Nyla Rose, Serena Deeb and Marina Shafir.
Establishing other stars in the women’s division aside from just Baker and Jade Cargill is of the utmost importance for AEW, and a great match between Rosa and Storm could help immensely in that regard.
It seems early to end Rosa’s title reign, but a Storm victory is very much in play, and it could get people talking about the AEW women’s division in a positive way.
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