More than two months after it was first announced, AEW & NJPW will release their first jointly promoted payment to watch: Forbidden Door.
The sold-out show was led by John Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the AEW interim world title.
IWGP champion Jay White will defend the title in four directions against Kazuchika Okada, Hangman Page and Adam Cole with IWGP US champion Will Osprey defending against Orange Cassidy.
AEW women’s champion Thunder Rosa is defending against Toni Storm, while Malakai Black, Clark Connors, Miro & PAC will fight for the AEW All-Atlantic title.
Both the IWGP and ROH Tag Team titles will be grabbed as the FTR face off against Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan and Roppongi Vice in three directions.
Zack Saber Jr. will face a new mysterious member of the Blackpool Combat Club, while Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki and Sami Guevara will face Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Utah and Shota Umino.
In the action trio, Young Bucks & El Phantasmo face Sting, Darby Alin and Shingo Takagi.
Three matches are also planned for the preliminary show The Buy-In.
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Kevin Kelly (!!), Excalibur and Taz comment on the pre-show while depleting the pay-per-view card.
Another nice touch, New Japan ring announcer Katsuyori Shibata is presenting the ring with Justin Roberts of AEW.
YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto beat Aaron Solo and QT Marshall (8:54)
HASHI and Goto are former IWGP team champions. The arena looks very full and like a big arena for the show. YOSHI-HASHI and Solo started the match. Solo took the wind out of HASHI’s sails with a beautiful drop. Marshall was immediately greeted with “QT sucks!” Chants from the crowd. Goto knocked Marshall down with a powerful blow, and he quickly withdrew. Goto and HASHI received their double team “combat blows” to both Solo and Marshall, but the heels gained an advantage after Marshall hit the ugliest flying space tiger ever, and Solo received a double blow from the top of Goto’s gut.
Goto attempted a suplex from Solo and turned Marshall out with a cruel lariat. YOSHI-HASHI received the label and took down Marshall with a bounty hunter (the ultimate rope blockbuster) for an almost fall. Solo sent both opponents to the floor and hit top con hilo, then threw HASHI back into the ring. Marshall struck the knife after a pair of ensigurs, but Goto saved. Marshall went for a 450 splash he missed, and HASHI knocked Solo down with a drop to his knees. Goto pulled out Marshall with ushigoroshi, after which Goto and HASHI hit their double team to get skittles.
Lance Archer Beats Nick Comoroto (6:08)
Excalibur and Kelly called this a “battle with hos.”
Archer tried to jump forward into the Comoros ring and landed on his head again. The Comoros lifted Archer by the gorilla press, but Archer slipped out and took the Comoro off with his boot, then sent him to the floor in a flying gear. After hitting the floor, Comoro hit a big elbow, but didn’t even get a count. The Comoros dominated for a moment, but Archer returned with a large boot and a lunar somersault. Fortunately, Archer didn’t land on his head again. The Comoros received a powerslam for a close fall. Comoroto went to the top, but Archer grabbed him by the knee, then awkwardly put him in position for Blackout and scored pins. Parts of this were ugly bowling shoes.
– Alex Marvez interviews Clark Connors. He said he hoped Tomohiro Ishi would “receive the bell soon.” I guess talking is not the strong point of this one.
Keith Lee and Surve Strickland beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado (12:04)
Taz went on to comment on the feud between his boys and Swerve / Lee.
Lee seemed to have lost a lot of weight. Kanemaru stabbed Lee in the corner and disappointed Lee with his speed for a while, until Lee grabbed him by the face and kicked him like a basketball. Labels were made on both sides and Desperado caught Strickland with his numero dos leglock, but Strickland got a rope break. When the battle went to the floor, Desperado locked numero dos on Strickland, stretching Strickland’s knee to the back of his neck.
Back in the ring, Strickland caught Desperado with a drop of medium rope. Strickland accidentally hit Lee in the knee and the Japanese team took control, working on Lee’s knee. Lee went for Spirit Bomb against Kanemaru, but Desperado caught Lee with a drop and Kanemaru took Lee down with a wound. Strickland received the label and received Desperado’s brain analysis of the impending fall. He returned desperately with his spine. A rear suplex in a kick made Desperado almost fall. Lee tried to step into the ring, but Desperado kicked the middle rope (actually Lee with a low spirits) and Lee fell.
Strickland hit an inverted backbreaker and flatliner on Desperado. Lee and Kanemaru received the labels for their teams, and Kanemaru returned after Lee’s feet. Kanemaru locked Lee’s number four and Deserado received Strickland’s numero dos, but Lee grabbed Desperado by the throat and threw him into Kanemaru to break the grip. Kanemaru turned to Lee, but resisted another spiritual bomb attempt, which was detonated by Desperado. Kanemaru took a sip of his trademark bottle of whiskey and spat it into Lee’s face and went for a swing, but that only got two. Strickland kicked Desperado out, and Lee got Kanemaru in a massive Big Bang crash and got the pin. Very good match with great psychology from Desperado and Kanemaru constantly at Lee’s feet.
After the match, Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbes cut a cash promotion from one of the skyboxes, challenging Lee and Strickland for a match.
Max Custer, Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn (with Anthony Bowens) beat Yuya Uemura, Alex Coughlin, Kevin Knight and The DKC (5:34)
One of the Gunns thought they were in the Tokyo Dome and the other thought they were in Green Bay. You can guess which mistake caused more heat in the heels.
Before the game, Dunhausen broke up with Han Tron with a gift, “The theme of the A $$ Boys!” Bill and Colton fled to find Dunhausen, and the game was a 4-on-2 in favor of LA Dojo. And since one of the two is Billy Gunn, that’s four against one, with Custer taking over all the abuse from the New Japan team.
Uemura almost fell on Custer with a bulldog. Custer showed great fire like a baby face fighting from below. Custer finally made his own comeback and received the Billy Gunn label. Knight hit Gunn with a drop, but Gunn returned with Couglin’s Famouser. Custer hit the upper rope with Coughlin’s elbow on the pin.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the catalyst for Gunns’ Acclaimed turning babyface.
AEWxNJPW Forbidden door.
Kevin Kelly, Taz and Excalibur also commented on the pay for watching. No comment from Jim Ross, although Tony Schiavone came out later.
Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki and Sami Guevara (with Tay Conti) beat Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Utah and Shota Umino (18:57)
Kevin Kelly advised other commentators not to even make eye contact with Minoru Suzuki. This is very good advice. They repeated a 2018 video of Jericho attacking Shota Umino during his match with Kenny Omega at the Tokyo Dome.
Jericho started with Yuta, who immediately hit him and hit six rolling German suplexes before Jericho could come out with his elbow. Utah locked themselves in a cross face, which was quickly defeated by Guevara and the two teams began to quarrel around the ring. Umino hit Suzuki in the forearms with no effect.
The match was settled in the ring for Guevara and Utah. Kingston tried to intervene and received a huge chant from the crowd. Umino received the label and continued to watch Suzuki. Umino seeks retribution for all the beatings he suffered from Suzuki as a young lion. Jericho was beaten by Umino. Kingston received the label, but instead of dealing with Kingston himself, Jericho scored at Suzuki.
Kingston and Suzuki began exchanging chops. Kingston took the lead by knocking Suzuki into the corner for the machine gun. But Suzuki came out of the corner without selling the chops. Suzuki let go of Kingston with his forearm, and the crowd and the crowd applauded him. Kingston returned with Jericho’s machine gun strikes and sent Guevara to the floor with a single blow. Suzuki grabbed Kingston with the scissors by the hand in the ropes, and Jericho worked on Kingston’s arm.
Suzuki hit Kingston’s PK kick for almost a fall. Suzuki, Guevara, and Jericho each locked one of their opponents in hold of a submission in a smart place. Guevara dived from the top and entered an exploder suplex from Kingston, which then took the label to Umino. Umino pulled out a Suzuki with his elbow and drop. Umino almost fell with a fishing suplex. Guevara hit a shooting star on Umino on the floor. Utah and Kingston followed their own dives. Suzuki annoyed his own dive, but instead pulled Umino out with his forearm.
Back in the ring, Kingston hit the diver against Guevara and locked the stretching plum, but Suzuki interrupted it, then encountered Kingston’s backward fist. Everyone started making crazy moves on everyone else, Jericho a suplex on Kingston, Guevara a Umino boat, and Utah a spray from the top of Guevara.
Guevara hit Umino’s knee, and Jericho hit Umino’s code breaker for an almost fall. Umino hit Jericho with a powerful blow from the middle rope for an almost fall. On the floor, Conti distracted Wheeler Yuta and Guevara managed to blind Yuta with GTH. Guevara caught Umino with a blow. But he still almost fell on Jericho, breaking his brain. Umino locked himself in the Boston crab, but Guevara smashed it with a pair of superkicks. Suzuki pulled out Kingston with a Gotch Style piledriver. This left Umino 3-on-1 with his heels, and although he managed to get rid of Suzuki and Guevara, Jericho hit Umino with the effect of Judas and Jericho got skittles.
As a result, Jericho …
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