AEW returned to UBS Arena in Elmont, Long Island, New York, for the third annual “AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door” event— headlined by the AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland, in his fourth title defense against the AEW International Champion, Will Ospreay. 

“Forbidden Door” began in 2022 as a wildly ambitious cross-promotional event — celebrating AEW’s blossoming relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, AEW’s president, Tony Khan, has signed a number of NJPW’s top stars over the last year and a half — from Jay White, Katusyori Shibata, and Will Ospreay to seven-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. With NJPW’s lack of star power, and the industry leader, WWE, establishing a working relationship with TNA, the novelty of a “Forbidden Door” event seems diminished.

Can the inclusion of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and World Wonder Ring Stardom inject a sense of wonder in the event, or has the spectacle of “Forbidden Door” lost its luster?

Let’s find out.

Match Rankings

If I had to rank all 10 matches on the main card, this would be the rough draft:

10. Samoa Joe, Hook and Katusyori Shibata vs. Chris Jericho, Big Bill and Jeff Cobb
9. Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito
8. The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada vs. The Acclaimed and Hiroshi Tanahashi
7. Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero
6. Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer
5. “Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa
4. Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
3. Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi
2. TNT Ladder Match
1. Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay

Hits and Misses

HIT: This Women’s Division

Only two of the main show’s 10 matches were women’s matches: “Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Stardom’s Mina Shirakawa for the AEW Women’s World Championship and Mercedes Mone vs. CMLL’s Stephanie Vaquer for both the AEW TBS Championship and the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship. Both matches were splendid, and all four wrestlers shined. It’s just a shame that more women couldn’t have wrestled on the show, particularly in a title match against one of Stardom’s singles champions.

For the last two years, the concept of the “Forbidden Door” has been non-existent for the women’s division. In 2022 and 2023, there was only one women’s match on each of the show’s main cards. Both of those matches were between AEW’s own wrestlers, due to the company’s inability to work with Stardom, at that time. Finally, AEW’s women’s champions were able to work with talents from Stardom and CMLL, respectively.

For the AEW Women’s World Champion and former World of Stardom Champion, Toni Storm, her opponent was Stardom’s own Mina Shirakawa — who formerly was Mariah May’s tag-team partner in Stardom. This was effectively a match for custody of Mariah May, whose tenure in AEW has been defined by her relationship with Storm. Shirakawa has shined in all of her appearances with AEW thus far and continued to impress in her match with Storm, despite not mounting any significant offense. In the end, Storm and Shirakawa developed a mutual respect for one another, shaking hands at the behest of May. All three women even shared a kiss after the match.

For the TBS Championship, Mercedes Mone (fka Sasha Banks in WWE) wrestled the CMLL World Women’s Champion and NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, Stephanie Vaquer — putting the TBS Championship and NJPW Strong Women’s Championship on the line.

I feel like AEW did a poor job of clearly defining this as a rematch, considering the two met during the NJPW Strong Women’s Title Tournament semifinals last year. Mercedes Mone won that match, but Vaquer has improved tremendously since that clash — claiming the top women’s title in CMLL. Without that throughline, fans were unable to ruminate over Mone and Vaquer’s feud — unlike Storm and Shirakawa, who had melodrama, interpersonal intrigue, and entertaining television segments.

What Mone and Vaquer lacked in entertainment, they more than compensated for in their wrestling. Vaquer won the New York crowd over, partially spurred on by their hatred of Boston, but mostly because of her sensational performance. However, it was Mone who ultimately stood victorious — now a double mid-card champion.

It was the epilogue of Mone’s match that garnered the crowd’s loudest reaction of the night: Britt Baker made her triumphant return, locking eyes with Mercedes Mone from the entranceway. The moment was fitting for Mone, who was received as a heel by the New York crowd. This was the pay-per-view’s obligatory surprise return, and it was incredible.

MISS: Jack Perry as the TNT Champion 

Somehow, this ladder match for the TNT Championship embodied so many of AEW’s greatest strengths and weaknesses.

The lineup was eclectic. Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin, Lio Rush, Konosuke Takeshita, El Phantasmo, and Jack Perry — who was initially handpicked by the Young Bucks to win the TNT Championship after Adam Copeland was forced to vacate the title. Those six wrestlers certainly have the potential to put a great multi-man match together, but it’s 2024. We’ve had over three decades of ladder matches, where wrestlers have seemingly exhausted all the possibilities.

I’d be lying if I said that, if it weren’t for the main event, this would have been my favorite match of the night. Some of the sequences were breathtaking, including, but not limited too, Mark Briscoe jumping off a chair and diving over the ropes — as well as Konosuke Takeshita slamming El Phantasmo through two tables with the Blue Thunder Bomb.

However, the end result was as disappointing as it was predictable. You have to question Tony Khan’s decision to put the TNT Title on Jack Perry, when his segments with The Elite routinely lose viewers — which is reflected in the quarter-hour ratings. I like Jack Perry. I just don’t know if he’s ready to be the “face” of TNT.

HIT: The Main Event 

The main event of “Forbidden Door” saw the AEW International Champion, Will Ospreay, challenge Swerve Strickland for his AEW World Championship — pitting arguably the two biggest stars in AEW against one another.

This match was phenomenal. It’s very rare to see two performers, who are as sublimely gifted as Strickland and Ospreay, wrestle each other for a World Championship this early in their careers. Strickland is 33 years old, Ospreay is 31. Conventional wisdom in wrestling says that they have another 4-6 years until they reach their apex.

After nearly finishing Strickland, Will Ospreay’s dubious mentor, Don Callis, urged the “Aerial Assassin” to use a screwdriver to finish Strickland. Thankfully, Prince Nana intervened, but Callis’ intrusion clearly affected Ospreay — providing Strickland the opportunity he needed. While Strickland has spent the last few weeks positioning himself as the antagonist in this rivalry, it was Strickland who consoled Ospreay after the match — a show of sportsmanship seldom seen in main-event wrestling.

While the ending was predictable, I don’t think Strickland has exhausted his potential as World Champion. For Ospreay, a feud with the Don Callis Family seems imminent. Unfortunately, with the winner of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament receiving a shot at the World Champion in London, at All In, I don’t think Ospreay will be receiving his rematch anytime soon. Still, the implications of this match can’t possibly outweigh Ospreay and Strickland’s impressive performance — which was easily the best of Strickland four title defenses.

MISS: “Forbidden Door”’s Fatal Flaw 

There’s a glaring problem with this event, though. Stars from NJPW, CMLL, or Stardom only won two of those 10 matches. The first was Zack Sabre Jr., who defeated Orange Cassidy. The second was Tetsuya Naito, who reclaimed his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Jon Moxley, just in time for the G1 Climax Tournament. Both of whom are from New Japan.

While I am an ardent supporter of AEW, I have also been an avid fan of NJPW since 2015. I cannot emphasize this enough: outside of the financial incentive, how has this working relationship been beneficial to NJPW? Many of these matches were hastily thrown together, providing New Japan’s stars very little time to acclimate to AEW’s fans. Wrestling is a very organic form of storytelling, relying on the performers’ connections with the audience. Mina Shirakawa flourished in her role, because she was given time to cultivate a relationship with AEW’s audience.

Given the nature of the “Forbidden Door,” this show has so much potential to tell exciting, inventive stories with some of the greatest wrestlers alive. If I were Tony Khan, I certainly would have found better angles for Jeff Cobb, Gabe Kidd, and Zack Sabre Jr. to individually take part in — accentuating their talents, in storylines that could have unfolded across “Dynamite” and “Collision” for several weeks. I would have inserted at least one more women’s match, giving one of Stardom’s champions an opportunity to defend their title against the likes of Deonna Purrazzo, Serena Deeb, or Thunder Rosa.

Fortunately, NJPW announced that on Jan. 5, 2025, only days after their biggest show of the year, WrestleKingdom 19, a new event called “Wrestle Dynasty” will premiere: a cross-promotional pay-per-view event like “Forbidden Door,” held in the famed Tokyo Dome, headlined by NJPW, AEW, CMLL, and Stardom.

Hopefully, “Wrestle Dynasty” will provide NJPW the opportunity to avenge their rampant losses against AEW over the last three “Forbidden Door” events.

All in all, given the sheer amount of wrestling offered — I didn’t feel like I wasted my $50 on the price of admission alone. The World Championship match and Dr. Baker’s return were easily the highlights of the night. While the concept of using the “Forbidden Door” to build an entire pay-per-view event definitely warrants more consideration and nuance, the match quality was phenomenal — which is par for the course, for the industry’s leading alternative wrestling brand.

This week is the special “Beach Break” edition of AEW “Dynamite,” which is already shaping up to be an extraordinary episode. The Elite’s mysterious wildcard will wrestle Jeff Jarrett in the Owen Hart Cup quarterfinals. Will Ospreay will defend his AEW International Championship against Daniel Garcia, and Bryan Danielson will wrestle PAC in the Owen Hart Cup semifinals. Hopefully, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. makes a house call to Wintrust Arena in Chicago to address her absence, return at “Forbidden Door,” and feelings towards the double-champion Mercedes Mone.