By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Forbidden Door Hits
Swerve Strickland vs. AEW International Champion Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship: An outstanding main event aside from the awful Don Callis screwdriver spot. The idea that Ospreay is still with the Don Callis Family is asinine. They rarely even bother to play up their association on television. Furthermore, Ospreay didn’t need an out for losing a competitive match to the world champion, but the booker went into overprotection mode. Putting those negatives aside, this really was a tremendous show stealing main event that put the show over the top. Ospreay shined in defeat and Swerve received a major credibility boost as champion. I don’t imagine it will happen soon, but I am already looking forward to the eventual rematch.
Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi in an Owen Hart Cup tournament match: There were high hopes for this match and it lived up to my expectations. The one thing working against it was predictability, which was a common theme in most of these matches. I could also do without Danielson attempting to convince everyone that he suffered a major injury in every big match. Nevertheless, these two brought it and I am really looking forward to the Danielson vs. Pac semifinal tournament match on Dynamite.
TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer in a title vs. title match The predictability of Mone going over worked against the match to some extent, but the live crowd’s dislike of Mone kept things interesting. Vaquer was cheered and had an impressive outing, but the cheers for her seemed more about the fans jeering Mone as opposed to Vaquer making a true connection with the crowd. The post match angle with Britt Baker finally returning sets the stage for what promises to be a very interesting program with Mone.
Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa for the AEW Women’s Championship: A fun match with Storm going over clean despite everything pointing toward Mariah May playing a part in the finish. It did seem odd that Shirakawa hit May with a champagne bottle that was intended for Storm during the go-home week angle and yet that was a total afterthought during the pay-per-view. Shirakawa has a bright future in the United States if she ever opts to make the full-time jump. She has a great look and tons of charisma in addition to being a good worker.
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo in a ladder match for the vacant TNT Title: The live crowd was loudly behind Takeshita. Now it’s up to AEW to respond by featuring him prominently. Takeshita is a star who has been stuck with a sidekick push in a bad faction. Perry going over felt like the obvious move, which hurt the match from a suspense standpoint. But everyone involved worked hard and put their bodies through hell with some wild ladder match spots. Once we get through Money in the Bank, it’s time to give viewers (and especially the wrestlers) a break from ladder matches, which just don’t feel special when they are held so frequently.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy: A terrific mat based match with Sabre going over strong via submission. It looks like big things are in store for Sabre in NJPW. Meanwhile, Cassidy can shake off this loss quickly, so they went with the right finish.
Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson, and Nicholas Jackson vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Max Caster, and Anthony Bowens: They did a very nice good job of teasing the crowd with Okada vs. Tanahashi early only to save their initial exchange for later in the match. Tanahashi was moving gingerly and it’s hard not to wonder how much gas he has left in the tank. But he did right by his longtime rival by putting him over.
Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Jeff Cobb: A soft Hit. Jericho’s character is still a major turnoff, but at least he put over Hook clean after taking his own Judas Effect finisher. This felt like a television match that didn’t need to be on the overstuffed pay-per-view. Will Joe’s character ever express interest in regaining the AEW World Championship or is he content working throwaway trios matches?
AEW Forbidden Door Misses
Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: The big disappointment of the night. Naito didn’t seem all that invested, and this looked so much better on paper than it was in execution. What a letdown.
MJF vs. Hechicero: The match was fine. This was just underwhelming use of MJF, particularly in his hometown. MJF didn’t even try to push the match as something meaningful and it was hard to blame him. This would have been a throwaway match even if it had aired on regular television.
True story: Mone gets booed because a LOT of us realized after her selfish, self-absorbed performance when she walked out of a live WWE show that she is….a narcissistic, self-centered female version of Punk.
True story. You E marks are obsessed with Mone and still cant get over the fact she walked out of that company, bet on herself and create Mercedes Mone. She doesnt need the fed. Well done Mercedes, keep making them cry like babies.
A hell of a show. But still too long. Tony 8-10 is plenty for a ppv including pre-show
For the record, Angry Mike is whatever the opposite of an “E Mark” is. Does anyone just try to enjoy both companies? Is everyone polarized now? When did pro wrestling become like politics? Sad.
Dude, MJoseph is the biggest Tony Khan dick rider here, really the only time he climbs off it is when it involves a black wrestler.
Dude’s not an E mark, just a scumbag.
MJF is cold right now, by standards. I think he created this leather jacket, wolf, etc stuff to counter the silliness of 2023 but it’s a miss. He needs a heel turn asap. Maybe Garcia beats him at Wembley and MJF snaps?
Mjf cold . Guy just came back.
And his return was red hot. He’s not getting the same level of response he was getting in the past. I know the Aew core think everything they do is amazing, but this is one thing that isn’t going well.
Mjf cold . Guy just came back. Great story though bro.