By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
AEW presents its annual Forbidden Door pay-per-view event on Sunday evening in London, England, at O2 Arena. Like many of AEW’s pay-per-views, I have no doubt that by AEW fan standards, the matches will be executed very well and the event will be talked about positively. The storylines are lacking here and there really isn’t much that has me all that interested. I feel like the Forbidden Door concept was an interesting idea three years ago. But over time, the company has regularly brought in outside talent to the point where the show no longer has that special feel. And this year, it really feels like the outside talent has been added into matches for no real reason other than to get them on the show. All that said, I’m not saying there aren’t stories supporting these matches – they just don’t appeal to me enough to encourage me to order the show. And in some cases, there are some big logic gaps that I can’t ignore, which impact my level of interest. We can get into specific examples as we run down the card.
Hangman Page vs. MJF for the AEW World Championship (the title can change hands on a count-out or disqualification). Their last match was decent, so I’m sure this one will be a banger as well. Two things have hurt my interest here. First, while the Casino Gauntlet contract should not be handled the same way that WWE handles Money in the Bank, there should be some rules around cashing in. When MJF announced that he would execute his contract, apparently, that became legally binding, although no contract was signed. Then, the next week, MJF was able to reverse this by threatening to burn Mark Briscoe alive and forcing Page to give him a match without having to use the contract. Some simple rules around the contract would help make sense of things.
Second, any time wrestling includes an attempted murder or burning someone alive, you’re really stretching reality. I understand they wanted to present Page with a crisis of morality where he had to make a decision. I just felt they created too many holes in logic as a result. In terms of the match, I think the plan is eventually to move to a singles feud between MJF and Bobby Lashley. That could be for the title but I think it would be a huge mistake to take the title off Page this soon. I think we’ll see Briscoe play a role in the finish to keep the belt on Page and protect MJF.
Don Predicts: Hangman Page retains the AEW World Championship.
Toni Storm vs. ROH Women’s Champion Athena for the AEW Women’s Championship. This will be fine, but I’ve been underwhelmed by Athena’s presence on the main roster. She’s been one of the only bright spots of the Tony Khan-led ROH, and while she’s been fine, she really didn’t get a proper introduction to the majority of fans not watching ROH. I realize you can’t include everything from the past two years, but Tony’s assumption is always that his fans are watching everything – and that’s simply not the case. Storm’s character continues to be fun, and I am assuming that we’ll see the friendship with Alex Windsor dissolve down the road, leading to a feud over the title.
Don Predicts: Toni Storm retains the AEW Women’s Championship.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Nigel McGuinness for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. This has the potential to be good for fans of submission wrestling. McGuinness’s better days are behind him, but I think he still has enough in the tank for a good match here and there. I see Daniel Garcia turning heel and costing McGuiness the match. I can’t say that does a lot for me, especially if he brings Matt Menard with him for the ride. Garcia needs to be repackaged, but I’m not sure a heel turn is what’s needed.
Don Predicts: Zack Sabre Jr. retains the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland for the AEW Unified Championship. If the NJPW version of Okada shows up, this could be the match of the night, even though I feel like they could have done much more from a promo/build perspective. It would also appear that teasing an injury to Swerve will come into play in the match and likely protect him in the loss.
Don Predicts: Kazuchika Okada retains the AEW Unified Championship.
The Hurt Syndicate” Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin” vs. “Brodido” Brody King and Bandido vs. “FTR” Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood in a three-way elimination match for the AEW Tag Team Championship. I was not a fan of holding an entire tournament to determine number one contenders only to result in a Triple Threat. I’m seeing this as a way to get the titles off of Lashley and Benjamin without actually having them lose clean. My money would go to FTR winning, which would then lead to a title match against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage in Toronto.
Don Predicts: FTR wins the AEW Tag Team Championship.
Mercedes Mone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla in a four-way for the TBS Championship. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with Persephone and Bozilla, and other than having Persephone in the crowd on Dynamite, the company has done little to educate me. I’m sure the match will be fine with Windsor having a standout performance since Tony Khan seems to be very high on her. We’ll likely see her as an opponent for Toni Storm down the road.
Don Predicts: Mercedes Mone retains the TBS Championship.
Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the TNT Championship. I am more familiar with Takahashi, and this match should be very good. I continue to feel that Fletcher is someone AEW should build around and, at the very least, should be the main, exclusive act on Collision. Of all the secondary titles, this one has the potential to mean something with the right booking. Since Fletcher recently won the title, there’s no reason to think he’d be dropping it here.
Don Predicts: Kyle Fletcher retains the TNT Championship.
Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kota Ibushi vs. Jon Moxley, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Gabe Kidd, and Claudio Castagnoli in a Lights Out Steel Cage match. This one will be the one everyone’s talking about on Monday. I just can’t help but feel it was thrown together with no real rationale. We haven’t even seen Omega and Ibushi during the build, and we only saw Gabe Kidd briefly on Dynamite. The big story is Will Ospreay’s neck injury. I’m really hoping that they’re making the injury and upcoming surgery out to be worse than it actually is, and that Ospreay is being truthful when he says it’s manageable. If I were Tony Khan, I wouldn’t be taking this risk. Ospreay means too much to AEW to make a bad situation worse, though he did say that his doctor told him that he can’t make it worse. I also want the Darby Allin-Death Riders feud to come to a head, and while this will be a decent chapter, I’m more interested in a one-on-one match between Allin and Moxley. I think we’ll see the heel empire strike back here.
Don Predicts: Jon Moxley, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Gabe Kidd, and Claudio Castagnoli defeat Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kota Ibushi in a Lights Out Steel Cage match.
Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. Killswitch and Kip Sabian. Good to see Killswitch back, though the return was rushed due to Nick Wayne’s injury. I also think they rushed the Copeland-Cage reunion, though I do like that they’re still not all that chummy. I assume the company is saving that for Toronto in October.
Don Predicts: Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defeat Killswitch and Kip Sabian.
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