This year’s installment of Forbidden Door is still heavily focused on New Japan Pro Wrestling and AEW, but with some involvement from CMLL and STARDOM as well. For the sake of this “Road To”, I am specifically covering New Japan’s involvement leading into the PPV.

With New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament kicking off on May 13th, many of the heavyweights were off tour for most of the month. NJPW TV Champion and United Empire member Jeff Cobb would return to AEW and reunite with a former United Empire teammate to face the current IWGP World Heavyweight champion and a former IWGP Junior Tag Team champion.

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson) vs. Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher
AEW Dynamite #241 – Everett, WA – 5.15.2024

Cobb and Fletcher had the wherewithal to attack Moxley as he made his entrance from the crowd, resulting in Danielson having to sprint down to the ring during his entrance to even the odds. The BCC ended up getting the favor of the opening brawl and controlled the match when it finally got officially underway. They attacked Cobb’s left knee which was covered in kinesio tape. Fletcher blind tagged in when Cobb muscled Moxley to the ropes, but Moxley manhandled the ROH TV champion and took him down with a superplex. Fletcher sends Moxley up and over with Moxley clipping part of the ring steps on his way down. Cobb attacks Moxley while he’s down and sends Danielson into the barricades when he tries to come to Moxley’s aid. Moxley eventually finds an opening to tag out to Danielson when he uses the momentum from a mi paso to Cobb to land a German suplex. Danielson wears out Cobb with chest kicks and strikes and then sends Fletcher crashing spine first into the barricades with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Cobb mocking Danielson’s “Yes” points results in him missing a standing moonsault, but he pulls of the Spin Cycle successfully. Moxley and Fletcher both are tagged in, and Fletcher almost has Moxley pinned with a Michinoku Driver, but Danielson makes the save. Moxley does kick out of a spinning tombstone piledriver on his own. Cobb and Fletcher try the Aussie Arrow on Moxley. Moxley however slides off of Cobb’s shoulders and sends him into a Busaiku Knee from Danielson. Danielson kicks Fletcher into the Death Rider from Moxley, getting BCC the pin at 12:57. They couldn’t maintain the energy they established during the hot start, but this was a very enjoyable match overall. It was a good way to back door another Callis Family member getting involved with Moxley leading into the next PPV, while also providing a unique match that serves as a Forbidden Door precursor. ***½

After the match, Konosuke Takeshita attacks Moxley. It’s a 3 on 2 attack until Claudio Castagnoli runs out and sends everyone packing. Takeshita signals he’s interested in Moxley’s IWGP World Heavyweight championship, which we’ll get to in a moment.

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Rhio
RevPro/CMLL Fantastica Mania UK 2024 Night 2 – London, England – 5.19.2024

Vaquer has been champion since 3.10.2024 and this is her third defense. Rhio has the crowd behind her as she attacks Vaquer’s back to start. Vaquer catches Rhio with a cross armbreaker in the ropes and follows up with a springboard plancha. She hook kicks Rhio in the side of the head before landing a snap leg drop. She skull*cks Rhio to further damage her neck and then droops a knee onto her throat afterwards. Rhio fights from out of the corner, with Vaquer rolling through a crossbody to maintain control. Vaquer also fights out of a Death Valley Driver position into a roll-up to cut off Rhio. It takes Rhio running the ropes and changing her pace in order for her to catch Vaquer off guard with a spinwheel kick. Vaquer pulls her into a cross-legged victory roll from the mat, but only gets two. Vaquer eats a superkick, but then pulls Rhio by her hair into a back suplex right onto Rhio’s neck. They fight for a package piledriver, and Vaquer pivots to Sole Food to shut down Rhio. She misses double knees in the corner, allowing Rhio to sneak in a pump-handle bomb for two. Vaquer cuts off Rhio with a sunset flip and then unloads with headbutts to the corner. She connects with double knees for two and then floats over into a crossface. Just when Rhio is about to grab the ropes, Vaquer rolls her to the middle of the rin and adds extra leverage, resulting in Rhio tapping out at 12:00. I had not seen Riho before tonight and thought she was plenty formidable against Vaquer. The simple story of Vaquer wearing down her neck and back and outpacing her through the match worked well. It wasn’t until the ending stretch that the crowd got hot, but otherwise this was a rock solid defense. ***

Lance Archer and The Righteous attacked Bryan Danielson and FTR after their trios match on last week’s Collision. Danielson and FTR would be representing Team AEW at Double or Nothing against The Elite the following, so as punishment for the Righteous’ attack, Tony Khan set up a six man tag for the following week’s Collision, with a mystery partner slated to team with Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia. The mystery partner would be none other than NJPW President and NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Claudio Castagnoli & Daniel Garcia vs. Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
AEW Collision #46 – Las Vegas, NV – 5.25.2024

In this day and age, seeing Claudio get a big reaction for a bodyslam on Dutch makes me very happy. Tanahashi made sure Archer didn’t interrupt Garcia’s neckbreaker on Vincent by giving Archer one himself. I liked that, as Tanahashi and Archer have a history. I also like Tanahashi playing air guitar for Garcia’s dance, but dislike that the other team attacked them and ended the festivities. Garcia is beaten down by the Righteous and Archer until he Saito suplexes Vincent and tags in Tanahashi, who knocks Archer down with two flying forearms. Archer surprises Tanahashi with a running crossbody. Garcia uses a guillotine choke to pull Archer to the floor and Claudio clotheslines Vincent out with him. Claudio then Giant Swings Dutch until Archer cuts him off. Claudio makes Archer pay with a suplex and then directs Tanahashi to the top turnbuckle. Archer cuts off the Ace with a step-up knee and Dutch assists Vincent with an Acid Drop. Garcia and Claudio take Dutch and Archer to the outside, leaving Vincent with Tanahashi. Tanahashi wipes him out with a Sling Blade before landing the High Fly Flow for the pin at 9:34. Tanahashi didn’t do a lot but he didn’t have to – just showing up got the crowd amped up. Really fun TV match. ***

Takeshita let Moxley know he was interested in his IWGP Title after Moxley defeated his Don Callis Family partner Powerhouse Hobbs, and from there, an Eliminator match for the title was set up for Double or Nothing. I appreciate Takeshita having to earn a title match, but I do think having an Eliminator on a PPV is kind of lame.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator Match
Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita
AEW Double or Nothing 2024 – Las Vegas, NV – 5.26.2024

If Takeshita defeats Moxley, he will earn a future IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match. Last night on Collision, Takeshita “Pillmanized” Moxley’s left shoulder. Moxley’s arm is bandaged up and tied around his chest, and Takeshita focuses his attack on that shoulder. Moxley starts a forearm strike exchange using his right arm, ending it with a mi paso and catching Takeshita on the rebound with an Ace Crusher. Takeshita pulls him down into a Fujiwara armbar to counter the Death Rider, only for Moxley to counter into a triangle choke. Takeshita powers up Moxley into a powerbomb and then reapplies the armbar. Moxley gets the ropes but Takeshita digs his fingers into his eyes. Moxley gets back control with a suicide dive and then musters all of his strength for a lariat back inside of the ring. Takeshita blocks the Death Rider again, and this time, he turns it into the Hitodenashi Bomb. Takeshita then muscles Moxley into a wheelbarrow suplex. Moxley turns Takeshita’s Pump Knee into the Paradigm Shift. They get to their feet, once again exchanging forearm shots, with Takeshita laying out Moxley and putting him in the crosshairs for the pump knee again. Takeshita hits it this time, but Moxley is able to kick out of the subsequent pin. He uses his one arm to pull Takeshita down into a bulldog choke, and he uses his bandage for some assistance. Takeshita pulls off the bandage before throwing Moxley shoulder first into the ring post. He blasts Moxley with a forearm strike before landing his own Death Rider, but once again only for a two count. Takeshita throws some chairs into the ring per Don Callis’ suggestion. However, Moxley stomps Takeshita into one of the chairs as Takeshita slides in from the outside, and then picks him up into the Death Rider for the pin at 17:24. The opening portion of the match where Takeshita attacks Moxley’s arm does seem to go on for a long time, but I do think it made the rest of the match more effective. Moxley underwent so much damage that any bit of offense he pulled off after that was treated like a triumph from the crowd. Him kicking out twice seemed impossible. Takeshita must have thought so too, as he took Callis’ suggestion of using a steel chair, and him doing so was his downfall. I adore when a wrestler is hoisted by their own petard. This match started slow but escalated well and ended at the peak. Really good stuff, as expected. ****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator Match
Jon Moxley vs. Rocky Romero
AEW Dynamite #243 – Inglewood, CA – 5.29.2024

If Romero defeats Moxley, he will earn a future IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match. Moxley’s left arm is re-bandaged, and just like Takeshita, Romero attacks that injured arm right away. A moment I appreciated was Romero dropkicking Moxley in his good arm when he was grounded, moments after Moxley used his healthy arm to reverse Romero’s suplex into a release suplex of his own. Romero pulls Moxley’s bandage down and sends him shoulder first into the ring steps during the commercial break. This also led to the best commentary moment of the year. Moxley managed to turn the match back in his favor by superplexing Romero after Romero ascended to the top turnbuckle. He only had one arm to utilize when trying a bulldog choke, and Romero snapped it behind his back upon escaping. Moxley was in panic mode when Romero got the Diablo Armbar locked on, but he does manage to roll Romero to his back so that he can stomp his way out of it. Moxley fights out of a double wristlock and turns Romero inside out with a clothesline. He wastes no time following up and drops Romero with the Death Rider to get the pin at 10:37. Despite Romero’s rotten AEW singles record (1-14 overall, 0-8 in 2024), Moxley’s injured arm and Romero’s tenacity was enough to make him feel credible. It’s too bad after this Moxley’s arm would no longer be a focal point, as I think him being torn between being a fighting champion and healing up would have been an interesting tale to tell leading into Forbidden Door. ***¼

Forbidden Door Casino Gauntlet Match
Jay White vs. PAC vs. Mistico vs. Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Lio Rush vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Hechicero
AEW Dynamite #243 – Inglewood, CA – 5.29.2024

The winner of this match challenges for the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door. Despite the name, this isn’t a gauntlet match. It’s a staggered entrance one-fall to a finish match. The names above are placed in the order that they entered the match. Juice Robinson pushed PAC off of the top turnbuckle three days earlier at Double Or Nothing to cost Death Triangle the Trios Titles, and PAC took out that aggression on White, who pinned PAC in that match. Mistico was a fun surprise for the crowd, but the crowd ROARED when Ospreay made his entrance. The only NJPW entrant in the match, Shota Umino, entered just in time to make sure Ospreay didn’t submit to Mistico’s La Mistica armbreaker. Umino and Ospreay had a tremendous exchange, ending with Umino getting two with a tornado DDT after giving Ospreay a rope-assisted DDT on the apron. The most fun part of the match was Claudio Giant Swinging everybody one-by-one, with referee Bryce Remsburg almost falling victim to the Swing as well. Lio Rush was another well received surprise, having not been seen in AEW since December 2021, and just popping up in New Japan two weeks earlier after an eight month long absence. Orange Cassidy gutted out a beatdown from earlier in the day from Trent Beretta for a chance at the title, and he had a fiery exchange with Claudio. Cassidy and Ospreay, who wrestled each other at the first Forbidden Door, had a momentary stare down before White snuck back in and nearly pinned Cassidy with a uranage slam. Hechicero came close to winning the bout with an armbar on Ospreay and then a cradle to Cassidy. Rush would take out Hechicero with a suicide dive, and right after, Umino surprised Rush with a shotgun dropkick. Cassidy avoided Umino’s Paradigm Shift and took him out with the Orange Punch. Robinson would interfere, shoving PAC off of the top turnbuckle just like he did at Double or Nothing so White could go for the Blade Runner on Cassidy. Ospreay wiped out White with a Hidden Blade before he could. Cassidy avoided a StormBreaker with a huracanrana, but Ospreay rebounded with the OsCutter on Cassidy to get the pin at 22:14. I don’t have the clearest memory of all of AEW’s Casino Gauntlets, but I feel confident in saying this was the best one. It had the best surprises, the best wrestling, continuity with current storylines, and was a lot of fun to watch. It’s surprising to see Ospreay challenge for the World Title so soon, especially as he is also the AEW International Champion. This also means that the AEW title match at the PPV is not interpromotional. To me, not putting the title on the line against an NJPW person at this PPV is more damning of the state of NJPW’s roster than anything else. Either way, Ospreay vs. Swerve should be excellent, and this match was too. ****

West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty)
AEW Collision #47 – Palm Desert, CA – 6.1.2024

Anthony Ogogo is in STP’s corner. The WCWC getting the “already in the ring” entrance was the writing on the wall for this both. If they weren’t explicitly promoted as NJPW STRONG competitors, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered covering this. Isaacs shut down Moriarty with a powerslam. Nelson got in a few shots before Moriarty cut off Isaacs with a Complete Shot into the middle turnbuckle. Taylor got two on Nelson with a knee strike and a splash due to Isaacs interjecting. Moriarty took Isaacs to the floor with a shotgun dropkick and put him in a sleeper hold. Taylor caught Nelson jumping off of the middle turnbuckle with a haymaker and then put him away with Welcome To The Land at 5:04. Ogogo lays out Nelson with a haymaker of his own after the bout. Complete filler. **

Chase Owens and KENTA won back the IWGP Tag Team Titles at Sakura Genesis, cheating to defeat Bishamon. After the match, then STRONG Tag Team Champions TMDK showed their discontent for Owens and KENTA’s means of winning the tag gold, with former champions Hikuleo and Phantasmo joining the fray. The following weekend, Hikuleo and Phantasmo won back the STRONG Tag Titles from TMDK. All of this resulted in a four way elimination tag team match being made for Dominion, with both the IWGP and STRONG titles on the line. The last team standing would walk away with both sets of tag titles, just like Bishamon did at the previous year’s Dominion.

STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship & IWGP Tag Team Championship Elimination Match
BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens & KENTA) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) vs. Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste)
NJPW “Dominion 2024” – Osaka, Japan – 6.9.2024

Guerrillas of Destiny have been STRONG Openweight Tag Team champions since 5.11.2024 and this is their first defense. Jado is in their corner. BULLET CLUB have been IWGP Tag Team tag team champions since 5.4.2024. TMDK has Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita in their corner.This match is under tornado rules. The teams pair off to start, with Bishamon and BULLET CLUB fighting around ringside while GoD and TMDK go at it in the ring. BULLET CLUB then takes over by beating down ELP in the ring while keeping all of the other participants at bay. Hikuleo eventually saves his partner with a double clothesline. Nicholls had Hikuleo distracted from the floor when he had Haste grasped for God Send. ELP then accidentally nailed Hikuleo with Sudden Death. TMDK then pinned Hikuleo with the Tank Buster at 6:27, eliminating the reigning STRONG champions in the first fall. We’re shown GoD going up the ramp in disbelief as BULLET CLUB dismantle TMDK back in the ring. Bishamon also had trouble against the current IWGP champions, until Goto caught Owens’ Z-Trigger attempt, drove him head first into YOSHI-HASHI’s knee, and then YOSHI-HASHI superkicked KENTA to Goto. Goto would drop KENTA onto Owens with a Death Valley Driver, and then with YOSHI-HASHI take out Owens with Shoto for the pin at 11:19, eliminating the IWGP Tag Team Champions. YOSHI-HASHI sent Nicholls careening into the barricades while Goto Saito suplexed Haste for two. As Goto climbed to the top rope, Nicholles ran in and sent YOSHI-HASHI face first into his crotch to knock him down. TMDK then brought down Goto with the Olivia Newton Bomb for two, thanks to YOSHI-HASHI interjecting. Bishamon had Nicholls set up for Shoto when Haste pump kicked YOSHI-HASHI to the floor. Goto knocked Haste down to his knees with a headbutt, but Haste came back with a dropkick. Goto fought out of the Tank Buster, but succumbed to the Power Bottom, though YOSHI-HASHI had to save him from being pinned again. YOSHI-HASHI escaped the Power Bottom and kicked out of the Tank Buster, but a super Tank Buster would get TMDK the pin at 16:26, becoming STRONG Tag champions for the second time and first time IWGP tag champions. Understandably, the crowd did not care about this match at all until it got down to the final two teams. Fortunately, Bishamon and TMDK really kicked things up a notch and they had the crowd with them for every nearfall. It was also treated like a big deal that TMDK finally won the IWGP tag titles, which is nice in what has been a dark period for the titles. I still don’t know why they had to lose the STRONG titles before this match, but all’s well that ends well. Tanahashi stated that he would like all STRONG titles to only be defended in the U.S. going forward, and if that means more Haste and Nicholls on U.S. shows, I am in favor. ***¼

Also at Dominion, Moxley would successfully defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against EVIL. After the match, Moxley made an open challenge to the locker room to determine his next title defense. Tetsuya Naito, who Moxley won the title from in April, made his way to the ring. He challenged Moxley to a title match at Forbidden Door, stating that since he was the one who lost the title to Moxley, it was his responsibility to bring it back to New Japan. Moxley accepted, and the match was confirmed shortly after. I think that is a perfectly acceptable set up for this rematch, and hopefully Naito succeeds.

Shota Umino vs. Rocky Romero
AEW Rampage #149 – Des Moines, IA – 6.14.2024

This match is framed as Umino looking to work his way back into earning a spot on Forbidden Door after failing to win the Casino Gauntlet match a few weeks prior. Unfortunately for Umino, he would fracture his hip during the bout, putting him out of action for Forbidden Door entirely. He was announced for the G1 Climax tournament, so hopefully he is recovered to be part of that, as he is an odds-on favorite to win the whole thing. Romero sent Umino crashing into the announcer’s table with a suicide dive and from there attacked Umino’s left arm, the same strategy Romero employed against Umino’s mentor Jon Moxley in their singles encounter. Romero was feeling himself a bit too much with his chops in the corner, Fargo strutting between each one, so that when Romero began with the Forever clotheslines, Umino had enough stamina to cut him off with a dropkick. He uses the same slingshot DDT to the apron he used on Ospreay in the Casino Gauntlet and then lands a springboard dropkick to the side of the head. Romero’s comeback resulted in him scoring a nearfall after a standing Shiranui. Umino blocked a regular Shiranui and dropped Romero with a running neckbreaker for two. The Blaze Blade and Death Rider then got Umino the pin at 10:11. It’s a shame this couldn’t lead to something more significant for Umino due to his injury, but this was a solid match nonetheless. **¾

On June 15th, the new STRONG Openweight and IWGP Tag Team Champions returned to AEW for the first time since WrestleDream in October. They would team with CHAOS’ Rocky Romero and Lio Rush to face the Blackpool Combat Club.

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs. TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste), Lio Rush & Rocky Romero
AEW Collision #49 – Youngstown, OH – 6.15.2024

Moxley’s arm appears to be fully healed. The match broke down into a brawl on the floor, with only Danielson and Haste remaining in the ring. Danielson repeatedly kicked Haste in the chest. Haste managed to shove Danielson to the ropes where Nicholls tripped him. Haste dropkicked him in the side of the head, and Nicholls smashed Danielson’s face and chest into the ring apron. Their foursome controls the match until Danielson counters a super Frankensteiner from Romero into a super atomic drop. Danielson then drives Haste into the corner before tagging in Claudio, who pummels Haste against the ropes with body blows and nails him with an uppercut. Claudio then uppercuts Romero into the barricades and uses a chair for a jumping uppercut to Nicholls into the barricades. Nicholls lariats Claudio to save Haste from a Giant Swing. Moxley however drops Haste with an Ace Crusher. He pummels Nicholls in the corner before giving him a delayed piledriver for two. Moxley evades Rush’s leapfrog. Rush escapes the Death Rider and pushes Moxley into TMDK’s Power Bottom. Danielson pushes Nicholls into Haste after evading the Tank Buster. A series of offenses ends with Claudio Giant Swinging Romero. Claudio then passes off Rush into Moxley, who drills him with a Death Rider for the pin at 13:21. I was wondering if perhaps this match would lead to TMDK defending either or both of their titles against Claudio and Yuta in the future, and it still could, but nothing in the match hinted at that. All eight of these guys are great, and put on a fun match, so even without a lot of meat on the bone it was a good time. Moxley cuts a great post-match promo about how he is going to put an end to Tetsuya Naito once and for all at Forbidden Door. ***½

On the June 8th episode of Collision, Zack Sabre Jr. said he was coming to Forbidden Door. He will be facing Orange Cassidy one-on-one, as last year Sabre failed to win the AEW International Title from Cassidy in a four way bout, and Sabre feels he and Orange have unfinished business. On the June 19th episode of Dynamite, Sabre and Cassidy would meet for the first time since last year’s Forbidden Door in an eight man tag team match.

Dante Martin, Kyle O’Reilly, Mark Briscoe & Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Roderick Strong & The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher)
AEW Dynamite #246 – Fairfax, VA – 6.19.2024

Undisputed Kingdom members Matt Taven and Mike Bennett are in the corner of Sabre’s team. Another wrinkle to this match is that Briscoe, Martin, and Takeshita have all qualified to challenge for the vacant TNT Title at Forbidden Door. Yet another wrinkle is that Fletcher pinned Mark Briscoe in a six man tag team match last week, and Mark vowed to not let his team down again. Sabre and Cassidy’s aggression showed when they were in the ring together exchanging holds. Takeshita blind tagged himself in when Cassidy pushed Sabre to the ropes to escape his cravate. Takeshita blasted Cassidy with a haymaker, but he snuck out and tagged O’Reilly after Strong blind tagged himself in. Bennett from the floor grabbed Kyle’s foot from the floor, sending him right into a backbreaker from Strong. O’Reilly sends Strong into the mat shoulder first. Martin wipes out Fletcher with a high crossbody, but Fletcher then assists Takeshita with a super powerbomb to Martin. Martin gets caught in the corner and attacked by everyone, but he moves when Takeshita attacks, and then Martin and his partners all get a shot in on our Cinnabon stud. Takeshita also fell victim to three consecutive splashes and a top rope elbow drop from his opponents, but his partners saved him from being pinned. Sabre held Cassidy’s boot to prevent him from nailing Takeshita with an Orange Punch. Sabre was twisting up Cassidy’s arm when Briscoe interjected and took down Sabre with a Saito suplex. Cassidy countered Takeshita’s suplex with Stundog Millionaire. Mark then gave him a running Blockbuster onto the floor. In the ring, Sabre and Cassidy blocked each others offense, with O’Reilly breaking Sabre’s European Clutch on OC. O’Reilly jumped in the way of Strong’s leaping knee strike, pushing Cassidy out of its trajectory. Cassidy then blindsided Strong with the Orange Punch for the pin at 16:41. That was a hoot and a holler. Every exchange with Cassidy and Sabre was well received and felt as if it was important for both of them to get the better of the other. It helped make their match at Forbidden Door feel important. The interactions with the TNT title participants was also fun, and I like that O’Reilly’s noble act led his team to victory. Fun! ***¾

On the June 12th episode of Dynamite, Shingo Takagi announced that he would be in the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation tournament. On the June 19th episode of Dynamite, the brackets were revealed, and we learned Shingo would face Bryan Danielson in the opening round of the tournament at Forbidden Door. Shingo would make his first AEW TV appearance on Rampage two days later.

Shingo Takagi vs. AR Fox
AEW Rampage #150 – Fairfax, VA – 6.21.2024

Fox attacks Takagi from behind before the bell. He scores an early nearfall with Air Fox. Takagi fights up from the mat and takes down Fox with a pair of jabs and a short-arm lariat. He lifts him up for a suplex and then turns it into a neckbreaker. Fox stops Takagi with a low Ace Crusher and immediately delivers a 450 Splash afterwards for two. Takagi holds onto the top rope to counter Lo Mein Pain. Takagi comes down from the top turnbuckle, nailing Fox with a Pumping Bomber. Takagi ducks an enzuigiri and pops Fox up into a Death Valley Driver. Another Pumping Bomber leads to Last of the Dragon for the pin at 3:44. Fox got in much more offense than I expected, maybe more than he should have, which is not a new problem for AEW matches. It was fun, though. After the match, Bryan Danielson comes out and offers a handshake, but Takagi bats his hand out of the way and nudges Danielson with his shoulder as he walks out. Love it. **¼

NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship
Stephanie Vaquer vs. La Catalina
CMLL Presenta NJPW Fantastica Mania Mexico 2024 – Mexico City, Mexico – 6.21.2024

Vaquer has been champion since 3.10.2024 and this is her third defense. Catalina is the same Catalina from NXT, where she also competed as Katrina Cortez. She mounts Vaquer early on, pummeling her with forearms and slamming her head into the mat multiple times. Vaquer can’t seem to get a firm grasp on Catalina. She went after her ankle, stomped her arm into the mat, and cut her off with Sole Food, but after all of that, Catalina kept her momentum and mowed down the champion. Vaquer’s opening came when Catalina was re-entering the ring after landing a splash off of the ring apron. Vaquer cut her off with a snappy dragonscrew leg whip, sent her into the barricades, and then put her in a straightjacket choke back in the ring before pinning her with a European Clutch for two. You can see the confidence in her face after skull*cking Catalina to the crowd’s dismay. Catalina stops another dragonscrew with a hip attack, and even after taking several headbutts, Catalina is able to come back with a flying kick. After two hip attacks into the corner, Catalina lands a splash off the top rope to earn a nearfall. Catalina also gets a nearfall with a Pedigree. Vaquer blocks a clothesline and turns Catalina into a DDT. Catalina shotgun dropkicks Vaquer onto the entrance ramp which Vaquer uses to launch herself back into the match with a springboard crossbody. Catalina positions Vaquer onto her shoulders into the corner and gives her an Electric Chair driver for two. Vaquer cuts off Catalina on the top turnbuckle with a palm strike and then drives her knees into Catalina in the corner. After a pair of superkicks, Vaquer muscles Catalina up into the Package Backbreaker for the pin at 14:09. The crowd being super into Catalina made this match great. Otherwise, it was more or less similar to Vaquer’s other title matches, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. ***¼

The reason for this title match happening was so Mercedes Moné could come out after and have a face-to-face with Vaquer. They will be facing off at Forbidden Door in a title for title bout, with Vaquer’s NJPW STRONG Women’s Title and Moné’s AEW TBS Title on the line. Mone does a little trash talking, leading to the two of them coming to blows and being pulled apart. If I were to guess, come Sunday, the person the STRONG Women’s title was created for will finally have it around her waist.

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titán)
AEW Dynamite #247 – Buffalo, NY – 6.26.2024

Bryan Danielson is on commentary. After being caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Claudio, the BCC beat down Titán in their corner during the commercial break. Hirmou jumps in to save Titán from a leg submission that Claudio has him in, and Moxley makes him pay by throwing him into the barricades. This was enough however for Titán to get some recovery time. He took down Claudio with a drop toe hold and followed up with a double stomp, and rocked Moxley with a heel kick to the chin. Takagi fought off the BCC on his own upon entering the ring, taking down Claudio and Moxley with a DDT/Complete Shot combo and Yuta with a brainbuster. Takagi jabs and short-arm clothesline Moxley, after taking some shots, leading to Yuta and Takahashi tagging in. Yuta gave Takahashi a rebound German suplex, but Takahashi comes back with a Death Valley Driver for two. Takahashi is about to lift Yuta up into Time Bomb II when Moxley cracks him in the back with a chair, giving LIJ the win via DQ at 10:26. That endingy came out of nowhere and was a wet fart to end an otherwise good but not great match. I don’t know if this made anyone more excited for either BCC vs. LIJ singles match on Sunday. **½

All six men brawl after the match until Tetsuya Naito’s music hits. Naito makes his way out with a smile and slowly takes off his dress clothes as Moxley paces in the ring. Moxley ends up meeting him part way in the aisle and they brawl to the backstage area. In the ring, Takagi throws repeated hammer and anvil elbows at Yuta’s head. This brings Danielson out from commentary and to the ring. Takagi lets go of the hold and goes face to face with Dragon. I really hope Naito shows up with his working boots on and his t-shirt off on Sunday.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kyle O’Reilly
AEW Dynamite #247 – Buffalo, NY – 6.26.2024

O’Reilly saved the match for his team on the previous Dynamite episode by breaking up Sabre’s European Clutch on Cassidy. O’Reilly also jumped in the way of Strong’s jumping knee so that Cassidy could come back with an Orange Punch and win the match. Sabre is out for revenge in this singles bout. NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd is in the crowd with The Undisputed Kingdom Roderick Strong, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Orange Cassidy is on commentary. Sabre scores with a neck twist using his feet amidst he and O’Reilly grappling, following up by stomping O’Reilly’s upturned elbow into the mat. Sabre then focused his offense on O’Reilly’s left arm from there. Sabre puts O’Reilly in an abdominal stretch and transitions into an Octopus Stretch, which O’Reilly turns into an ankle lock. Although Sabre rolls out of it fairly quickly, O’Reilly does manage to kick Sabre down to the mat. Sabre delivers a fallaway kick to O’Reilly’s arm and cradles O’Reilly coming off of the ropes. O’Reilly rolls up and suplexes Sabre into a cross armbreaker attempt, which Sabre turns into an ankle lock. Sabre goes for a cross armbreaker of his own, and O’Reilly turns that into an ankle lock, and then a suplex when Sabre pulls O’Reilly into a side headlock. O’Reilly knee strikes Sabre into the chest when Sabre goes for a double leg takedown. Sabre ends an open hand strike exchange by rolling O’Reilly into a triangle, and then a deep Fujiwara armbar, resulting in O’Reilly tapping out at 10:28. This was a proficient technical wrestling match that the crowd didn’t give a single damn about. Cassidy didn’t add a whole lot on commentary, and the constant cuts to Kidd and the Kingdom were distracting. Just watch one of their PWG matches if you’re inclined to see these two wrestle. ***

After the match, The Undisputed Kingdom jumped into the ring to check on O’Reilly. Gabe Kidd’s just hanging back on the apron. Orange Cassidy makes his way to the ring and has a face off with Sabre. Sabre is then joined by his TMDK partners Robbie Eagles and Shane Haste, and Tomohiro Ishii gets Cassidy’s back. Commentary makes a big deal about Ishii being one of the only friends Cassidy has that has not abandoned him. This was quite ham-fisted.

 

The Rampage that aired before Forbidden Door was chock full of NJPW participation.

First, the NJPW Strong Champion made his AEW debut in a tag team match. This is very funny based on what Kidd said about AEW fans.

Gabe Kidd & Roderick Strong vs. The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)
AEW Rampage #151 – Allentown, PA – 6.28.2024

Undisputed Kingdom members Matt Taven and Mike Bennett are in Kidd and Strong’s corner, and Trish Adora is in the Infantry’s corner. Kidd seems disinterested and even annoyed by the Kingdom, which is the correct vibe to have garnered. They get along just fine as they chop up Bravo in the corner. Even though Bravo escapes a double back suplex and Dean gets in a bit of offense, Kidd and Strong go back to chopping after Strong cuts off Dean with a backbreaker. Dean tags back out to Bravo after rolling under a double clothesline attempt. Bravo takes down Kidd with a scissors kick and Dean follows with a frog splash for two. This comes after Kidd kicks out of a slingshot Ace Crusher from Bravo. Strong trips Bravo to save him from Boot Camp, and Kidd Saito suplexes Dean. Strong interrupts Bravo’s strikes onto Kidd. Kidd jabs Bravo into a jump-up knee strike from Strong. Kidd then gives Bravo a piledriver for the pin at 6:26. Kidd and Strong shake hands and raise one another’s hands after the bout. It makes sense that Kidd and Strong would have more of a struggle against an established team, but there was no doubt who was coming out on top. Kidd’s AEW debut could’ve and probably should have been part of something more worthwhile. **½

AEW TNT Title Forbidden Door Qualifying Match
El Phantasmo vs. AR Fox
AEW Rampage #151 – Allentown, PA – 6.28.2024

The winner of this match will take part in the Six Way Ladder match to determine the new AEW TNT Champion on Sunday. This is ELP’s first AEW match since last year’s Forbidden Door. Commentary tells an interesting tale of ELP trying to get his head on straight after being abandoned by two different factions in the past year (he was kicked out of BULLET CLUB, and all of the Guerrillas of Destiny going to WWE.) ELP pulls off a flying headscissors off of the top rope. Not to be outdone, Fox slingshots out of the way of a senton splash and lands one of his own. He follows that up with a tope con hilo and a Swanton for two. ELP comes back with a Manhattan Drop and atomic drop, following that with a Hitman style forearm drop. Fox evades Sudden Death, but is taken down with a crossbody and a lionsault. Fox ducks a clothesline and pops up into an enzuigiri. Fox takes down ELP with a twisting brainbuster before landing a 450 Splash for two. ELP surprises Fox with a Canadian Destroyer off of the second turnbuckle. Sudden Death and CR II get ELP the pin at 5:25. It was fun seeing ELP go back to his junior heavyweight roots. This followed the same formula as the Shingo/Fox match, but it seemed to work just fine. **½

Shingo Takagi vs. Dalton Castle
AEW Rampage #151 – Allentown, PA – 6.28.2024

Castle played the defensive from the start. Shingo targeted Castle’s back the entire match, and, to get under the craw of his Forbidden Door opponent Bryan Danielson, threw elbows at the side of Castle’s head while he was on the mat. Shingo took his eyes off of the prize in doing so, and Castle was able to sneak in a half-hatch suplex because of it. Castle even ended Shingo’s jabs with a clothesline takedown. Takagi escapes the Bang-A-Rang and drops Castle with a Gory Bomb. Takagi clobbers Castle twice before giving him a DDT. Castle surprises Takagi with a jackknife pin, but then succumbs to a lariat once Takagi kicks out. The Last of the Dragon then gets Takagi the pin at 7:44. A much more substantial and satisfying match than the Fox bout. It was a solid momentum builder for Forbidden Door, even if a win over Castle doesn’t necessarily convince people Shingo has a better chance of taking down someone the caliber of Bryan Danielson. ***

Orange Cassidy & Tomohiro Ishii vs. TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Shane Haste)
AEW Collision #51 – Buffalo, NY – 6.29.2024

This match was created in the aftermath of the O’Reilly vs. Sabre match on Dynamite. Cassidy and Ishii are actually 1-0 in AEW, but their only other tag match was in November of 2021. They use a combination of Cassidy’s unorthodox style and Ishii’s strength to overwhelm the TMDK teammates. As Cassidy is busy repeatedly bouncing Eagles’ face into the top turnbuckle, Haste pulls Cassidy off of the apron and drops him back first onto the ring apron. Eagles then wipes him out with a tope con hilo as Haste knocks Ishii off of the apron to take control of the bout. Cassidy escapes their grasp by pushing Haste into Eagles and then up kicking Haste into Eagles when he grabs his foot. Ishii manhandles TMDK pretty easily. He suplexes Haste into a falling top rope elbow drop from Cassidy. Haste ducks the Orange Punch and turns it into a Falcon Arrow. Eagles goes for one of his own, only for Cassidy to counter into Stundog Millionaire. Eagles however comes back with Turbo Backpack for two. Eagles kicks at Cassidy’s legs, hoping to wear him down for the Ron Miller Special. Instead, Cassidy kicks Eagles into the corner and pins him with the Beach Break at 10:41. Despite their different styles and sizes, Ishii and Cassidy are very compatible.. I was kind of hoping they’d pin Haste and get a shot at the STRONG Tag Titles. Even so, this was good and fun (s/o Larry Csonka.) ***

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lady Frost
AEW Collision #51 – Buffalo, NY – 6.29.2024

Mercedes Moné watches the match from ringside. I understand warm up matches for a PPV, but a competitive match with someone who is 0-12 diminishes Vaquer as a formidable opponent for Banks, even if she does win the match. How does AEW not see this? I think Lady Frost is talented, and I guess she won some CMLL tournament in 2022, but I’d bet nobody in Buffalo knows that or even cares. At least Shingo beat a former ROH World Champion to get momentum for his big Forbidden Door match, even if Castle’s AEW record isn’t the best. Despite my frustrations this was quite good. Frost’s nose was busted open during the bout which added a little juice to proceedings (pun intended), especially when Vaquer skullf*cked her after the fact. Vaquer’s look to Mone before she gave Frost a gnarly looking dragonscrew leg whip, and then again after her Package Backbreaker (which got her the pin at 8:00) were the best moments of the match. It is so strange that the hype for this match and Naito vs. Moxley was so last minute. Zeuxis, Vaquer’s tag partner, attacks Moné after the match, but Moné fights her off. Vaquer however leaves Moné laying with the Package Backbreaker. **¼

El Phantasmo, Jack Perry & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin & Lio Rush
AEW Collision #51 – Buffalo, NY – 6.29.2024

This is a preview match for tomorrow’s Six Way Ladder match to determine the new AEW TNT Champion. ELP has defeated Rush twice in New Japan, but he could not withstand Rush and his partners all targeting him in tandem. It takes him backdropping Rush onto Martin to get the opening to tag out, but both Perry and Takeshita jump off the apron instead of accepting his tag. Briscoe surprises Perry with a Spicy dropkick, but Briscoe then turns right into a forearm blast from Takeshita. He then does accept ELP’s tag to do so damage to Martin. ELP and Takeshita then get in a battle of who can throw harder chops at Martin, then who can do a better brainbuster When they try a tandem backdrop, Martin flips out of it and takes them down with a tandem Frankensteiner. Briscoe has ELP down with a fisherman’s buster, but Perry enters the match for the first time to break it up. ELP escapes the Jay Driller and nails Mark with Sudden Death. He falls into his corner where Rush tags in. He superkicks ELP and then suicide dives onto Takeshita, but turns around into a suicide dive from Phantasmo. Martin takes out Phantasmo, and then both Martin and Rush land splashes on ELP back in the ring. Once again, Perry breaks up the pin, but this time Briscoe dumps him to the floor. Briscoe misses a cannonball senton off of the apron. Phantasmo sends Rush crashing into Martin then rolls to the corner to tag in Takeshita. Takeshita grabs Rush as Rush tries to crawl through his legs and pulls him up into a release German suplex. Takeshita counters Martin’s super Frankensteiner at first, but Martin then pulls it off when Takeshita attempts a super powerbomb. Perry shoves Martin off of the top turnbuckle. Martin accidentally dives into Takeshita’s arms for a Blue Thunder Bomb after he knocks Perry off of the apron. The Power Drive knee then gets Takeshita the pin at 10:50. Everyone then attacks everyone after the match, ending with Briscoe climbing a ladder inside of the ring and holding up the TNT Title before diving onto the other five participants on the floor. Now this was an effective preview match. It was well paced, showed the characteristics of each competitor, and left me generally wondering who would come out victorious on Sunday. A fun go home match for the PPV. ***½

I find myself heading into the PPV expecting a good show, but not overly enthusiastic about New Japan’s portion of the event.