By now, it’s a tired point to express how Forbidden Door has outlived its usefulness. We all know it to be the case. Rather than carry on about that, I will focus solely on the New Japan side of the Forbidden Door build up and PPV.

The most intriguing cross-promotional match announced that would feature a New Japan wrestler was Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kenny Omega. Sabre would lay out this challenge on the June 10th episode of AEW Dynamite and the match would be made official shortly after. This match would be the first meeting between these two in the United States, let alone AEW. The announcement of this match led to a rivalry between The Elite, Omega’s faction in AEW, and TMDK, Sabre’s faction in NJPW, throughout the ensuing weeks, starting with the Collision immediately following the announcement of the match.

Kenny Omega vs. Bad Dude Tito
AEW Collision #148 – Cincinnati, OH – 6.13.2026

TMDK member Mikey Nicholls is in Tito’s corner. Tito baited Omega into a kick to the stomach by offering him a handshake. Omega got him back with a Frankensteiner and pescado, but Tito managed to reverse a suplex on the floor. Back in the ring, Omega reversed an Irish whip into his “You Can’t Escape” combo, only for Tito to block the moonsault portion of the combo by getting his knees up. Tito then scored a nearfall with a release German suplex. Omega cut off Tito with a running knee strike. After a snap dragon suplex, Omega nailed a pumping knee for two. A knee to the back of the head and the One Winged Angel get Omega the pin at 4:53. It appears that Tito’s objective was to attack Omega’s stomach (Omega suffers from diverticulitis) to wear him down for Sabre. Omega comes out on top as expected, but even if he is a little worse for wear going into Forbidden Door, then it is mission accomplished for Big Teets. **½

After the match, Omega states that his reasoning for facing Sabre is to make it back to the top of AEW. He missed the Owen Hart tournament, so now he will fight his way to the top, starting by defeating one of the best wrestlers in the world, Zack Sabre Jr. I can dig that.

After Omega defeated Tony Nese on the June 17th episode of Dynamite, Zack Sabre, flanked by Tito and Nicholls, confronted Omega before Omega could speak on the microphone. Outnumbered, Omega went to the floor and made his way to the stage, where he would be backed up by the Young Bucks and Jack Perry, The Elite. Sabre kicked the microphone towards Omega. Omega thanks Sabre for traveling all this way to challenge him. Omega says it would look good if Sabre had a big fat W beside his name against Kenny Omega, but it would look good for Kenny to defeat Sabre both in AEW and his home-away-from-home, NJPW. Omega insists they keep it mono a mono at “the pape”, and until then, he bids Sabre and the TMDK adieu.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Adam Priest
AEW Collision #149 – Sugar Land, TX – 6.20.2026

As a big fan of both competitors, I was excited for this match, but also a bit puzzled. Priest is an interesting choice for Sabre to face in a warm up for Omega given the wide gap of where they sit on AEW’s hierarchy. Sabre spent the majority of the match attacking Priest’s left arm and acting like a cocky prick to the crowd. Priest is able to catch Sabre with a clothesline and then attacks his left knee. Sabre uses lifters to try and create distance, only to be dropped with a DDT by Priest. Sabre brilliantly counters an ankle lock by bringing Priest to the mat and using his feet to twist Priest’s left arm. Priest once again takes out Sabre’s knee with a tackle and looks for a half crab. Sabre counters that into an omoplata stretch until Priest verbally submits at 9:38. This was a great in-ring reintroduction for Sabre, showcasing his wrestling ability, his arrogance, and his viciousness. He pretty much controlled the entire match, though Priest definitely made the most of the fleeting moments where was on offense. I’d love to see someone run this back. ***¼

El Phantasmo vs. Will Ospreay
AEW Dynamite #348 – Rio Rancho, NM – 6.24.2026

In singles matches, Ospreay has defeated ELP 5 out of the 8 times they wrestled, including their four latest bouts, the last occurring in 2023. However, the only other time they wrestled in the U.S., El Phantasmo defeated Will Ospreay (semi-finals of the Super J-Cup) with the CR II. After some impressive displays of agility, ELP catches Ospreay on the floor with an Asai moonsault. ELP channels the inspiration on his tights, Mr. Hitman, and tries to submit Ospreay in a sharpshooter, to no avail. Ospreay also takes out ELP with Pip Pip Cheerio, but when he climbs to the top rope, ELP runs into the ropes to crotch Ospreay on the top. ELP brings him down with a super Frankensteiner for two. Ospreay rebounds with a back handspring kick. ELP impressively counters Ospreay’s counter – blocking Ospreay’s stunner with a deadlift into his own stunner. Another exchange ends with a standing Spanish Fly from Ospreay. When he goes for the Hidden Blade, ELP cuts him off with a Frankensteiner, and then nails Sudden Death for two. ELP looks for CR II, the same move he defeated Ospreay with seven years prior. This time, Ospreay counters into the Styles Clash. As ELP is recovering, Ospreay blasts him with the Hidden Blade for the pin at 10:40. I thought about why this match was a good warm up for Ospreay’s match against Strickland, and the scenarios for Ospreay are pretty similar. Ospreay is looking to get a win back against Strickland from Forbidden Door two years ago, and given how familiar Strickland is with Ospreay, let alone being a great wrestler in his own right, that will not be an easy hill for Ospreay to climb. ELP was not easy for Ospreay either – he had an answer for everything Ospreay attempted until he went for the same move that defeated Ospreay in 2019. It was then Ospreay finally found ELP in a position where he could finally connect with the Hidden Blade. If Ospreay wants to win the AEW Title in Wembley Stadium, he needs to rectify his loss against Strickland, and he rectified another past loss in advance of that bout. It’s a solid way for Ospreay to get in the right headspace. All of that aside, ELP and Ospreay have great chemistry and this was just fun to watch. ***¾

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jack Perry
AEW Dynamite #348 – Rio Rancho, NM – 6.24.2026

Bad Dude Titoand Mikey Nicholls are in Sabre’s corner. Sabre’s bold demeanor was shaken after Perry almost pinned him with a Skayde schoolboy. When Perry tried a rope assisted armdrag, Sabre halted his momentum and stomped on his right shoulder. From there, he implemented the same strategy he took against Priest, attacking Perry’s left arm. Perry cut off Sabre in the corner and used his right arm to pull off a shiranui. Perry tried to baseball slide Sabre into a wheelbarrow armdrag, but Sabre cut him off with a cross armbreaker on the floor. Sabre missed a stomp on the apron, and Perry landed a second shiranui, this time on the apron. Perry followed up with a corner moonsault. In the ring, Sabre escapes Perry’s Snare Trap, but succumbs to a rebound lariat and double underhook powerbomb for two. Sabre dragon screw leg whips Perry to block the Glass Jaw and pulls him into full body stretch. When Sabre uses his leg to hyperextend Perry’s right shoulder, Perry verbally submits at 13:11. Just like the Priest match, this was a showcase of Sabre’s technical acumen and just how badly he can hurt his opponents. Perry pulling off a bunch of Llave style wrestling really shocked me, but it all looked good! This was better than I expected. ***¼

The Young Bucks (Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) vs. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Mikey Nicholls)
AEW Dynamite #348 – Rio Rancho, NM – 6.24.2026

Matt and Nicholls are about to lock-up when Tito attacks Matt from behind. Nicholls immediately turns and attacks Nick on the apron. The Bucks do-si-do to avoid being Irish whipped into one another and high five each other as they land stereo bulldogs. TMDK cut off the Bucks as they ascended to the top turnbuckles. Tito suplexed Nick, sending him to the floor. Tito gave Matt an uppercut before passing him to Nicholls for a spinebuster. Matt escapes TMDK’s grasp by evading a corner attack from Tito and giving Nicholls a DDT. A London Bridge from Nick takes out both Nicholls and Tito. After unleashing a superkick party, Nick PK’s Tito from the apron, and they pin Nicholls with the Meltzer Driver at 4:15. That was a fun sprint, and a good warm up for the Bucks heading into a three way tag team Sunday. **½

Zack Sabre Jr. then joins the match and attacks the Bucks with TMDK. Kenny Omega and Jack Perry run out to even the odds. Sabre and Omega trade blows. Omega is about to hit the V-Trigger when Tito pulls him to safety. Omega tells Sabre to enjoy the next few days, but come Sunday, everybody will forget about him like they did last year. I am not sure what he’s getting at. Sabre responds by asking Omega to “stay out of hospital, darling.” Got his ass.

Drilla Moloney vs. Daniel Garcia
AEWxNJPW Forbidden 2026; The Buy In – San Jose, CA – 6.28.2026

Fellow Death Rider Marina Shafir is in Garcia’s corner. Garcia focuses his attack on Moloney’s left leg after giving him a dragonscrew leg whip in the ropes and on the floor. It takes several minutes for Moloney to pull off a dropkick to try and gain some leverage. Garcia kicks Moloney in the knee, but Moloney chops him into the corner. He also pops up Garcia into a powerbomb for two. Garcia evades a top rope attack from Moloney and rolls him into the Dragon Tamer. Moloney managed to get to the ropes to escape. He also withstood elbows to the head from Gracia to position him into the Drilla Killa. Shafir interjected, pulling Garcia off of his shoulders, and Garcia capitalized with a schoolboy pin for two. Garcia then mocked Tanahashi by delivering a Twist and Shout to Moloney with an air guitar to boot. Garcia came charging with a running knee after, only to be scooped up into the Drilla Killa by Moloney for the pin at 10:26. I found it hard to keep my focus with how long Garcia was on offense. It felt like Moloney got lucky in victory more than anything else, even if it was cathartic to see Garcia go down after mocking The Ace. It all felt pretty pointless and was far from either man’s best. **¼

The Young Bucks (Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) vs. UnBound Co. (Shingo Takagi & Titán) vs. El Sky Team (Místico & Máscara Dorada)
AEWxNJPW Forbidden 2026 – San Jose, CA – 6.28.2026

This was promoted as a match between the top teams in AEW, NJPW, and CMLL. As much as I like Shingo and Titán, promoting them as a top team in NJPW is straight up disingenuous. El Sky Team were the best as individuals. The Young Bucks were the best at tandem offense. Titán was a bit of a prick, who needed his larger partner to help him cash the checks his actions were writing. Takagi had a bad ass moment where he ate tandem superkicks from Dorada and Matt and then mowed them down with a double clothesline, and then tandem superkicks from Nick and Místico and mowed them down with a double clothesline. It then took all four of them superkicking Shingo at once to take him off of his feet. The Bucks stopped Místico from submitting Shingo to La Mística. After a lariat and Michinoku Driver from Shingo, Titán landed a top rope double stomp on Titán, and once again the Bucks interjected. The Bucks laid out Titán with multiple superkicks. Takagi hoisted Dorada onto his shoulders, but turned around into a double superkick from the Bucks into a crucifix driver from Dorada. Nick took out Dorada with a superkick and PK’d Takagi from the apron before he and Matt pinned Titán with the Meltzer Driver at 17:53. You look at these three teams and know exactly what you’re getting – an action packed exhibition match. It just didn’t feel important. Sky Team vs. The Young Bucks on its own would have been better. I’m always down to see Shingo, don’t get me wrong, and watching him beat up juniors is fun, but I also would’ve been fine seeing him do something else. I had a good time watching this and probably won’t remember much of it. ***½

Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
AEWxNJPW Forbidden 2026 – San Jose, CA – 6.28.2026

Omega was actually the first person to attack the opposition’s stomach, double stomping the announce table top onto Sabre’s abdomen. We would see that as the match progressed as well. After landing a couple of snap dragon suplexes, Omega kneed Sabre in the ribs. When Sabre put Omega in a sleeper hold on the second rope, Omega fell backwards, landing on Sabre and doing more damage to his mid-section. For his part, Sabre would attack Omega’s right arm. Not only was Sabre wearing down Omega for a possible submission, but taking out big parts of Omega’s arsenal. We saw this when Omega attempted a powerbomb but his arm was too weak to pull it off. After the aforementioned fall from the second rope, Omega spiked Sabre on the top of his head with a reverse Frankensteiner, and pulled Sabre up by his tights into a piledriver. Sabre got a bit desperate to end the match, as he countered both a V-Trigger and the One-Winged Angel into European Clutches. He then quickly hit the Zack Driver when Omega kicked out of the second clutch, but unfortunately it was not enough for him to keep the Best Bout Machine down. As Sabre lit him up with open handed strikes, Omega dodged and snuck in the third snap Dragon suplex of the match and the V-Trigger. Sabre countered Omega’s second One-Winged Angel attempt into a triangle choke, which Omega used one-arm to counter into a release powerbomb. After a Kamigoye, Omega finally pulled off the One-Winged Angel to get the pin at 26:25. We definitely saw elements of what had been teased in Omega and Sabre’s warm up matches in this match, just not in the way I thought. Omega beat Sabre to the punch on the mid-section offense, and I am a bit surprised that Sabre didn’t lean into that. Instead he went after Omega’s, a good idea that did bear fruit, but Omega adapted better than many of Sabre’s other opponents and used his legs and Sabre’s own momentum to get the better of TMDK’s front man. This was also very well paced. This was excellent, as one would anticipate, but I think has been slightly overrated by others. ****

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match
Shota Umino vs. PAC
AEWxNJPW Forbidden 2026 – San Jose, CA – 6.28.2026

Umino has been champion since 6.14.2026 and this is his first defense. After winning the title, Gabe Kidd attacked Umino, and delivered a message from the Death Riders: you are not and never have been a Death Rider. Umino was taken under Moxley’s wing in the Summer of 2019 and was tied to him until Moxley officially dropped him in Fall of 2024. With Kidd unable to enter the United States, Death Rider member PAC put out a challenge for Umino’s title at Forbidden Door. PAC had defeated Umino in RevPro during PAC’s run as AEW International champion. Umino officially accepted on June 20th. PAC attacked Umino before the bell and controlled the match until Umino absorbed a running boot from him. Umino then took PAC down with a dropkick. Umino also absorbed open hand shots from PAC in the corner and unleashed a barrage of forearms in response. PAC endured a DDT on the ring apron and the floor, as well as a powerbomb in the ring and then cut Umino off with a belly-to-belly suplex into the turnbuckles. PAC set up Chekov’s table ringside before bringing Umino off the top with an avalanche belly-to-belly suplex in the ring for two. PAC angered Umino again with belittling boot scrapes to the back of his head. Umino fired up from a pair of German suplexes, only to quickly crumple when he looked to charge at PAC. PAC then muscled up Umino and powerbombs him to the floor and through the table. Despite this, Umino managed to kick out after a 450 Splash, so PAC locks him in the Brutalizer. Umino placed his foot on the bottom rope to escape. Umino blocked a strike with a rolling forearm and a headbutt. After a running knee got him a two count, Umino nailed PAC with a lariat. Poetically, Umino dropped PAC with a Paradigm Shift before delivering a Northern Lights Bomb for the pin at 18:11. A rock solid first (and only) defense for Umino. He and PAC work well together, and PAC felt like a genuine obstacle that Umino fought to overcome. The U.S. crowd also seems to have warmed up more on Umino, which is good. If New Japan is going to maintain any semblance of a foothold in the U.S., they really need the fans to get behind their current crop of top talent. ***½

Jon Moxley gets in the ring with Umino after the match. Moxley grins, but before things can go much further, NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi makes his way to the ring. Moxley and Marina Shafir bail with PAC, and Tanahashi places the Global Title on Umino’s waist and raises his hand in victory. Why was Moxley, bad ass former AEW Champion and current Continental Champion, afraid of retired, limping New Japan President Tanahashi, who Moxley defeated at Forbidden Door four years ago? Gabe Kidd would defeat Umino and win the IWGP Global Title on July 6th in Tokyo. Oh well.

Just when you thought Forbidden Door season was over, we were treated to an epilogue of sorts on a special Thursday edition of Collision:

Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli & PAC) vs. War Dragons (Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney)
AEW Collision #151 – San Diego, CA – 7.2.2026

It was super cool seeing Shingo and PAC interact with each other and hear Excalibur acknowledge their past in Dragon Gate. The Death Riders isolated Moloney twice, and Takagi beat them up both times he eventually became the legal man. PAC took out Takagi with an enzuigiri. Claudio and Moloney fought while their partners recovered. Moloney got two with a backslide and took down the Swiss Superman with a spinebuster and slam. Takagi slammed PAC next to him, and the Dragons landed a pair of elbow drops off the turnbuckles for two. Claudio disposed of Moloney with a lariat, and then Giant Swung Takagi into a dropkick from PAC. When Moloney broke up the nearfall, PAC pushed him to the barricades where Daniel Garcia surprised him with a sleeper hold. Left alone, Takagi took a barrage of uppercuts in the corner and a lariat from PAC. Moloney pulled Garcia over the barricades, but before he could give him the Drilla Killa, PAC attacked him from behind. PAC distracted the referee so that Garcia could interfere. While Takagi sent him packing before he could do any damage, the distraction allowed for Claudio to blindside Shingo with an uppercut and roll him up in a headlock for the pin at 18:05. It was cool to see the War Dragons get time as a team in an AEW ring, and also cool to see Shingo mix it up with a couple opponents (and also partner in PAC’s case) from his past. I wonder if we’ll see the Death Riders back in Japan any time soon. ***½

El Phantasmo vs. Kyle Fletcher
AEW Collision #151 – San Diego, CA – 7.2.2026

This is a warm-up match for Fletcher’s shot at Konosuke Takeshita’s AEW International Championship on next week’s Dynamite. ELP did defeat Takeshita last Summer during the G1, but Takeshita has far more victories over him, so he is not the most ideal warm-up opponent if you ask me. Phantasmo was beloved by the San Diego crowd and it added so much to the match. He and Fletcher were incredibly even, and it came off a bit more believable than ELP hanging with Ospreay. After the fans chanted along with ELP as he stood on the announcer’s table, Fletcher ended their good time by surprising him with a half-nelson suplex and lawn darting him into the barricades. The fans go wild for ELP again when he kicks out of a Last Ride in the ring. ELP damn near took Fletcher’s head off with a lariat before dropping him with the CR II for a very close nearfall. Fletcher got his knees up to block a splash off the top, and even though ELP was able to turn that into two cradles and a backslide, Fletcher kicked out of that backslide and drilled ELP with a running knee. After a lawn dart into the middle turnbuckle and a corner enzuigiri, Fletcher pinned ELP with a brainbuster at 11:11. They packed a ton of action into eleven minutes and it was a blast to watch. How well he has done against Fletcher and Omega, plus how much the fans were into him, make me very nervous about ELP still being in Japan for much longer. ****

All the New Japan wrestlers brought the goods and made the best of their U.S. TV time, especially ELP. I had fun with everything I watched.