CM Punk To Face NJPW Legend At Forbidden Door
While CM Punk vs. KENTA is seemingly off the table, a new report claims a new opponent has been chosen.
Ahead of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, reports indicated that fans would finally get to witness a one-on-one bout between CM Punk and KENTA. The two have been at odds with one another for years, stemming from the fact that Punk stole KENTA’s GTS and popularized it in WWE.
Despite seeming to issue a challenge for Collision when he said he was “free on June 17th,” KENTA has seemed less keen on facing Punk at Forbidden Door, publicly taking AEW to task for not offering him the “correct amount of money.”
Earlier today, Fightful Select reported that while a match between the two had indeed been the plan at one point, that plan is now scrapped as KENTA reportedly told NJPW he wouldn’t face the Second City Savior.
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Now, an update from Super J-Cast states that Punk will be facing Satoshi Kojima at the event on June 25th. Taking to Twitter, Super J-Cast wrote the following:
“Well done to the Bread Dad believers: several sources have indicated that CM Punk v Satoshi Kojima is the new match”
Well done to the Bread Dad believers: several sources have indicated that CM Punk v Satoshi Kojima is the new match https://t.co/LWPOuB5r35
— Super J-Cast (@thesuperjcast) June 21, 2023
Aside from expressing his love for bread on social media, Kojima is known as a legend in NJPW, first training in their dojo in 1991. He is a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion as well as having held multiple other titles in the promotion, and he’s won both the Young Lion’s Cup and the G1 Climax during his storied career. At the age of 52, the star is still going strong, regularly competing for both NJPW and AJPW.
Confirmed for Forbidden Door is the dream bout between Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada and the IWGP US Title match between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega. Jungle Boy Jack Perry continues his quest for gold as he challenges Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title and MJF is scheduled to face Hiroshi Tanahashi with the AEW World Title on the line. That is if MJF decides to show up.