TJRWrestling AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 Preview

It’s AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door featuring Adam Page against MJF, Toni Storm facing Athena, and a chaotic 10-man Lights Out Steel Cage Match, plus a whole lot more.

The AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door PPV is headed to London, England, for the first time. Since All In was in Texas instead of England, they put Forbidden Door in England, and it should be a hot crowd at The O2 Arena. That also means it’s an afternoon show for me

Remember when the first Forbidden Door happened in 2022, and it gave us some incredible AEW-NJPW matchups. This year, the Forbidden Door concept doesn’t feel like a big deal. There are fewer NJPW talents on the card than ever, probably because NJPW isn’t very hot right now. Tony Khan tried to explain it by saying that it was because they are doing this tournament close to the G1 tournament in NJPW, but if you plan it better, then there should be no excuse. Anyway, I don’t really watch NJPW anymore. My wrestling viewing plate is full, so to speak.

This is a card that has many title matches, but some titles are not being defended. There are also some matchups that have been built up poorly, which is consistent with some past AEW PPVs. All In Texas definitely had a better lineup, but that show was also way too long. I hope this show is around 4 hours at most. It doesn’t need to be more than that. I’m going to list the Lights Out match last because usually when they do Lights Out matches they go on last.

AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door is available on PPV, which you can watch in a number of different ways. I plan on watching and writing about it live, most likely on Prime Video, because I used that for All In Texas and I liked it. Let’s get to it.

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IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Nigel McGuinness

It’s the perfect place to have this kind of match since they are two English guys and Sabre is holding the prestigious NJPW IWGP World Title. I don’t think NJPW is hot right now, but Sabre is the champion and with it being a UK show, the fans will care. Nigel is a UK guy also, so even though he only wrestles a few times a year, this is the perfect place for Nigel to be in a match like this. Will Nigel win? No, but I’m sure the atmosphere from the crowd will elevate this match. I’ll go with Sabre winning with one of his creative finishing moves.

Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.

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TNT Championship Match: Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi

Kyle Fletcher is a very talented wrestler in his late 20s who recently won the TNT Title and re-signed with AEW, so he’s obviously going to be a big part of the company’s future. I don’t think Takahashi, who is an NJPW veteran, has any chance to win the title here. Fletcher is probably going to have a long title reign that lasts at least six months, and maybe even longer than that. Takahashi is just here because he’s an NJPW guy and he’s somebody for Fletcher to beat.

Winner: Kyle Fletcher

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Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Kip Sabian & Killswitch

This is all about Cope and Cage reuniting, even though they had a feud together in AEW, and Cage is an asshole, but we know Cope values him because Cage is “his asshole,” meaning his best friend. It will be cool to see Cope and Cage together again, especially since I saw him on the indies before they were in WWE, too. They’re old, and so am I. Anyway, it’s going to be fun to see them reunite before they wrap up their careers.

I don’t remember the last time that Kip Sabian had a match on an AEW main show PPV, but here we are. Killswitch came back on Dynamite after missing a long time due to health issues and I think he should go with the Luchasaurus name again. Since Nick Wayne has an injured foot, he’s out, so Killswitch makes sense in the match due to his long history with Cage. Anyway, Cope and Cage should win by beating Sabian. I can see them going for the AEW Tag Team Titles at All Out in Toronto on September 20th since it’s close to where they grew up.

Winners: Adam Copeland & Christian Cage

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TBS Championship Match: Mercedes Mone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla

AEW has done a poor job of building this match because most of their audience doesn’t know much about Stardom’s Bozilla or CMLL’s Persephone. I get that they’ll likely excel in the ring and deliver strong performances, but it’s about telling stories, and AEW sometimes falls short in that area.

Alex Windsor is a veteran wrestler who has been booked to get some wins, which is better than how they book other talented women who never get TV time. Usually, AEW brings somebody in, they win a few matches for a PPV cycle or two, and then they fade away. I don’t know if it will happen for Windsor. Anyway, I guess there’s a chance for Mone to lose the TBS Title without being pinned, but I think her reign should continue, so I’ll go with the heel champion Mone beating Bozilla or Persephone to keep her title. The person who beats Mone should do so in a singles match after a long-term story, but it’s AEW, and they don’t do a good job of that. Just saying.

Winner: Mercedes Mone

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AEW Tag Team Championship Match: The Hurt Syndicate – Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin vs. Brodido – Brody King & Bandido vs. FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler

It’s another title match where champions can lose without being pinned or submitted, and this time, I think there’s going to be a title change. I loved the Brodido/FTR 30-minute draw match on Dynamite, and I look forward to seeing them in the same match again. The obvious result is for FTR to leave with the AEW Tag Team Titles since they are an entertaining heel team with Stokely by their side. There is also the obvious story with FTR feuding with Cope & Cage, so I think FTR are going to win the titles here.

Frankly, I’m surprised Bobby Lashley has been a tag team wrestler during his first year in AEW because he’s a guy who, you would think, should be featured as a singles wrestler. It would also be cool to see Shelton in singles more often, but I’m unsure if AEW would push him far. Anyway, I’ll go with FTR to beat Bandido for the win.

Winners AND NEW AEW Tag Team Champions: FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler

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AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland

This should be one of the better matches on the show. Swerve is one of my favorites in AEW, while Okada is always very good with the right opponent. Okada unified two of AEW’s midcard titles into another title because this company loves creating titles. Basically, they are pushing the Continentental and International Titles to the side and then later in the year they’ll try to tell us the Continental Title matters again because they will be doing the Continental Classic tournament. It’s all very confusing and unnecessary in my opinion, but it’s not up to me.

Anyway, I don’t know if Swerve is going to take some time off to fix his knee injury, but they could certainly do a story based on that and have Okada injure him after the match. As for the match itself, I expect Okada to win because he just won the AEW Unified Title last month, so why take it off him right away? AEW usually doesn’t book like that and tends to have long-term title reigns. I’ll go with Okada for the win in what should be an excellent match.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada

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AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Athena

I’m happy for Athena finally being in the AEW Women’s World Title picture. I know she’s the ROH Women’s Champion, but let’s not pretend like ROH matters at all. It barely has an audience and has shown no signs of growth since Tony Khan bought it three years ago. They aren’t any closer to being on TV or streaming, except for their own website. There’s no way ROH is making them any money, but the TV money that AEW gets is substantial, and Tony’s dad is a billionaire many times over, so it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, back to the match.

Athena is an awesome wrestler who is probably more natural as a babyface, but I’ve enjoyed her heel antics too. While I think there’s a possibility that Storm’s long title reign ends at the hands of Athena, I’m leaning toward Storm finding a way to win. Perhaps they’ll do the patented small package finish for Storm since she’s won plenty of matches like that, and it would protect Athena by not losing to a finishing move. It should be a very good match.

Winner: Toni Storm

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AEW World Championship: “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

The “main character” Hangman against the “antagonist” MJF should be an incredible match between two AEW day one guys that are likely going to be major players in the company for years to come. There was an interesting segment on Dynamite where MJF used Ricochet and the Gates of Agony to try to light Mark Briscoe on fire. MJF said he wouldn’t do it if Page agreed to his terms, which were that the World Title can change hands by countout, it can change hands by disqualification and MJF doesn’t have to use the World Title match contract for the title shot. Page agreed, which led to Briscoe being let go.

Since MJF can win by countout or disqualification, I assume they will come up with some creative spots throughout the match where he nearly wins by countout and nearly gets Page disqualified. However, I expect Page to overcome MJF’s tactics and find a way to win to keep the title. This should be one of the better matches on the show and I expect them to go over 20 minutes. I’m looking forward to it.

Winner: “Hangman” Adam Page

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Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) & Gabe Kidd

This will likely be a bloody brawl with a lot of weapons being used. I wonder if they will use a cage that covers the entire ring and extends a few feet so that it’s like the WWE Hell in a Cell structure, which would allow the guys to fight on the floor. If it’s just a regular cage that is on the apron, then there isn’t going to be a lot of room for the guys to move around. I think that since many fans won’t know what the cage will look, that’s appealing for this match because it will cause people want to tune in to see how this match looks.

The build has been okay, but not great. It mainly centers on Darby Allin doing crazy shit to try to get at Moxley and Ospreay, wanting revenge against his rivals like Moxley and The Young Bucks. Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi haven’t really been involved in this story much, while Tanahashi was just thrown into it after being in a tag team match on Dynamite. Once again, it’s AEW, and the story could be better, which is a common theme for this company.

It feels like the kind of match where the babyfaces should win. I assume Allin is going to do some crazy spots and Ospreay will probably be selling his legit neck injury, which likely needs surgery and will keep him out for several months after this match. I hope Will doesn’t try something crazy just because he’s in his home country of England. Anyway, I’ll go with Omega beating Kidd to get the win for his team.

Winners: Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay

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BONUS TOPICS FOR AEW-NJPW FORBIDDEN DOOR

The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most

“Hangman” Adam Page vs. MJF

The Match I Care About The Least

Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi. I’m sure it will be good, but my interest is very low.

Longest Match

Lights Out Steel Cage Match going about 35 minutes.

Shortest Match

Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Kip Sabian & Killswitch going about 12 minutes.

Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)

I’m going 7.75 out of 10, which is pretty good. The matches should be strong as usual for an AEW PPV, but I think many matches are lacking interesting stories, and that’s a shame because I thought All In Texas was much better in terms of stories going into matches. It is a very talented roster that busts their ass on PPV shows, especially, so if you watch for match quality, they should deliver as usual.

I’ll be back with a review of AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door on TJRWrestling.net on Sunday. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.

If you want to send an email, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading.