MJF made it clear he’d rather not compete at Forbidden Door 2023, and especially not against someone from NJPW. The bad news for the AEW World Champion is that he got matched up against one of the company’s icons, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and despite his bluster, is likely going to have to wrestle the Ace in Toronto.
The good news is that he’s widely, widely expected to win. Betfair has MJF as a huge favorite at the moment, sitting at -2500 in American odds.
It makes sense as it would be surprising indeed to see Tanahashi sporting the AEW world title at this stage of his career. But his New Japan counterparts are expected to do better, with oddsmakers favoring Will Ospreay to win his highly anticipated rematch against Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada to prevail in a dream match against Bryan Danielson.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada is also close to MJF levels as a favorite against “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry.
As always, we don’t endorse wagering on pro wrestling matches given that someone already knows the outcomes, but we enjoy examining the betting lines as a way of determining critical consensus on what will happen on upcoming cards.
We’ll update this post as more matches are confirmed for Forbidden Door, which is a near certainty as the week progresses. For now, here’s a look at what’s already been announced, converted into American-style lines.
(Latest update: June 20, 2023, 12:45 p.m. ET)
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 betting odds:
AEW World Championship match
- MJF (c): -2500
- Hiroshi Tanahashi: +700
Singles match
- Kazuchika Okada: -175
- Bryan Danielson: +125
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match
- Will Ospreay: -275
- Kenny Omega (c): +175
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match
- Sanada (c): -1425
- “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry: +500