NJPW – Page 14 – Syndication Server

Who’s who in New Japan: A beginner’s guide to the NJPW stars on the Forbidden Door card

Never watch NJPW and need a quick briefing on who’s who? Read our beginner’s guide to the top New Japan stars before Forbidden Door.

It goes without saying that Forbidden Door is a big deal. A collaboration between the second-largest pro wrestling promotion in the U.S., All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the biggest wrestling company in Japan, it’s not the first event of its kind, but it is being done on a scale that isn’t often seen.

Not only is the card loaded with bouts that feature talent from both brands, there are multiple matches in which an AEW wrestler could win a NJPW championship — or vice versa. That means what takes place at the United Center on June 26 could have ripple effects for months down the road, and AEW boss Tony Khan has already stated that he’s thought about how Forbidden Door could become an annual event.

If that happens, it’s possible the top NJPW talents could become household names among the masses in the U.S. But it’s possible, maybe even likely, that Forbidden Door will be the first time (or one of the first times, since some New Japan wrestlers have been on AEW TV leading up to the event) that many American fans are seeing them.

Perhaps even you.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a beginner’s guide to the top NJPW wrestlers who are appearing on the Forbidden Door card. There are many resources out there to learn more about these stars, and tons of videos to watch them in action. But if all you need is a brief overview to get ready for Sunday night, just keep scrolling down, as we’ve got you covered.

Tony Khan expects Forbidden Door 2, but not more AEW pay-per-views … yet

AEW head Tony Khan expressed a desire to see Forbidden Door isn’t just a one-time deal but doesn’t envision adding more AEW PPVs to the schedule soon.

Just like Hollywood starts thinking about sequels before promising new movies even hits theaters, Tony Khan has already thought of what a Forbidden Door 2 might look like even before the first one hits Chicago on June 26.

AEW’s president and CEO has mentioned his hope that Forbidden Door might become an annual event in passing, but spoke in more detail about that possibility during a media call on Friday.

“I’ve thought a lot about it, and we’ve already discussed the possibility of Forbidden Door 2 based on the success already we’ve had from this event, selling well over a million dollars in tickets,” Khan said. ” … I think it’s been so successful of an event that we have to plan to do it again.”

Khan’s enthusiasm comes despite the challenges he admitted were part of putting the collaboration between AEW and NJPW together this year. Injuries to top stars CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have received a lot of attention, but Khan said there were logistical hurdles even before they got hurt, noting that he wished he was able to have top NJPW talent like Kazuchika Okada on TV earlier than he was available.

Forbidden Door is also an addition to AEW’s schedule of pay-per-view events, which has held steady at four per year so far. Khan said he’s considered what expanding that slate might look like but doesn’t expect it will happen soon.

“It has crossed my mind,” Khan said. “We have great events that we’ve built up from the beginning. I think when we launched, that was the number that made the most sense for us … and now the company has become something of a global powerhouse.

“I think there is definitely the star power in AEW to support more events. They would produce more revenue for the company. It’s something to consider, but it’s not something I imminently plan to get into either.”

Khan added that every AEW PPV so far in 2022 has shown an improvement over 2021, and that he hoped All Out, which should be announced for September, would keep that streak going.

For now, however, his focus is on sticking the landing for Forbidden Door, ensuring that fans want to see it become a perennial affair.

“Hopefully we’ll do many Forbidden Doors going forward based on the success of this one.”

[listicle id=4972]

AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door — Everything you need to know

Get ready for AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door with our preview, including predictions for each match, start time, how to watch and more.

Considering AEW is only three years old, the company still enjoys a fair amount of firsts. Not many, however, are as significant as AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, a pay-per-view being held in conjunction with Japan’s top pro wrestling promotion. Once only a dream in the minds of most wrestling fans, it’s about to become a reality in Chicago’s United Center.

That’s not to say the road to get here has been easy. The logistical hurdles in building a show between companies half a world apart have been apparent at times, with a good chunk of the card coming together only in the final week. Injuries haven’t been kind; in a perfect world, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega would all be on this show.

Despite that, there are some tantalizing matchups of the kind many probably never dared imagine prior to this year. They begin with the interim AEW World Championship being contested between Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi. With Punk out, one of them will carry the banner for AEW for the next few months, and even the possibility that it will be NJPW’s Ace is enough to be intriguing.

NJPW’s top title will be up for grabs as well. Jay White, who only recently secured the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Kazuchika Okada, now needs to defend it against not only the Rainmaker, but his friend Adam Cole and former AEW world champ Hangman Adam Page. Four-way matches are definitely not every fan’s cup of tea, but four performers of this caliber figure to make it compelling.

As the match count has made it to double digits, including a pre-show bout, the card figures to be close to final now. Keep reading for everything you need to know about AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door.

AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door

When: Sunday, June 26
Where: United Center, Chicago
Start time: 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT
How to watch: On PPV through Bleacher Report, or InDemand through cable or satellite providers, as well as in select movie theaters in the U.S. On Sky Deutschland in Germany, and on FITE TV internationally. In Japan, Forbidden Door will be available exclusively via NJPW World, with Japanese commentary.
Matches announced: 10 (including one on pre-show)

Who will Jay White face at Forbidden Door? Tonight’s Dynamite will have the answer

Tony Khan confirmed that the June 22 episode of AEW Dynamite would reveal who Jay White will face at Forbidden Door, plus more matches.

Not having IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White on the Forbidden Door card would be pretty strange, but just four days out from the joint AEW/NJPW event, that was the case. Fortunately, the June 22 episode of AEW Dynamite looks set to rectify that situation.

Two of AEW’s press releases this week have promoted the idea that White would defend his title against a “TBD” opponent. Tony Khan confirmed that this week’s Dynamite would hold the answer during his appearance today on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio (h/t to Fightful for the transcription).

It’s going to start the IWGP Champion Jay White coming in tonight and we’re going to find out who he is going to wrestle. We’re going to announce more matches tonight on Dynamite for this big event. … Some of the top stars in new Japan have not been here yet. Tonight on Dynamite, you will see more wrestlers and more involvement from New Japan than we’ve seen so far.

White has been part of the build toward Forbidden Door from the start, crashing the official announcement of the event on the April 20 episode of Dynamite. More recently, he addressed challenges to a match from both Hangman Adam Page and Adam Cole after defeating Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Dominion, but appeared to turn both of them down. A popular theory is that White may face both of the AEW Adams in a three-way dance, or a four-way with another NJPW challenger in the mix as well.

Having White and NJPW’s top title on the show is even more important given that AEW’s top champion, CM Punk, is missing the event due to injury. Instead, Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi will square off for the Interim AEW World Championship, with the victor expected to face Punk somewhere down the road.

As for other matches, a showdown between Bryan Danielson and Zack Sabre Jr. to determine who is the better technical wrestler has been heavily hinted at, but may have been waiting until Danielson’s health status was cleared up as he’s also been battling injuries. A few more bouts would also be welcome since the card as of June 21 had just six matches.

However many matches it ends up with, Forbidden Door is set for the United Center in Chicago this Sunday, live on PPV.

Kushida returns, says he will ‘spend the rest of my wrestling life in NJPW’

Kushida returned on the June 21 New Japan Road show at Korakuen Hall after three years away, making it clear he’s back in NJPW to stay.

After more than three years away, Kushida is back in NJPW — and says he’s home for good.

Kushida made a dramatic return at the end of today’s New Japan Road show at Korakuen Hall, arriving after Taiji Ishimori defeated Hiromu Takahashi to retain his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Responding to Ishimori’s assertion that there were no challengers left in the division, Kushida made it clear he’s already got designs on the title, though the champ felt he needed to prove himself first.

Saying later that he had “literally just signed my NJPW contract,” Kushida also revealed that his intention was “to spend the rest of my wrestling life in NJPW,” That’s significant since the 39-year-old wrestler left NJPW in the spring of 2019 to compete in WWE’s NXT brand. His arrival was treated like a big deal by WWE — not least because it allowed him to keep his real name — and he experienced some success, winning the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

Still, the sentiment among a good portion of wrestling fans was that Kushida never reached his full potential in NXT, and his departure seemed inevitable once that brand was revamped into NXT 2.0 with a greater focus on developing young talent. Most of Kushida’s last few months under WWE contract were spent in tag team matches, often on the losing end, and his final NXT match was taped on March 22.

Kushida does have unfinished business with Ishimori as well, as the last time he competed for a championship in NJPW was when he lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to the Bullet Club wrestler at Wrestle Kingdom 13. That show in January 2019 now feels like a lifetime ago, but it should be interesting to see how quickly Kushida reacclimates himself to the NJPW scene, and if he can get back in the title hunt as quickly as he hopes.

Here’s the updated AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door card after the June 15 Dynamite

Get the latest match card for the AEW and NJPW Forbidden Door event coming to Chicago on June 26.

With less than two weeks to go until AEW and NJPW collide at Forbidden Door at Chicago, this week’s AEW Dynamite figured to be a busy one for making more matches official. That’s exactly what happened, with several new bouts announced during the show.

Some emerged from actions that took place during the broadcast, like Orange Cassidy returning from injury to help stand against Will Ospreay and United Empire. Others were simply revealed, though it’s fair to say just about everything has at least some ties to what’s been going on in both companies.

Here’s where the Forbidden Door card stands as of the night of June 15:

Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Interim AEW World Championship Match

This was set up by the tournament that’s gone down over the past few weeks, with the winner of the interim championship expected to face CM Punk for the actual championship when he returns from injury.

Pac vs. Miro vs. Malakai Black or Penta Oscuro vs. Tomoaki Honma or Clark Connors or Tomohiro Ishii or Yoshinobu Kanemaru – AEW All-Atlantic Championship Match

Pac won his way into this four-way bout last week, and Miro did the same on Wednesday by defeating Ethan Page. Black and Penta will wrestle next week, and the Honma-Connors and Ishii-Kanemaru matches will take place during New Japan Road on June 20.

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki vs. Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino and Eddie Kingston

This match was announced by Jericho during Dynamite, right after he and the Jericho Appreciation Society attacked Moxley and Tanahashi.

Will Ospreay (champion) vs. Orange Cassidy – IWGP United States Championship Match

Ospreay and United Empire attempted another attack after Ospreay’s match with Dax Harwood, but Cassidy returned from injury in time to help fend them off.

Thunder Rosa (champion) vs. Toni Storm – AEW Women’s World Championship Match

Rosa helped even the odds during Storm’s victory over Dr. Britt Baker on Dynamite, taking care of Jamie Hayter. She then returned to the stage and pointed at Storm, insinuating that she’d get the title shot.

One match that did not get booked on Wednesday was new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White against anyone, as he turned down both Hangman Adam Page and Adam Cole for a bout at Forbidden Door.

All three men figure to be involved in some way, and other matches, like Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bryan Danielson, have been teased as well. We’ll update things again as June 26 gets closer.

Zack Sabre Jr. asks if Bryan Danielson can take time off his ‘busy golfing schedule with the Blackpool Country Club’

During his post-match comments at Dominion, Zack Sabre Jr. laid out a challenge for Bryan Danielson at Forbidden Door.

It’s hard to imagine there are too many top wrestler lists anywhere that don’t have Zack Sabre Jr. and Bryan Danielson on them. At Forbidden Door, fans might get the chance to see which one deserves a higher spot on those lists.

Sabre was in a foul mood this past weekend after Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, where he teamed with his Suzuki-gun mates El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in an unsuccessful bid to take the NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team Championship from House of Torture.

During his post-match comments, Sabre had plenty to say about that encounter and his general disdain for House of Torture. But he then turned his attention toward Forbidden Door, saying it was time to dispense with subtlety and lay out a challenge for the man he’d like to face.

“American Dragon,” Sabre said. “Old dragon bollocks. Can you take some time out your busy golfing schedule with the Blackpool Country Club to find out who the best technical wrestler in the world is? But I’ll tell you now, darling, it’s f–king me.”

You can watch his entire interview below, with Sabre addressing Danielson starting at the 1:27 mark.

Sabre and Danielson have met just once before, in German promotion wXw in 2009. ZSJ won that match by pinfall, so you’d expect that Danielson would be more than willing to run it back to try and even the score.

Even with less than two weeks to go until NJPW and AEW collide at Forbidden Door in Chicago on June 26, the card is still very much a work in progress. Right this moment, the only confirmed matches are Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW World Championship, along with a four-way battle to crown the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Championship — though currently only Pac is confirmed for that bout, and the two NJPW wrestlers who will compete or a spot have yet to be revealed.

A ZSJ-Danielson match would be a pro wrestling purist’s dream and add to the overall appeal of the event. Don’t be surprised if the American Dragon responds to Sabre’s challenge sometime this week on AEW programming.

NJPW Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall live results

Check out live results from NJPW Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, including Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White in the main event.

Mid-June in New Japan Pro-Wrestling can only mean one thing: It’s time for Dominion. Specifically, it’s time for NJPW Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, where there are multiple titles on the line, a Provisional KOPW 2022 Trophy to award, and one of the pieces of the Forbidden Door will slide into place.

The headliner will see Kazuchika Okada put his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Jay White. Though White has had success against the Rainmaker in the past, he’s never beaten him one on one for a title, and the last time they met in a championship bout (at ROH/NJPW G1 SuperCard in 2019), it was Okada taking some gold away from White.

Tama Tonga will also put his NEVER Openweight Championship on the line against Karl Anderson is a battle between two men better known for their tag team title success. Speaking of tag teams, the IWGP Tag Team Championship is also at stake as the Bullet Club duo of Bad Luck Fale and Chase Owens attempts to hold off the challenge of Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb of United Empire.

And one of the most intriguing bouts on the card doesn’t have any gold up for grabs, but does get the winner a shot at a title on American soil later this month. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hirooki Goto will do battle at Dominion with the winner advancing to face AEW’s Jon Moxley at Forbidden Door for the Interim AEW World Championship in Chicago.

The card is being carried live for U.S. fans via NJPW World, but if you’re not able to catch the action as it goes down, simply bookmark this page and check back as we update it throughout the (late) night in the U.S. and afternoon in Japan with the latest NJPW Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall live results.

Who’s in the running for the new AEW All-Atlantic Championship?

See who is in contention to be the first ever winner of the AEW All-Atlantic Championship when its awarded at Forbidden Door.

When AEW announced it was revealing a new title during the June 8 episode of Dynamite, most fans expected it was going to be a trios championship, as the promotion has put more of an emphasis on three-person teams than most. Instead, it introduced the AEW All-Atlantic Championship, a new title for its men’s division.

In the finest pro wrestling tradition, the inaugural winner is being decided via a tournament — and the first match already took place Wednesday night, with Pac defeating Buddy Matthews. There are still three other qualifying matches yet to take place:

Ethan Page vs. Miro – Page hasn’t had much to do as of late except for being part of the mixed trios match at Double or Nothing, while Miro has just returned from injury and already looks like his usual, dominant self. This match will take place on Wednesday, June 15 at Road Rager (a themed episode of Dynamite).
Penta Oscuro vs. Malakai Black – This is an offshoot of the continuing issues between Death Triangle and the House of Black, and could also be on the Road Rager card. Now that Matthews is out, the likelihood of Black advancing figures to be even higher.
Two yet-to-be-named NJPW wrestlers will meet in the other quarterfinal. New Japan has so far only announced that its entrants will be announced soon. It does have a big event, Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, coming up this weekend, and could put the qualifier on that show.

What’s interesting about the All-Atlantic Championship tournament is that instead of having semifinals and a final, all four first-round winners will meet in one four-way match at Forbidden Door. That spices things up a tad and also makes the tourney easier to pull off from a logistical standpoint given the NJPW involvement.

Speaking of which, could a NJPW star be the inaugural winner? Though several AEW championships are expected to be on the line at Forbidden Door when the card is finalized, the thought of someone who could only make sporadic appearances on AEW shows holding one of them feels far-fetched. But a new title is a whole different ballgame, and fans might be a bit more accepting of someone outside the promotion holding it to start.

We’ll find out which way AEW is leaning when the inaugural All-Atlantic Champion is crowned at Forbidden Door on Sunday, June 26 in Chicago.

Watch: Hiroshi Tanahashi challenges CM Punk for Forbidden Door

See New Japan’s ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, arrive on AEW Dynamite to challenge CM Punk at Forbidden Door.

Go Ace … all the way to a match with CM Punk at Forbidden Door.

It looks like New Japan’s Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi, will be the one to test the mettle of new AEW World Champion Punk at the collaborative Forbidden Door pay-per-view later this month in Chicago.

Punk, who won the title from Hangman Adam Page at Double or Nothing last Sunday, teamed up with FTR for a trios victory over Max Caster and the Gunn Club on this week’s episode of Dynamite. Afterward, he told the fans in Los Angeles that he still needed to learn and improve, even as champion.

He then turned his attention to Forbidden Door, asking who he was going to face. Tanahashi walked out onto the stage just a moment later, and even though he didn’t speak (at least on the TV broadcast), he made it clear he was challenging Punk — perhaps even for that newly won gold.

You can watch the entire segment below.

While we’re not sure every fan would agree that Tanahashi’s appearance was the No. 1 moment of the week — an honor that would probably be reserved for MJF’s passionate promo — it was a great bit to set up the first in what should be a series of dream matches booked for Forbidden Door.

Considering Tanahashi’s list of accomplishments, including his record eight reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and three reigns as IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, he makes for a logical opponent for Punk, especially considering they are close in age as well (Tanahashi is 45, Punk 43). Though Kenta has been publicly lobbying for a chance to face Punk on social media, this matchup is an even bigger one, all things considered.

AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door will take place on Sunday, June 26 at the United Center in Chicago, and will broadcast as a pay-per-view available through Bleacher Report in the U.S., FITE TV internationally, and NJPW World in Japan.