Tag: Wheeler Yuta

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)

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.