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.”
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