AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door: Is it a Good Idea?
The First AEW and NJPW Crossover Show is This Sunday
The idea of a dual-branded show between All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling has been on the minds of fans since the creation of AEW in 2019. Many of the promotion’s top names have wrestled in the Land of the Rising Sun, such as Adam Cole, Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and Chris Jericho. Naturally, an AEW and NJPW pay-per-view was meant to be, and this Sunday, Forbidden Door will take place from a packed United Center in Chicago.
Unlike my other AEW pay-per-view articles, I’m not going to try and predict the results of the show. Even though several top names such as Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, and Jay White will be competing, I am not as familiar with the newer faces of NJPW and their storylines. With that said, I’m looking forward to seeing them in action Sunday night, competing against AEW’s best.
As it comes to Forbidden Door, one question has been in the back of my head these past number of weeks: is this show actually a good idea?
When it was first announced, I loved the idea of Forbidden Door. However, as more and more episodes of Dynamite aired, I realized something. All of AEW’s current storylines have essentially stopped for this cross-show. There’s no rivalry between AEW’s top wrestlers. Instead, a greater focus has been placed on other promotions besides their own. Recently, it seems like there were more mentions of other championships than the AEW World or Tag Team Championships. Scorpio Sky, the TNT Champion, wasn’t seen on Dynamite. He’s not scheduled for Forbidden Door either.
Not only that, but many of AEW’s fans are not familiar with the talent and storylines of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Sure, a die-hard pro wrestling fan may know the members of Bullet Club, but for someone who just watches All Elite Wrestling, Bullet Club moved over to the promotion with Adam Page, Cody Rhodes, and the aforementioned Young Bucks. On Sunday, Hikuleo and El Phantasmo of the BC will team with the Bucks to take on Darby Allin, Sting, Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu Takahashi. There is no explanation as to why Matt and Nick Jackson still communicate with current members of Bullet Club. Furthermore, why would Los Ingernobles team with Sting and Allin? That was never made clear, either.
Earlier this afternoon, AEW President Tony Khan hinted at the idea that NJPW stars could hold some of AEW’s championships. This should be a great concern. Unless these NJPW wrestlers appear on Dynamite and Rampage, these belts would be part-time. For a company that stresses fighting champions and wrestlers’ win-loss records, this would be contradictory if, say, the TNT Championship disappears for weeks at a time. It’s mixed messaging from a company that has previously made its intentions clear.
This is no fault of either company, but Forbidden Door has also been plagued with several wrestler injuries. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have already been pulled from the show, with Kenny Omega still recuperating from his injuries suffered last year. I was really looking forward to Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr., but I’ll have to wait a little longer to see that dream match. On the New Japan side, Tomohiro Ishii was scheduled to compete in the Fatal Four Way match for the All-Atlantic Championship, but he was replaced by Clark Connors. Is it possible that Forbidden Door is “cursed?” Sure, but wrestling is a physical business. Injuries are bound to happen. Given that Forbidden Door was announced weeks ago, it makes sense that talent would suffer injuries. It’s just surprising to see so many in a short period of time.
Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that Forbidden Door could go down as one of wrestling’s best shows of 2022. In my opinion, the two best pure wrestling companies are AEW and NJPW, and to see talent from each company collide is special. Despite that, the booking for the long-anticipated event was weird to say the least. Forbidden Door has taken over the top headlines of AEW and NJPW, and each major storyline has essentially frozen.
This is AEW’s version of Survivor Series. While WWE has Raw and SmackDown colliding for brand supremacy every year, AEW wanted to make it special by incorporating NJPW talent into their programming. It’s essentially an All-Star event. If the goal of the NJPW incorporation was to hype up Forbidden Door, it succeeded. If the goal was to boost ratings, it failed. Not only that, but with the added influx of other championships and outside talent, AEW could lose several casual viewers as well.
To answer my original question: is Forbidden Door a good idea? Well, it depends on who you ask. For someone who watches every promotion, they probably love Forbidden Door. Personally, I’m on the fence. While I am excited to see great wrestling, I’m paying money to watch All Elite Wrestling talent and championships, not New Japan. Chances are good I’m not going to follow the IWGP Championships afterwards.
Speaking of which, what’s the goal of Forbidden Door? Is it to increase NJPW awareness in the United States? I don’t know how that will play out. I think New Japan in the U.S. has reached its peak. In other words, I’m not sure how many new fans NJPW will gain after Sunday. For now, let’s enjoy the show. The matches could be some of the best of the year, and I am optimistic that Sunday lives up to the hype. While everything looks sunny for now, a potential long-term relationship between NJPW and AEW could actually do more harm than good.