AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling present their joint pay-per-view Forbidden Door 2023 – for the second year in a row on Sunday, June 25 from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Date: June 25, 2023
Arena: Scotiabank Arena
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Forbidden Door 2023
AEW World Championship: MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Match in which MJF played the typical role of a heel , collecting heat through actions such as using the ropes to gain advantage in executing a submission, escaping from the ring, trash talk , a Tanahashi landing that the referee did not see and punching the opponent which gave him victory to be applied with a diamond ring on his finger.
Winner: MJF
Rating: 7.5/10
Men’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament First Round :
CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
Very audible but mixed reaction to CM Punk . And both fighters took advantage of that, perhaps not needing to invest so much in the intensity or impact of the strikes. After a very divided duel and full of provocations to the public by CM Punk , the man from Chicago won after a Go To Sleep .
Winner : CM Punk
Rating : 7.5/10
AEW International Championship:
Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. daniel garcia
Combat with somewhat stiff moments, with kicks, slaps and elbows. Orange Cassidy, who during the combat was even perhaps the least participatory, achieved triumph through a settlement on Daniel Garcia, who had just suffered a PK from Katsuyori Shibata.
Winner : Orange Cassidy
Rating : 7.5/10
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship:
Sanada (c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry (with Hook)
Sanada started by showing an arrogant attitude, underestimating his opponent, but Jack Perry showed him that he had the courage to discuss the fight. Still, Sanada achieved a relatively quick victory, in just over ten minutes, after a Moonsault.
Winner : Sanada
Rating : 6.5/10
“Hangman” Adam Page and The Young Bucks, Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii vs.
Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino
The match started with a stiff duel between Tomohiro Ishii and Konosuke Takeshita and went through the double teams of the Young Bucks, a violent exchange of slaps between Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley and the usual chaos that all matches that include the Young Bucks go through .
At a time when no one knew who the cool guys were anymore, Ishii gave his team victory after a Brainbuster on Wheeler Yuta.
Winners : The Elite (“Hangman” Adam Page and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) ), Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii
Rating : 8/10
Forbidden Door 2023
AEW Women’s World Championship:
Tony Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale
It was not enough to face the world champion, Willow Nightingale still had to deal with Saraya and Ruby Soho, who insisted on accompanying Toni Storm. However, Saraya and Ruby were expelled from the ringside area, but still Toni Storm found a way to win when she scratched Willow’s eyes before applying the victorious Storm Zero.
Winner : Toni Storm
Grade : 6/10
Forbidden Door 2023
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship:
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay
Battle between two of the most talented fighters in the business. After an interference by Don Callis against Kenny Omega, Ospreay shined by applying a Shooting Star Press when Omega was hanging from the ropes and immediately after executed an OsCutter on the edge of the ring. Then, Ospreay consecutively hit Omega’s head against one of the commentator tables, which caused Omega to bleed.
Completely controlling the operations, Ospreay applied a V-Trigger and felt so comfortable in the fight that he even went to get a Canadian flag to clean his private parts and nose, which generated heat and put the public on fire when Omega took the upper hand.
However, Omega applied a V-Trigger on Ospreay against the protection barrier and made Ospreay’s head crash against the steps, which caused Ospreay to also become bloodied.
On their return to the ring, both applied the most impactful blows to each other. After some accurate knees, a Reverse Hurricanrana and a Piledriver, Omega advanced towards the settlement, but Ospreay managed the kick out .
Ospreay countered with a brutal OsCutter, but Omega kicked out in the last instant, looking like he was having a seizure and not raising his shoulder blades to stop the underlay from coming to an end.
However, Omega countered with yet another V-Trigger, but Don Callis pulled Ospreay’s body, preventing Omega from advancing into the settlement. Unseen by the referee, Ospreay hit Omega with a tool and applied a Hidden Blade and a Storm Breaker, but even then the pinfall that followed did not end. Ospreay returned to the charge with a One Winged Angel, but Omega made a quick kick out .
After that Omega landed some of his main strikes, but Ospreay performed a Tiger Driver and another Storm Breaker to achieve triumph and win the title.
Winner : Will Ospreay
Rating : 10/10
Le Suzuki Gods (Chris Jericho , Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki)
Vs. Sting, Darby Allin and Tetsuya Naito
A kind of exhibition match, with demonstrations of agility by Tetsuya Naito, strength in strikes by Minoru Suzuki and even a staredown and some time between Chris Jericho and Sting.
At a time when the Le Suzuki Gods controlled the match, Jericho ordered Guevara to apply a 630 on Sting, who was lying on a table, and the Spanish God followed the order.
Even so, Sting got up quickly and was still in time to execute, together with Naito, the double team in Suzuki that gave his team victory.
Winners : Sting, Darby Allin and Tetsuya Naito
Rating : 6.5/10
Forbidden Door 2023
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
Very technical combat, with strong strikes and played at a high pace between two of the best performers on the face of the Earth.
Already after a violent exchange of Uppercuts, Okada performed a Tombstone Piledriver on the ramp. Danielson, who has a history of neck injuries, sold the injury well and was assisted, but ended up evading a Rainmaker and applying not one, but two Running Knees almost in a row.
Still, Okada responded with a Rainmaker, but in the ensuing nest, Danielson kicked out. Even though he was very limited on one arm, having broke it on an elbow drop, Danielson started by trying to achieve victory via submission through the LeBell Lock , but then applied an even more impactful submission to Okada’s arms, making him give up.
Winner: Brian Danielson
Grade: 9.5/10