Forbidden Door 2023 Preview

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rgJq1-MTelE

For the second consecutive year, All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling unite to present FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 live on pay-per-view courtesy of Bleacher Report, DIRECT TV, DISH, as well as FITE.TV internationally. If you can’t be there in-person, then click here for full details on how you can watch the event anywhere!

This will be a night filled dream matches, and championship bouts as the two greatest professional wrestling companies on the planet unite for one amazing fan experience! “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson will collide with “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, while AEW World Champion MJF, contrary to what he believes, will fight “The Ace of NJPW” Hiroshi Tanahashi! Plus, “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry will challenge SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, and in a rematch the world has been waiting for, Will Ospreay hopes to regain the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship that Kenny Omega took from him at WRESTLE KINGDOM 17 back in January.

All that, and more, is coming your way Sunday night June 25th from the Scotiabank Center in Toronto, ON, Canada beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT on pay-per-view, with the ZERO HOUR kicking off at 7pm ET/6pm CT on the official AEW YouTube channel!

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

MJF(c) vs. “The Ace of the Universe” Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a living legend, a man named “The Ace of the Universe” for all that he’s meant to New Japan Pro Wrestling, and by a great many considered the best professional wrestler on the planet today. He is an 8-Time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, last holding the title from 1/4/19 when he beat Kenny Omega to 2/11/19 when Jay White topped “The Ace”, a 3-Time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, and currently 1/3 of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Champions alongside Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii. He’s won the G1 Climax Tournament on three occasions, the New Japan Cup twice, and all Maxwell Jacob Friedman can say in his response to Tanahashi’s challenge is “I’m going to say no to that one”?

MJF can spout all the false bravado he wants about giving a title opportunity to a “rando from a rinky dink indy fed in Japan” and talk trash on New Japan at a media scrum with comments such as “Do I have to wrestle at Forbidden Door…With all due respect, their greatest legend probably couldn’t lace my boots…I think New Japan Pro Wrestling sucks…”

Meanwhile, Tanahashi has been throwing his own bit of mind games at MTF…MFT…TPI…FTP…at the AEW World Champion, feigning an inability to recall the three letters, much less the full Maxwell Jacob Friedman, to which MJF could only retort with search trends to further justify his unwillingness to do the job he’s paid to do by All Elite Wrestling: wrestle. Maxwell seems to be operating under the assumption that he alone gets to decide when he wrestles, and that he doesn’t have a boss who can dictate who and when he defends that AEW World Championship against.

Instead he leaned back on a threat to no-show, as he did the DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2022 Fan Fest, costing the company more than a few thousand dollars, and apparently assumed that he’d suffer no consequences for those actions. MJF probably thought he could even hold the company up for more money to get him to show up in Toronto the way he held out for more money to come back to work at ALL OUT 2022. Thankfully the words of Tanahashi, and more importantly Adam Cole, pushed Maxwell just a bit…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hOVWdWUs14M?start=377

So it will be that the AEW World Champion will defend his title against NJPW’s Ace this Sunday night at FORBIDDEN DOOR 20023, and all because Adam Cole and the fans inside the Wintrust Arena on Wednesday called the man a coward. It seems when a man spends his time telling everyone how good he is and how much better he is than everyone else, he can’t tolerate being questioned and will do anything to quiet doubters, even get himself into a match with one of the best wrestlers of this, or any, generation.

As Adam Cole said…good luck Max!

DREAM MATCH…

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

This is the kind of professional wrestling match that dreams are made of and that not that long ago seemed like an utter impossibility. It was the kind of bout fantasy booked by fans and wrestling pundits alike, a battle of two of the best wrestlers on the planet today, if not two of the best to ever lace up the boots. But whether it was due to the injuries that the majority thought had brought an end to Bryan Danielson’s career, or the fact that even after he returned to wrestling, it was a match that would never happen under his then-employer.

Then Bryan came to All Elite Wrestling at ALL OUT 2021, a place with an ever-growing relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and the possibility of seeing “The American Dragon” versus “The Rainmaker” seemed a great deal more possible, especially with Danielson declaring his desire to compete in New Japan’s fabled G1 Climax Tournament, a tournament Okada has won on four occasions it should be noted.

But still it eluded fans, as well as Danielson and Okada, even as FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022 took shape to see Okada in a IWGP World Heavyweight Title Four Way and an injury sustained just a few weeks prior shift Bryan Danielson versus Zack Sabre Jr. into ZSJ facing the debuting Claudio Castagnoli. Then, as the entrants in the 2023 G1 Tournament were announced at DOMINION 2023 a few weeks ago, there was the hope that perhaps “The American Dragon” would finally get his wish, but while Okada was entered into this year’s Block B, there was no Danielson to be found. Once again, hopes dashed, but only for a moment as later that night, after Danielson’s Blackpool Combat Club allies fell to Okada, Ishii, and Tanahashi in their NEVER Openweight Six Man Championship bout, that video package aired to declare Danielson calling out Okada for a fight!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xj6kX0mv7jU?start=107

It was clear that FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 would be the home for this battle perfectly labeled by the Japanese phrase “Ichi-go ichi-e”, which has been translated to mean “once in a lifetime”. Two talents that have each been called the best wrestler in the world, the best of their generation, even the best of all-time, and they will collide on June 25th in Toronto, ON, Canada. Dreams do come true…

IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Kenny Omega(c) vs. Will Ospreay

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OqeXUELvlpM

The war of words between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay began many years ago, but is predated by their first battle that went down in December 2015 for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s ALL-STAR WEEKEND 11: NIGHT 2 event. The sixteen minute battle was won by Omega, and while they would battle numerous times over the ensuing years in NJPW, ROH, Ireland’s OTT promotion, and even here in AEW, they would not have another singles match until WRESTLE KINGDOM 17 on January 4, 2023, the night Omega dethroned Ospreay as IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, making Will a bloodied mess in the process.

But just because they didn’t fight in singles matches, and though there were nearly four years between 2018 and 2022 in which they didn’t compete against one another, that didn’t stop either man from denigrating the other. But before that talk began, and before Omega parted ways with NJPW during the formative days of All Elite Wrestling, “The Cleaner” apparently took both Ospreay and Jay White aside to let them know the weight of expectations, as far as it was concerned for foreign talent, would fall on their shoulders.

Obviously, as history shows, both men took that conversation and used it to light a fire in their souls. As Kenny Omega began his journey with AEW, Ospreay would claim the NEVER Openweight Championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title for a third time, win the Best of the Super Junior XXVI tournament, participate in his first G1 tournament in 2019, and held the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship for 919 days. But all of that was just precursor to the two most important moments in Will Ospreay’s career, the first being a victory in the 2021 New Japan Cup Tournament which he parlayed into the second biggest moment, a victory over Kota Ibushi to claim the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately for Ospreay, a neck injury forced NJPW to strip him of the championship, a title which Ospreay was unable to reclaim when he faced Okada at WRESTLE KINGDOM 16 in 2022.

That aforementioned injury is when the lives of Omega and Ospreay began to converge again, as Kenny chose that moment, after Will had created his United Empire and ascended to the top of the NJPW heap only to have his body betray him, Omega chose that time to began to cast aspersions on the abilities of Ospreay. During a late May 2021 SI.com interview prior to that year’s DOUBLE OR NOTHING event, Omega went so far as to say “When Ospreay comes back, he’ll have to re-analyze who he is and who he’s meant to be, because he’s not meant to be me.”

In October 2021, Ospreay said in an interview that he’d embarrass Kenny if they were ever in the same room together, and the two would continue to go back-and-forth in interview and on their respective socials medias, with Will claiming that Omega’s dislike for him stems from an injury that Ospreay inflicted on Ibushi years ago, that Omega had kept him out of AEW, and he went so far as to not only use Kenny’s One-Winged Angel maneuver during a RevPro bout, but also create a t-shirt about the moment. This was a page straight out of The Elite’s playbook, and Omega responded with a move that his group was quite familiar with: the cease & desist letter.

There was some hope that at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022 fans would get the highly-demanded fight between Ospreay and Omega, but Kenny was still recovering from a plethora of injuries, leaving Ospreay to successfully defend his IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title against Orange Cassidy while fans continued to hope for the dream match to become a reality.

Then in August of 2022, when the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament came into being, it appeared there was finally a possibility the two men would collide, and that possibility became reality on August 24th when The United Empire beat Death Triangle to advance in the tournament, officially setting a semi-final tournament match with Omega and The Young Bucks on August 31st.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yzEjhwm4HfU

That night, as The Elite defeated United Empire, fans were treated to but a tease of what Omega/Ospreay could be, furthering their thirst for a singles match between the two, and though they would have to wait, given the years of anticipation, the wait between their August 31, 2022 Trios interaction and the events of NJPW/STARDOM HISTORIC X-OVER on November 20th were not that long at all.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4grLzc8zvG4?start=34

With that video package, the fight was on for WRESTLE KINGDOM 17 on January 4th, though they did engage in one final verbal confrontation at the press conference the night prior (https://youtu.be/ueWAzVxJ0E4), and the end result was one of the best matches of 2023 to date. Unfortunately for the defending IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, that night was not one that swung in his favor, and Kenny Omega, the original holder of said title, would leave the Tokyo Dome as a 2-Time champ.

To say that Ospreay has been on a quest for redemption would be an understatement, and that hope finally became a possibility when he defeated Lance Archer at DOMINION on June 4th to become the #1 Contender for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship that Omega has kept with him in the United States, and only defended on one occasion in these 170+ days when Jeff Cobb came calling back in late March. So for Ospreay this is not only about redemption, but it is also about reclaiming the IWGP US Heavyweight Title for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and returning it to a place where it will be defended regularly.

Perhaps that’s why Omega, in an interview for Canada’s TSN, essentially stated that if Ospreay can’t beat him at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 this Sunday, Kenny has no reason to return to Japan and will just keep the belt here with him, robbing NJPW of one of its prestigious titles. So Will Ospreay now finds himself fighting for himself, as well as for New Japan Pro Wrestling, when he heads into enemy territory this Sunday on pay-per-view! Can the head of The United Empire achieve the redemption he craves and bring the title home, or will “The Cleaner” insure WRESTLE KINGDOM history repeats itself at the Scotiabank Center?

IWGP WORLD HEAVWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

SANADA(c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

On April 8 of this year, rolling with the momentum achieved from winning the 2023 New Japan Cup, former Los Ingobernables de Japon, and current Just 5 Guys stable member, SANADA defeated Kazuchika Okada at SAKURA GENESIS to capture the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. It would mark his first time claiming that crown, one he has now defended on two outings, the first against former LIJ stablemate Hiromu Takahashi, and the second against LIJ member Yuta Tsuji, the latter having returned from a near two-year excursion to CMLL and RevPro.

With those defenses added to his resume, SANADA made a surprising video appearance on DYNAMITE to lay out an Open Challenge for FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, but before the speculation could run wild about who may answer the call, a former AEW World Tag Team Champion elected to step up to the plate:

And so it will be “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry who steps onto the international stage in a whole new way when he faces SANADA with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line! Perry is no stranger to big match situations at this point, not after having fought for the AEW World Championship at the DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 pay-per-view extravaganza, but this time he will have the eyes of two different wrestling promotions on him, waiting to see which man will step out of Toronto representing New Japan Pro Wrestling.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/botb8SLG5sU

Should that man be “Jungle Boy”, would he then head to Japan for the very first time in his wrestling career to be a defending champion? Would he be that kind of champion by remaining here in the States and taking on all-comers? Or would he follow in the footsteps of Kenny Omega’s current IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title run and do the bare minimum as a representative of NJPW? History would say Jack Perry would reign as an honorable champion, but the only way to prove that is by beating SANADA this Sunday night at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, and fulfilling his promise to hold a singles title by the end of 2023!

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Orange Cassidy(c) vs. NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. The J.A.S’ Daniel Garcia

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GSY3T9GhCIc?start=107

Many weeks ago Orange Cassidy expressed to Renee Paquette that he was so tired, and since that time he’s only taken on more matches, and more AEW International Championship defenses, twenty-four in total in the nearly 260 days since he first beat “The Bastard” PAC at the Coca-Cola Coliseum some 4km and 15 minutes down the road from the Scotiabank Arena.

Orange has survived Four Way bouts, singles matches, a Lumberjack bout, as well as a Blackjack Battle Royale with 20 challengers, and managed to retain possession of the AEW International Champion all the way. Be it Swerve Strickland, Luchasaurus, Bandido, Big Bill, or even his own friend Trent Beretta, “Freshly Squeezed” has found a way. He’s even beaten two of the three challengers he’s facing this Sunday night in previous title bouts; both Shibata and Daniel Garcia have taken a stab at Cassidy during this historic reign and come up short.

For Shibata that opportunity came very early in the run, in fact he was the first one-on-one title defense Cassidy had after defending in a pair of Three Way bouts in his initial title matches, and while he tested Orange, he was testing a very fresh (no pun intended) Cassidy who hadn’t been put through the ringer yet. Garcia, on the other hand, was the 22nd title match for OC, and by that point he’d been worn down significantly, his right hand had already been injured by Buddy Matthews, and Cassidy was rather fortunate to escape their Motor City meeting with title still around his waist.

As for ZSJ, he and Cassidy’s only meeting was in that tag match on Wednesday night, and we all saw how that went for the AEW International Champion and his partner. The TMDK representative has his sights set on becoming a dual champion, as does Shibata, while Garcia aims to claim his first AEW Championship while simultaneously sending a message to the ROH Pure Champion. See Garcia’s made it clear he wants the Pure Title back after losing it to Yuta last year at FINAL BATTLE 2022, and craves the meeting with Shibata it would take to make that 2-Time status a reality. Regardless of how it came to pass on Wednesday, the tag match between these four men did come to an end with Garcia pinning Shibata, so that fight may not be too far in Garcia’s future, especially if he comes out of this PPV clash as the victor.

Eventually Cassidy will break, that is inevitable, he’s been pushing it hard as a defending champion, pushing it hard fighting in tags and trios, working the HOUSE RULES tours as well as DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, and has been doing it against anyone who wants a title shot. He’s never said no to a challenge, never backed down from a fight, but eventually that is going to catch up to him. Will that breaking point come this Sunday night at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023?

5-ON-5 GRUDGE MATCH…

The Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, & Wheeler Yuta), Konosuke Takeshita, and Shota Umino

vs.

The Elite (Adam Page, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii

The venom between The Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite erupted at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 in the form of an Anarchy In The Arena fight, a fight ultimately decided by the Invisible Hand known as Don Callis and the surprising betrayal of Konosuke Takeshita. After seeming to stand along with The Elite, Takeshita instead chose the path which Callis lead him down, a path of violence and ugliness, a path where iron sharpens iron, the path of The Blackpool Combat Club.

In Washington D.C., The Elite got a measure of revenge against The BCC when they scored a victory in Trios action, but they still ultimately suffered for it thanks to a chaotic situation that saw the return of Eddie Kingston, but culminated in Kenny Omega being laid out by Will Ospreay. With the violence ever-growing between the two units, it seemed appropriate that Kingston would return to AEW in the midst of it, his eyes squarely on Claudio Castagnoli after their SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 fight, not to mention their bitter decade-plus history, but then there’s the Moxley factor.

For a year Kingston has looked the other way while Jon Moxley has saddled up Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli, two men that Eddie does not like, or more accurately in the case of Castagnoli, flat-out despises. He’s watched the friend he was willing to sacrifice himself for at REVOLUTION 2021 call Claudio his family, the friend who stood alongside as they fought The Young Bucks at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2021 praise Castagnoli, and the man he went into a Lights Out War with against SUZUKI-GUN at RAMPAGE: GRAND SLAM 2021 call “The Swiss Superman” a partner. There’s always going to be love between Mox and Kingston, but clearly the hate “The Mad King” carries in his heart for Claudio is stronger than that.

That’s why he’s willing to partner with The Young Bucks this Sunday night, despite his disdain for them and by proxy Adam Page, and its why he’s bringing along “The Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii as the fifth man in this fray. Eddie and Ishii brutalized each other in a pair of matches last year, Ishii winning at NJPW CAPITAL COLLISION 2022 while Kingston got the “W” at ALL OUT 2022: ZERO HOUR, so he knows as well as anybody the kind of fight Ishii is going to unleash upon The Elite and their allies in this fight.

While this may not be a lawless land like Anarchy In The Arena was a month ago in Vegas, this will still be a vicious fight between a group of people feeling nothing but disdain for one another; that is except for Moxley and Kingston. We’ve seen these two men go to war in the past, their two AEW World Championship clashes in 2020 were utterly brutal fights, especially the FULL GEAR 2020 “I Quit” match, so what will happen if they end up toe-to-toe on Sunday night? Nearly three years ago, it wasn’t unusual to see them punch each other in the face, but now, after everything they’ve endured since then, the thought of Kingston and Moxley throwing down seems sacrilegious.

How will their dynamic effect the fight? And what about the x-factors of Ishii and Shota Umino, the latter making his first appearance inside an AEW ring, and the Invisible Hand that is Don Callis? There’s no way he doesn’t find a way to involve himself in this situation, and try to get himself a little spotlight. Toronto has fight coming their way on Sunday night, can the Scotiabank Arena contain it?

TRIOS BOUT…

Darby Allin, Sting, & Tetsuya Naito vs. Le Suzuki Gods (Chris Jericho, Minor Suzuki, & Sammy Guevara)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gXfi2Vy1Rdg?start=107

A year ago Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki, and Sammy Guevara were victorious in their FORBIDDEN DOOR outing against the makeshift trio of Eddie Kingston, Shota Umino, and Wheeler Yuta, but that was last year, and they were far from a cohesive unit.

This year, in a match historic as the first-ever bout between Sting and Chris Jericho, Le Suzuki Gods will face two men in Sting and Darby Allin who live on the same page, or should that be edge, all while dealing with some internal struggles of their own between Jericho and Guevara.

Then there’s the factor of the third man that we all found out about on Saturday night’s edition of COLLISION:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/oM9NBfmlyY0?start=235

Tetsuya Naito, the man who Chris Jericho defeated for the IWGP Intercontinental Champion at DOMINION 2018 and who in turn bested “The Painmaker” at WRESTLE KINGDOM 13 in a No Disqualification bout, has stepped up to align with Darby and Sting! So who will walk away from this historic trios bout as the victors? Whose name will be noted in the record books as winner when “First Sting versus Jericho match” is looked up by wrestling historians? We will find out Sunday night live on pay-per-view!

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm(c) vs.

NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale

In two previous outings this year, Toni Storm has bested Willow Nightingale on both occasions, one in January and one in February, both before either woman had a championship around their waist, and that makes all the difference!

With the match made official this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE, Toni Storm will attempt to do what she failed at accomplishing at last year’s FORBIDDEN DOOR event, and that’s walk out as AEW Women’s World Champion. A year ago, she entered as challenger to Thunder Rosa rather than champion, and she left empty-handed, but this year she comes into Toronto as the defending, with “The Babe with The Power” in hot pursuit of becoming a double champion!

Willow is coming off a shocking victory over Mercedes Mone to become the first-ever NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion, as well as successful defenses over Emi Sakura and Rachael Ellering in the weeks since making history. To add to that, she and Skye Blue also took home a victory over The Outcasts of Storm and Ruby Soho on the first episode of COLLISION when Skye pinned Soho for the victory. Suffice it to say, Willow is on quite a roll and on a night where AEW and NJPW are working together to create wrestling magic, it only seems appropriate that the holder of a NJPW Women’s Title faces the reigning AEW Women’s World Champion!

Will the usual numbers game played by The Outcasts factor into this bout, or will Willow have someone like Skye at her back to bring balance to the bout? Will we see Nightingale leave Toronto as a double champion, or will Toni Storm add another victim to her second championship run?

OWEN HART FOUNDATION MEN’S TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL MATCH…

CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

It may come as a surprise to many, but this Sunday night at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 will not be the first time CM Punk and Satoshi Kojima have been on the same event. Several times in the early years of Punk’s career, he fought on cards where Kojima was predominantly featured, including ROH’s FINAL BATTLE 2003, but this will mark the very first time the two combatants have ever locked horns.

Last year, as a result of his broken foot, Punk missed competing on FORBIDDEN DOOR, instead having to sit at home and watch as his AEW World Championship was contested between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jon Moxley. This year is a whole different story, back in AEW with a vengeance, Punk is aiming to run the table in The Owen, and show the entire All Elite Wrestling locker room that he is still “The Best Wrestler In The World”!

He’s got a tremendous task in front of him in Kojima though; a 7-Time IWGP Tag Team Champion, a 3-Time AJPW Tag Team Champion, a former All Asia Tag Team Champion, former GHC Heavyweight Championship, former GHC Tag Team Championship, former 2-Time IWGP Heavyweight Championship, 2-Time NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship, and 2-Time Triple Crown Champion with nearly 32 years of experience under his belt. Last time he came to AEW, he and Jon Moxley had a tremendous fight at ALL OUT 2021, and this time he’s coming to win The Owen and bring it back to New Japan Pro Wrestling!

Coming off a rough loss on COLLISION, Punk is aiming to rebound strong and head towards a Semi-Final match-up with one of two very familiar foes: either Samoa Joe or Roderick Strong. On top of that, Sunday night also marks Punk’s return to AEW PPV for the first time since ALL OUT 2022, so he’s absolutely going to want to make a tremendous impact.

SINGLES MATCH…

Adam Cole vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor

https://www.youtube.com/embed/z0l4HPHpX5A

Well, Adam Cole (with a little help from the Windy City faithful) was directly responsible for Maxwell Jacob Friedman agreeing to show up for his AEW World Championship match against Hiroshi Tanahashi on Sunday night, so MJF arranged a little “thank you” surprise for Adam Cole Friday night on RAMPAGE.

This gift came in the form of “Filthy” Tom Lawlor and his Team Filthy cohorts assaulting the 2022 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winner, and getting Cole booked into a match with the inaugural NEW JAPAN STRONG Openweight Champion and former UFC fighter. As a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a 3-Time NCWA National Champion at 235 lbs, Lawlor is a deadly man whose often light-hearted presentation and goofy entrances belay the abilities of the man.

Adam Cole is in for a difficult fight come Sunday night, courtesy of his Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament partner, but is it in the best interest of either man’s future in said tournament to see their partner go through what they’re about to experience at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023?

THE ZERO HOUR

OWEN HART FOUNDATION WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL…

ROH Women’s World Champion “The Fallen Goddess” Athena vs. Billie Starkz

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aK1dv56oA8M?start=377

Coming off a brutal Chicago Street Fight with Kiera Hogan where Athena retained her ROH Women’s World Champion, “The Fallen Goddess” heads to Toronto and the FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023: ZERO HOUR to face young Billie Starkz in a Quarter-Final bout in the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament! Athena has been an utterly dominant force in the ROH Women’s Division, she’s won 27 consecutive Ring of Honor matches, successfully defended her title on 11 outings, and has smashed numerous other women in Proving Ground matches.

Now it’s time for Billie Starkz to try her hand against Athena in singles competition, and although Billie hasn’t had a victory in her AEW career, she’s been facing off against the stiffest competition possible for her young career. Dr. Britt Baker, Jade Cargill, Toni Storm, and Emi Sakura have all taken the measure of Starkz, and now Athena will join those ranks with a Semi-Final match in The Owen against Willow Nightingale at stake.

The ZERO HOUR begins at 7pm ET/6pm CT on the official AEW YouTube channel, do not miss out on this FREE preview of the action awaiting those who purchase FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Phye_vArHvo?start=377

When the FORBIDDEN DOOR is ripped wide open, there’s no telling what will unfold and who will walk through, and that’s what’s going down this Sunday night, June 25th, live on pay-per-view!

“The American Dragon” versus “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, AEW World Champion MJF versus Tanahashi, “Jungle Boy” challenging IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA, and Ospreay/Omega II for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship; that already makes this event one of the most loaded PPV’s in AEW history, and that is saying a lot considering the track record! And there’s certainly more to come from the Scotiabank Center in Toronto, ON, Canada when FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on pay-per-view, with the ZERO HOUR starting at 7pm ET/6pm CT on the official AEW YouTube channel!

Article source: allelitewrestling.com