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AEW FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024
A SPECTACULAR MAIN EVENT
Swerve Strickland vs Will Ospreay was a stunning main event. The last few weeks of build for this match paid off in creating a big fight feel, and a red hot atmosphere. Something often missing from AEW world title matches. This was very much reminiscent of the New Japan main event style, of which Ospreay had become an expert in during his time there. It was the best of modern wrestling innovation mixed with high level drama and storytelling. It was so good that even Don Callis interference didn’t take away from the match, and actually enhanced the drama of the closing moments. There is a much broader question of whether it is a good idea to have Don involved or anywhere near Ospreay, but that is discussion for another time.
The final stretch with Ospreay eating one House Call after another, and making one last attempt to swing a Hidden Blade, only to crumble, was an excellent, memorable finish. Ospreay sold the agony of defeat afterwards, another thing taken from New Japan that does a lot to get over that these two men left it all in the ring. A lot of people thought it was a foregone conclusion that Ospreay would win here, but Swerve winning was completely the right decision. This was a statement win for Swerve. Ospreay does not need the title right now and a title loss so soon would have been catastrophic for Swerve. The crowd did not turn on Swerve, in favour of Ospreay, who a month ago, was very much the more popular of the two, with AEWs live crowds. The fact that Swerve was so over here is a testament to the work he and AEW have done in recent weeks in establishing him as “the guy” in AEW.
WAS THAT IT?
Those were my thoughts when Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa & Mariah May walked away from the ring as the best of friends. This story has largely been really well built over the past couple of months, and I felt like it was one of the most intriguing matches of the show. I thought it was a sure thing that we would see lots of drama involving Mariah May. Who would she side with? Surely a big happening to develop this story? How pissed off was Toni after Mina hit Mariah with a bottle last week? Some tension between Mariah & Toni to plant the seeds for a match at All In? Well we got none of that, which left me very disappointed. The match was good, but largely unmemorable. They just had a match, hugged it out, and that was it. We will see if we get something more on TV this week, but I do hope that Mina Shirakawa sticks around in AEW. Her charisma has shone through and she has been a real highlight of the women's division this year.
A BAD NAITO
This was a bad night for the new IWGP World Champion Tetsuya Naito. Unfortunately Naito is completely past it in the ring. Which isn’t news to anyone that has been watching him in New Japan over the past year, which is sad to see. He is still massively popular in Japan, and NJPW have yet to create a new star to replace him. The crowd were really up for this match, despite the lack of build on TV. The match was very slow and got sloppier as it went on. There was a near fall from Moxley that looked like it was a sure three count. The finish was completely blown, ending the match on a real downer. Naito will continue as champion heading into the G1 Climax, where the schedule will probably not do him any favours. I really hope the focus of this year's tournament is on the youth, and creating those new top stars to replace the ageing names at the top of NJPW’s roster. It was great to hear Jim Ross on the call here after his recent health problems and he was fantastic throughout the final two matches of the show.
DMD VS CEO
One of the most newsworthy happenings of the show was the return of Britt Baker after around a year out of action. This looks to be setting up a big All In meeting between her and Mercedes Mone. Stephanie Vacquer is a star. She has a great look, an excellent presence and can go in the ring. She was a few steps ahead of Mone throughout the match, who did not look sharp. Maybe there is still ring rust after a lengthy lay off. The crowd completely turned on Mone, partly due to how good Vacquer was and partly due to sports related crowd banter that I will not even pretend to understand. Either way, it is time to commit to turning Mone heel. It is simply not working as a babyface. After the huge pop Britt Baker got for her return, she will be the babyface in this story. A story that has a lot of legs if they tell it right.
THE REST
The show started hot with hometown boy MJF, who hammed it up as expected. After he got past a failed crowd surf attempt, and mimicking every legend you can think of, the match was very good. Hechicero could have been anyone. It didn’t really matter. The match was unimportant. This was a solid win for MJF in his home town as we see what is next for him.
Bryan Danielson vs Shingo Takagi was the best match of the early part of the show. Danielson continues to sell the neck injury and Shingo was a great, believable opponent for Bryan to overcome. These two are masters of their craft and two of the best of their generation, and as a huge fan of both, this was a joy to watch. The story will now be Bryan’s quest to get to Wembley, which should be as big of a deal as AEW can possibly make it. Bryan Danielsos has never been presented as the star he should be in AEW, and it's time to change that as he nears the end of his full time career.
Max Caster had his best showing in a while here. Kazuchika Okada also had a great showing, who is excelling in his role. I greatly enjoyed his interactions with Hiroshi Tanahashi as a throwback to their classic rivalry. This was a fun tag match, but was it too fun? There is just way too much silliness from The Elite, especially The Bucks, who seem to just be unable to help themselves or commit to being a serious or credible heel act.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Orange Cassidy over delivered and was a bright point of the undercard. Their styles meshed well and I enjoyed seeing Cassidy being forced into getting more aggressive in an attempt to combat the vicious submission of ZSJ. ZSJ will be a favourite to win the G1 Climax this year, and is being positioned as NJPW’s next foreign star, so him winning here was the right call.
Team Hook vs Team Jericho was a fine tag match that seemingly sets up Hook vs Jericho again. Hook got a clean win over Jericho and had one of his better recent in-ring showings. The unit of Hook, Samoa Joe and Katsiyori Shibata are a great mix and will hopefully be a long term team in AEW. This match left me wanting to see Joe vs Jeff Cobb. How cool would that be on an NJPW event?
As expected Jack Perry is the new TBS champion. This was a very enjoyable ladder match, that didn’t go overboard with death defying stunts. The big takeaway was how over Konosuke Takeshita was with the crowd. The audience wants to get behind him, simply because he's really, really good. He was getting over organically as a babyface before he was saddled with Don Callis, who hasn’t really done much for him. He is heading off to the G1 Climax, so hopefully after that AEW have some concrete plans for this amazing talent. Jack Perry could be a good cowardly heel champion, but he needs great babyfaces to work with. Mark Briscoe is the perfect candidate for the role.
This was largely a really good show, that was a major step up from last month's disastrous Double or Nothing show. Was it amazing? No. Did everything land? Absolutely not. But the show did have restraint. The crazy spots and epic near fall sequences were saved for the main event, and some matches didn’t overstay their welcome. As a long show, it was paced reasonably well and there was NO blood. This show will be remembered for the incredible main event.
I can be reached at matthewmacklin90@gmail.com
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