Forbidden Door 2025
Date: August 24, 2025
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Bryan Danielson

We’re back to the international show, but this time the guest star aspect has been toned down a good deal. That’s made for a better build to the show, which feels like more of a regular AEW pay per view with a few bonuses rather than a big side trip before we can get back to what matters. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Yuya Uemura/El Desperado/Paragon vs. Cru/Don Callis Family

Don Callis is here with the villains. Hechicero and Desperado start things off and go to the mat, which is good for an early standoff. An exchange of rollups gets two each and Desperado rolls out of a leglock. Cru comes in to send Desperado into the corner but he rolls over for the tag off to O’Reilly. Kicks to the chest put Cru down and Strong comes in for the save. The backbreaker/middle rope knee drop combination hits Hechicero but Andretti slips out and hammers away for a bit.

O’Reilly fights up and gets the cross armbreaker on Andretti. That’s switched into a leglock on Rush but Andretti is back in with a running shooting star. Uemura and Alexander slug it out with Uemura getting the better of things off a dropkick. Hechicero is back in to kick Uemura into a DDT and Rush hits the Final Hour for two as everything breaks down. Andretti hits a big corkscrew dive to the floor and Uemura grabs a butterfly suplex for two on Rush. A double arm capture suplex gives Uemura the pin on Rush at 12:04.

Rating: C+. Fun match, but this was a case where you could drop Paragon and Cru without losing much. Paragon has been losing a good bit lately and Cru hasn’t wrestled on TV in over a month. I’m not sure why they needed to be here, save for adding more people to the card. Still though, nice fast paced match to start the show, which is often a good idea.

Post match the beatdown is on but Tomohiro Ishii comes in for the brawl with Lance Archer. Ishii gets to stand…well not very call but he gets rid of Archer at least.

Zero Hour: Gates Of Agony/Ricochet vs. Jet Speed/Michael Oku

The Gates and Ricochet jump them to start and pose on the apron, only for Jet Speed to slap Ricochet in the head. Back up and a Pounce sends Oku over the top and out to the floor for a big crash. We settle down to Liona dropping a knee on Oku, who manages to avoid a shot and bring in Jet Speed (yeah both of them) to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Oku hits a missile dropkick, followed by Bailey’s standing moonsault knees to Kaun. A missed charge sends Kaun into the post and Oku hits a frog splash for two on Ricochet. Bailey moonsaults onto the Gates, leaving Oku to Lionsault Ricochet into the half crab. A rake to the eyes breaks that up though and it’s Open The Gates into the Spirit Gun to finish Oku at 9:54.

Rating: B-. The flips and dives were nice, with Jet Speed and Ricochet getting to do their flips and dives. I’m still not sure I get the appeal of Oku, but he’s a talented star in the ring. Other than that, the Gates getting to smash through smaller people was fun, though they are little more than Ricochet’s goons at this point. Granted that’s better than pretending that they’re going to be serious title challengers anytime soon.

Zero Hour: Triangle Of Madness/Megan Bayne vs. Willow Nightingale/Queen Aminata/Kris Statlander/Harley Cameron

It’s a big brawl to start, with Cameron shouting FEEL THE WRATH as the villains are sent to the floor. Some dropkicks through the ropes have Bayne and the Triangle down until Thekla comes back in to kick Nightingale in the face. Statlander comes in to take over on Hart but the Triangle knocks her outside. Bayne sends Aminata and Cameron flying and a pair of dives drop them on the floor.

Blue’s front facelock is broken up but Statlander intentionally brings in Cameron instead of Nightingale. Cameron hits some running shots in the corner before it’s back to Aminata, who gets clotheslined by Bayne. The hips to the face just annoy Bayne but Aminata pulls her down with a headscissors.

Nightingale comes in to a big reaction as everything breaks down. Thekla hits a big dive to the floor and brawls to the back with Aminata. That leaves Cameron to take her mask off and hit Bayne in the face, setting up a tornado DDT for two. Bayne kicks Nightingale off the apron and Statlander kicks Nightingale, setting up Bayne’s Liger bomb for the pin at 11:16.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness Cameron came back and got to take a pin so fast. It’s not like Aminata was right there to take the fall or anything. The match was basically another chance for Bayne to come in and wreck people, which she does rather well. As has been the case here though, there are too many people in the match for someone to really stand out, including Bayne.

Zero Hour: Trios Titles: Opps vs. Bullet Club WarDogs

The WarDogs (Clark Connors/Robbie X/Drilla Maloney) are challenging. Connors and Shibata slug it out to start with Shibata getting the better of things and taking him outside for some rams into the barricade. Back in and Joe comes in, which scares Maloney away. It’s off to Robbie X, who gets knocked into the corner, with Shibata coming back in for a running dropkick.

Everything breaks down and Connors sends Shibata into the barricade with Hobbs making the save. Back in and Maloney takes over on Shibata, with Shibata dropping an elbow. Connors chops away with Shibata telling him to keep going before coming back with an STO. Hobbs comes in to clean house but the numbers take him down. Robbie X’s Spiral Tap gets two but Hobbs is back in with a spinebuster for two. Joe kicks Robbie X into the corner as everything breaks down. Shibata chokes Maloney and Joe MuscleBusters Robbie X to retain at 7:21.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have much time here and you could see how rushed they were as a result. Again though, it isn’t like there was much of another option because Zero Hour absolutely had to have four matches with that many entrances and people. Anyway, it’s nice to see the champs get a win over an established group, as there are only so many of them out there to come after the belts.

And now, the show proper.

The opening video talks about how special it is to have wrestlers from so many promotions on one show. That would have more of an impact if these wrestlers weren’t around so regularly.

Adam Copeland/Christian Cage vs. Matriarchy

This is Copeland and Cage’s first match as a regular team in over 14 years. As usual, the fans sing Copeland’s song to him. Copeland and Sabian start things off and it’s already time for a chase, with Copeland managing to send him face first onto the floor. Cage comes in and hammers on Sabian in the corner before it’s off to Killswitch. That’s enough for Cage, who lets Copeland have him for a change.

A superkick cuts Copeland down and now Sabian is willing to come back in for a neck snap across the top rope. Killswitch sends Sabian hard into Copeland in the corner and we hit the neck crank. That’s broken up so Sabian tells Killswitch to tag him, earning a chop for a tag. Sabian comes in and takes Copeland up top, with Cage coming in for an electric chair and a Doomsday spear.

That’s enough for Cage to come in and face Killswitch with Cage sending him into the post. Cage chokes both Killswitch and Sabian on the rope and then hits a big dive onto Killswitch. Back in and Killswitch kicks out at one but Sabian tags himself in. A double implant DDT drops Killswitch and Copeland spears him to the floor. Cage fights out of Sabian’s Killswitch attempt and throws Sabian into the air cor Copeland’s spear and the pin at 13:48.

Rating: C+. The second the match was announced, it was a question of whether Sabian would get pinned off the spear or a Killswitch from Cage. Killswitch got to look awesome as you knew he would in his return to the ring but there was no way Copeland and Cage were going to lose here. They’re in for a major match at All Out in Toronto so this was little more than a warmup which went a good bit longer than it needed to last.

We recap Kyle Fletcher defending the TNT Title against Hiromu Takahashi. Fletcher recently won the title and needs a top challenger so here we go.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Hiromu Takahashi

Fletcher, with Don Callis, is defending and shoves Takahashi down to start. Back up and Takahashi strikes away but Fletcher kicks him in the face. Takahashi strikes away in the corner but gets knocked down just as fast. The chinlock does on to keep Takahashi in trouble, only for him to fight up and snap off a hurricanrana.

Fletcher is right back with a Michinoku Driver and they’re both down for a breather. A hard belly to back suplex into a sitout powerbomb gives Fletcher two more. Back up and a boot to the face makes Takahashi come up smiling so they go to the apron. Fletcher’s suplex is reversed into a DDT and Takahashi powerbombs him to the floor.

A clotheslines gives Takahashi two and he reverses a powerbomb into a Canadian Destroyer for two more. Fletcher is back with a jumping Tombstone for two and a running boot in the corner. The brainbuster is countered into a rollup to give Takahashi two, only for Fletcher to come back with the brainbuster to retain at 15:23.

Rating: B. This took its time to get going but then it really picked up once Takahashi made his comeback. What mattered the most is that Fletcher had to break a sweat against someone with that kind of a resume. Fletcher is going to be a big project for AEW and having him win here is the right way to go. There was no reason to believe Takahashi was winning here, but at least the match went as it should have.

We recap the TBS Title match, which has Mercedes Mone defending against challengers from three companies. Only Alex Windsor has gotten a serious focus and it would be a lot better off with her getting her own shot.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Bozilla vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone

Mone is defending. It’s a staredown to start with Mone being sent outside, leaving the rather large Bozilla to clothesline the other two. Back in and Mone gets gorilla pressed out to the floor as it’s all Bozilla to start. Mone comes in again and gets flapjacked by Persephone and Windsor, only for Bozilla to come back in and run them over.

Bozilla drives Mone into the corner but a Codebreaker over the ropes sends Bozilla outside. Mone’s dive is countered though, leaving Persephone to make a save. Back in and Persephone gets some rollups for two on Mone, only to get bearhugged by Bozilla. That’s broken up and Mone comes off the middle rope with a double knee to put Bozilla down. They go to the corner for the Tower Of Doom with Windsor getting the best of it.

Windsor ties up Mone and Persephone in a double half crab, at least until Bozilla making some saves. Bozilla clotheslines Windsor for two but Persephone is back with a Razor’s Edge. Mone breaks up Windsor’s Sharpshooter and counters Persephone’s Razor’s Edge into a hurricanrana to retain at 15:34.

Rating: B. Kind of like the Copeland/Cage match, there wasn’t much doubt here as the question was more who was taking the pin. Persephone and Bozilla were both basically just there to fill in the international quota, as the build for this was all about Mone vs. Windsor, which will likely take place at All Out.

Bozilla absolutely stood out here, as someone with her size and power is going to get attention no matter what she’s doing. On the other hand, Persephone didn’t really get the chance to show up until the ending, which again goes back to the theme of having too many people in the match. That’s always an issue and it was certainly the case again here.

We recap Nigel McGuinness challenging Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. McGuinness is mostly retired but he’s a technical master who has Daniel Garcia in his corner. Ignore Garcia seemingly all but saying “I’m going to turn on you.”

McGuinness trained with wrestling legend Johnny Saint by playing chess. To be fair, McGuinness did win.

IWGP World Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Sabre is defending and McGuinness has Daniel Garcia with him. Feeling out process to start and they both roll through a snapmare attempt to start. McGuinness takes him down with a headlock but Sabre slips out as only he can. Sabre’s headlock takes him down as well, with McGuinness slipping out too.

Some arm cranking has McGuinness down again but he comes up with a middle finger to a nice reaction. McGuinness pulls him down into an armbar, which is reversed into the neck twist, allowing Sabre to go after the arm again. Back up and McGuinness avoids a charge into the corner and hits a clothesline for a needed breather. The big lariat gives McGuinness two but Sabre gets to the rope to avoid the London Dungeon.

The Tower Of London is countered as well and Sabre gets in a Disarm-Her, which is escaped rather quickly. They uppercut it out until the rebound lariat blasts Sabre for two. Something close to a Rainmaker drops Sabre for two more so it’s something like the London Dungeon again. Sabre makes the rope again but McGuinness grabs another Tower Of London for another near fall. They trade rollups for two each until Sabre gets a sunset flip to retain at 17:01.

Rating: B. Points for not having Garcia cost McGuinness the title here, though McGuinness was a long shot at best to take the title here. Sabre is an absolute monster when it comes to the technical stuff, though McGuinness more than held his own out there. This was more a “here’s one last great moment for McGuinness in his hometown” and there is nothing wrong with that, as they had a heck of a match.

Post match Tony Schiavone gets in the ring for a special presentation, which (after Garcia and McGuinness stand there for a second and realize it has nothing to do with them) is the pro wrestling record attendance for the venue: 18,982.

Queen Aminata and Thekla brawl from the back into the arena, with the Triangle Of Madness running in to beat Aminata down. Jamie Hayter returns for the save to quite the strong response.

We recap the Tag Team Titles. The Hurt Syndicate are the dominant champions and Bandido/Brody King and FTR…well they didn’t win a tournament but they didn’t lose it either, so it’s time for a three way title match.

Tag Team Titles: Hurt Syndicate vs. FTR vs. Bandido/Brody King

The Syndicate is defending and Stokely Hathaway is here with FTR. The challengers pair off to start, with FTR taking Lashley to the floor while Bandido and King take over on Benjamin. We settle down to Bandido headscissoring Harwood to take over. Lashley is back in with a double clothesline and a suplex. Harwood dares to chop at Benjamin, who just glares at him in response.

Bandido comes in to send Benjamin outside for a suicide dive, only for Lashley to take Bandido down. Benjamin can’t hit a suplex as Bandido slips out but FTR drops to the floor to avoid a tag. Bandido’s spinning high crossbody drops Benjamin and it’s off to King to clean house. King crushes FTR in the corner and hits a cannonball, followed by the showdown with Lashley (the fans like this).

The big spinebuster drops King but he’s back up with a clothesline to send Lashley outside. Back in and Benjamin rolls some German suplexes on King but walks into a Shatter Machine. King makes the save and sends Wheeler into the Syndicate on the floor, with King taking them down. Bandido’s top rope flipping fall away slam onto the pile leaves everyone down. Cue some guys in New Japan gear (we can’t see their faces) to brawl with the Syndicate, leaving Bandido to kick a chair into Harwood’s face.

Wheeler gets punched out of the head but Harwood chairs King in the head. The New Japan guys are Ricochet and the Gates Of Agony, who can’t believe King kicks out. The PowerPlex is loaded up but Bandido breaks it up and hits a frog splash. King monkey flips Bandido into the 450 to Harwood for the pin and the titles at 15:07.

Rating: B+. Good stuff here and while the Syndicate wasn’t even involved in the decision, they did have a reason for being taken out. At the same time, it would have been better to have Bandido and King win the tournament and the titles, even with the interference. Just let them be the best team rather than a team that escaped with the belts. Either way, best match of the night thus far and the new champs are an interesting choice.

We recap Kazuchika Okada defending the Unified Title against Swerve Strickland. Okada is the dominant champion and Strickland doesn’t like him, so the title match is on.

Unified Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland

Strickland is challenging and Okada gives him the pat on the chest against the ropes to start. That’s shrugged off and Strickland hits a dropkick to send him outside. Strickland follows with a knee, which he seems to bang up on contact. Back in and some rolling neckbreakers put Okada down, followed by the middle rope elbow to the back of the neck.

Okada catapults him over the top so Strickland tries to stick the landing, over to hurt his knee again in the process. Okada sends him into the steps to keep the knee in trouble and they go back inside with the pace slowing a good bit. Strickland manages to roll some suplexes, followed by a belly to back superplex for two. They head back outside, with Okada hitting a tombstone on the floor.

Back in and the Rainmaker is countered into the House Call and Strickland fires off some clotheslines. The Rainmaker misses again and Strickland hits a dropkick. A powerbomb is swung into a powerslam (cool) to plant Okada, followed by the Swerve Stomp for two. Okada gets smart by going back to the knee, meaning it’s another dropkick, only Strickland to hit another House Call. Strickland tries it again but walks into the Rainmaker to retain the title at 16:33.

Rating: B. This got going in the end, though Strickland’s knee injury seemed to go away for a long stretch in the middle. I wasn’t quite sold on Strickland winning here but it felt like there was at least a reasonable chance he would get the title. It was a good, hard hitting match with Strickland going for it but ultimately coming up short, which is a good way to go.

Post match Okada goes after the knee again but Prince Nana makes the save with a pipe. Freaking WARDLOW of all people comes in for the beatdown though, laying out both Nana and security. Then Wardlow hugs Don Calls, whose Family somehow has another member. Konosuke Takeshita comes out to show his approval.

We recap Athena challenging Toni Storm for the Women’s Title. Athena is cashing in her Casino Gauntlet title shot and has been coming after Storm, who finds Athena rather annoying.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Toni Storm

Only Storm is defending and Billie Starkz is here with Athena. Storm hammers away in the corner to start and they head outside, where Starkz offers a quick distraction. Athena dropkicks her up against the barricade and we hit the neck crank back inside. A backsplash misses for Athena but she swings Storm’s head into the post.

Storm gets knocked into the corner but Athena takes too long loading up a running hip attack. A clothesline drops Athena for two, though the TCM Chickenwing is broken up. Athena hits a snap belly to back suplex and they forearm it out. Storm Mongolian chops her down but Athena hits an elbow to the face for two. Starkz’ distraction lets Athena hit a running boot in the corner, followed by a powerbomb for two more.

A Koji Clutch has Storm in even more trouble until she makes the rope and gets outside. Storm sends Athena face first into the steps, followed by Storm Zero for another near fall. Starkz offers another distraction though and the O Face across the top rope connects but here is Mina Shirakawa to cut Starkz off. Another O Face is countered into the TCM Chickenwing to retain the title at 15:15.

Rating: B. Gah I was getting into this one near the end and I was wanting to see Athena win the title. While there are other challengers waiting for Storm, it would be great to see Athena’s incredible Ring Of Honor reign rewarded with a run with the real title. Either way, good match here, though the ending left me a bit disappointed.

We recap Hangman Page defending the World Title against MJF. They don’t like each other as MJF says they’re the villain/main character of the AEW story, with MJF cashing in his Casino Gauntlet contract. Then he changed his mind, but got the title shot anyway by threatening to burn Mark Briscoe alive (as you do).

AEW World Title: Hangman Page vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

MJF (in a snazzy green feathered robe) is challenging and Page can lose the title via countout or DQ. After the Big Match Intros, MJF bails out to the floor, with Page following him to hammer away against the barricade. Page drops him throat first across the barricade, followed by a belly to back suplex back inside. They’re already back on the floor, with Page teasing using a chair and getting sent into the post as a result.

Back in and a quick piledriver gives MJF two before he goes after the arm. Page is suplexed into the corner by the arm but he’s fine enough to hit a top rope clothesline for two. MJF is sent outside for the moonsault, followed by a sitout powerbomb for two back inside. Somehow MJF grabs a quickly broken Salt Of The Earth but the Heatseeker is blocked. A hammerlock DDT gives MJF two and he sets up a table at ringside, only for Page to snap off a moonsault.

Rather than covering, Page loads up the table (Danielson disagrees) and hits the Deadeye through the wood (now Danielson approves). MJF manages a foot on the rope back inside and they’re already back outside, with MJF avoiding a charge to send Page into a chair. They jumping (and running) Tombstone onto the broken tables rocks the (bleeding) Page but he beats the count at nine.

Back in and the turnbuckle is exposed, with Page sending MJF into it to bust him open as well. They pull themselves up and slug it out (I’ll take it over forearms) until stereo rolling elbows drop both of them. A rather rapid fire pinfall reversal sequence gets a bunch of twos (and ones) until the Deadeye gives Page a rather near fall. Page is frustrated so MJF hands him the ring and insults him, only for Page to use a regular punch.

The referee gets bumped and MJF gets in a low blow into the Heatseeker, with Page’s foot on the rope. Cue Mark Briscoe for a distraction as the referee gets up and sees the foot on the rope, meaning no count. MJF kicks Page low again and hits him with the contract for two but Page is back with the Deadeye. The Buckshot Lariat FINALLY retains the title at 31:10.

Rating: B-. WAY too long here as they proved the point time after time: MJF was trying to steal the title through any means he could but Page kept surviving. The idea was explained multiple times in there and it was getting to the point of “get on with this already”. Page winning is good, but dang I was annoyed when they pulled back the contract and that’s still the case now. Just let Page move on already, but he can’t because of that stupid contract.

The cage is lowered.

Quick recap of the main event. The Death Riders and the Young Bucks are bad and a bunch of people are after them. Put them all in a cage, including the injured Will Ospreay, non-sanctioned.

Young Bucks/Death Riders/Gabe Kidd vs. Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi/Darby Allin/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Will Ospreay

In a cage, which is VERY wide and basically a Cell without the roof. Ospreay gets a special entrance video for quite the hero’s welcome. The Bucks’ pyro and entrance stuff isn’t exactly right, but at least the chyron spells their names properly. It’s a huge brawl to start and yes there are weapons already provided around the ring. Tanahashi does the air guitar inside but gets decked by Kidd, who gets in a brawl with Ospreay.

Back up and Ospreay hits a big flip dive to the floor onto Kidd and Allin hits his own running flip dive. We get the Bucks vs. Omega/Ibushi showdown with the Bucks being sent outside for stereo moonsaults. Allin and Moxley are handcuffed together as the Bucks fight back and beat up Omega and Ibushi inside.

The Legos are poured out and Tanahashi comes in to faceplant Matt, followed by Omega powerbombing him into Ibushi’s German suplex. A ladder is brought in and the Bucks (amazing how they keep popping back up) powerbomb Allin into said ladder, allowing the Bucks to clear out the Legos. The bleeding Ospreay is up and wraps a chair around Moxley’s neck (no longer handcuffed) but Kidd is back in with a piledriver.

Castagnoli swings Omega and catapults him into a superkick from Matt. The TK Driver gets two on Ibushi and Allin gets launched over the top and into the cage for a crazy crash. Tanahashi is back in to clean house until Moxley drops him with a DDT. Back in and Allin is duct taped to a chair….so Moxley can try to use a fork to cut his ear off. Hey did you know that Moxley is hardcore? I’m not sure we made that clear.

The barbed wire table is loaded up as Allin is out as well (because not much has a lasting impact in this match). Moxley is sent face first into the barbed wire but Castagnoli gives Tanahashi the Neutralizer. The BTE Trigger connects on Tanahashi but Ospreay dives in for the save. Tanahashi drives Moxley through the barbed wire board and Omega takes Kidd down with the snapdragon.

Ibushi adds a snapdragon of his own (he’s been looking WAY better here) and everyone goes out to the floor. Naturally Ospreay goes up to the top of the cage for a moonsault back down, because he’s kind of out there. Kidd and Omega have their staredown but everyone else gets back in and brawls for the big everyone down.

Omega beats up Moxley and hits the one Winged Angel for two with multiple saves being made. A big stack of four tables are set up outside of the cage so of course Allin goes up, with Kidd trying to choke him. They go crashing through the tables, leaving Nick to take the Golden Trigger. A top rope Hidden Blade into the One Winged Angel drops Matt and the High Fly Flow gives Tanahashi the win at 32:36.

Rating: B-. I get the appeal of the match, but this felt like they were trying to do Anarchy In The Arena without going around the arena. Having this be in a cage only added a few spots, to the point where you could probably have gotten rid of the cage and done about the same thing. Other than that, it felt like a big collection of violence and spots without anything that really felt like it belonged in the main event spot of the pay per view.

Post match Ospreay gets the big moment (as he’s likely off to have neck surgery)…but the Death Riders jump him for a big beatdown. They lock the cage and Pillmanize Ospreay’s neck until the cage is raised, allowing the Opps and company to run in for the save. Everyone is sad and serious as Ospreay is checked on to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was in a weird place as the wrestling itself ranges from good enough to rather good, with only the opener being a bit lower on the scale. The problem here was that with the guest stars concept mainly being just a feature rather than the focus (Tanahashi could have been taken out of the main event without losing much of anything), there was only so much that felt really high level about this show. It came off like a pretty weak level pay per view (at least by comparison to other AEW shows) and hopefully they come up with something better next year.

The biggest problem though is I really didn’t care that much about what was happening. The action was good and it’s a fine enough show, but in addition to the usual length issues, the two main events don’t really change anything. MJF still has a World Title shot in his back pocket and the main event was really just about revenge. That doesn’t make it feel must see, especially when the two matches added up to over an hour. Anyway, a good show overall, but it really didn’t feel special.

Results
Paragon/El Desperado/Yuya Uemura b. Don Callis Family/Cru – Double arm capture suplex to Rush
Gates Of Agony/Ricochet b. Michael Oku/Jet Speed – Spirit gun to Oku
Megan Bayne/Triangle Of Madness b. Queen Aminata/Harley Cameron/Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale – Liger Bomb to Cameron
Opps b. Bullet Club WarDogs – MuscleBuster to Robbie X
Adam Copeland/Christian Cage b. The Matriarchy – Spear to Sabian
Kyle Fletcher b. Hiromu Takahashi – Brainbuster
Mercedes Mone b. Alex Windsor, Persephone and Bozilla – Hurricanrana to Persephone
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Nigel McGuinness – Sunset flip
Bandido/Brody King b. Hurt Syndicate and FTR – Monkey flip 450 to Harwood
Kazuchika Okada b. Swerve Strickland – Rainmaker
Toni Storm b. Athena – TCM Chickenwing
Hangman Page b. MJF – Buckshot Lariat
Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi/Darby Allin/Will Osprey b. Death Riders/Young Bucks – High Fly Flow to Matt

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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We’re back to the international themed show and in this case it’s actually going international. In this case the show is taking place in London, which should open up quite the excited audience. The big main event features Lights Out steel cage match, which has the potential to be quite the spectacle. Other than that, there are multiple title matches, which makes sense in a promotion that has so many titles. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Paragon/El Desperado/Yuya Uemura vs. Cru/Don Callis Family

This is your latest reminder that Cru is in fact still employed. It’s a match that was thrown together on the Collision before the show, meaning it doesn’t have much in the way of a backstory, though the action should be fine. Paragon is getting more serious and wants revenge for Adam Cole being injured, so maybe they can start things off here, even if Kyle Fletcher isn’t around.

I’ll take the good guys to win, as there are too many people on the other side who could take a fall. Cru has absolutely no value at the moment so beating one of them is a perfectly fine way to go. Paragon or one of the guest stars can get a win so this is likely going to be fine, albeit without much drama. In other words, it’s fine for a match on the Kickoff Show, assuming it isn’t coming up fourth.

Zero Hour: Triangle Of Madness/Megan Bayne vs. Harley Cameron/Kris Statlander/Queen Aminata/Willow Nightingale

This one was set up on Collision so points for having an actual build to the match for a change. The villains are another group trying to dominate without actually winning anything and that’s not the most thrilling deal, but Bayne is someone who could be put into the title picture at the drop of a hat. Other than that, you have the in-ring return of Cameron, which should work out rather well.

When I was putting the participants down for this match, it was a case of looking to see who would be taking the fall and it’s hard to imagine it being anyone but Aminata. Odds are Bayne pins her and gets to look all dominant while saving the others for bigger stuff. That’s a good way to go and a nice effort to get a bunch of women on the show, though it only feels so important.

Zero Hour: Gates Of Agony/Ricochet vs. Jet Speed/Michael Oku

I still don’t know if I get the appeal of Oku, who is fine in the ring but never really comes off as a huge star. That being said, he’s fine as a guest star here as the fans will know who he is and he’s a bigger deal in England than he is in the United States. The rest of the people involved seem to be cases of “get them on the show one way or another” and there are worse options for that status.

I’ll take the good guys to win here, for the sake of having the guest starring Oku win. The Gates have shown that they can lose over and over (and over and over) without really changing so they should be fine here. Ricochet very well could get the win here and if that involves him getting to beat up Mike Bailey along the way, I can think of a few worse outcomes for the match.

Zero Hour: Trios Titles: Opps(c) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs

It’s better than no main event at all. The Opps are at least turning into something of an established team with the titles so I’ll take that over another thrown together team with no reason to be in the title picture. At the same time, they’re facing an established faction so this could be a heck of a lot worse (as it tends to be when either set of six person titles are defended around here).

I’ll go with the champions retaining in a hard fought match, which will be another nice win on their resume. The Opps have already been champions for several months and there is a good chance that they’ll hold the titles for a long time to come. Let them face other established teams (as many of them as there are) and their reign will feel even better, with this being a nice example.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone(c) vs. Persephone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Bozilla

We’ll get one of the international matches out of the way here with challengers from AEW, CMLL and Stardom. The problem with Forbidden Door season is that Bozilla and Persephone have barely been a factor while Windsor has been the real challenger to Mone. In theory that’s going to be the match at All Out, as it’s certainly the match that has gotten the most attention on the way to this show.

So yeah of course I’m going to take Mone to win, as she needs to get a victory back after losing to Toni Storm (and since winning those random titles means a grand total of nothing, this is what she can do). Odds are she beats either Bozilla or Persephone to retain, leaving Windsor free to get the title shot later. It should be a good match, though it would be that much better as a singles match.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher(c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi

This is another match where there isn’t exactly much in the way of drama about the result. Fletcher just won the title a few weeks ago and seems primed for a big run. Takahashi is an incredible talent in his own right but he feels like he’s there for the sake of making Fletcher look good. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but it doesn’t exactly leave much in the way of questions about how it’s going to go.

Naturally Fletcher retains here, albeit after a heck of a match. Fletcher can work well with anyone and Takahashi is one of the most talented starts you’ll find today. This has the potential to steal the show (or at least come close) but I can’t find a way to believe that Takahashi is going to win here. It’s part of the issue of the international theme, but at least the match should be great.

Adam Copeland/Christian Cage vs. Matriarchy

I’m still not sure if that’s the right name for the team or not but I’m going with it. Now I’m trying to figure out something to say about the match, as it’s rather amusing to suggest that this has any kind of drama. The team is back together after twenty plus years (ignoring two matches in March 2011 because…well they don’t really matter) and they’re coming up on the pay per view in Toronto. What do you think is happening here?

You can put Killswitch in there all you want and it isn’t going to matter, as Cage and Copeland could go out there and split a sandwich and they would find a way to win. This is all about getting the big reunion and that should get quite the reception. I’m sure the match itself will be fine, but there is just no reason to believe that the Canadian legends are going to have any real trouble.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Zack Sabre Jr.(c) vs. Nigel McGuinness

So again, there isn’t much drama about who is walking away with the title here, but also again, this should be a heck of a match. Sabre can get in the ring and torture anyone, while McGuinness is a technical master in his own right. Both of them are from England as well so the fans will be way into things. At the same time though, there is a wild card to be considered and that’s not going to go well.

While Sabre is all but a lock to retain here, McGuinness is likely to give him a run for his money and probably get close with some submission attempts. That being said, ever since McGuinness won the Technical Spectacle to get the title shot, there has been a big countdown going until Daniel Garcia turns on him. That likely happens here, with Garcia likely costing McGuinness the title to set up something of a teacher vs. student match at All Out. McGuinness comes close here, but ultimately comes up short, thanks to Garcia.

Tag Team Titles: Hurt Syndicate(c) vs. Bandido/Brody King vs. FTR

This is the result of a #1 contenders tournament, because tournaments don’t need to have conclusive winners in the name of a triple threat title match. If nothing else, it’s nice to have a match which could go in a few ways though and that’s what we have here. While the Syndicate is great at what they do and have been dominant champions, they might not be able to hang in there the whole way here.

While there is always the chance of having the Syndicate win and move on to All Out as champions against fresh challengers, I’ll go with what feels like the more likely path of FTR winning here. That means they can face Copeland and Cage at All Out, possibly even in a ladder match for the belts. While that match doesn’t need the belts (or the ladders), it’s what feels the most likely, so we’ll say FTR wins here.

Unified Title: Kazuchika Okada(c) vs. Swerve Strickland

Now we’re getting into the interesting stuff, as while Okada would seem like the heavy favorite here, beating Strickland is no easy feat. That could make for some interesting results, as Strickland is certainly a worthy challenger. Okada is someone who could run with the title until the Continental Classic, but there is also an interesting situation with Strickland possibly taking it.

I’ll take Okada to retain here, but dang it should be a fun one. This is one of the matches that has me the most interested and hopefully it lives up to its potential. Strickland has shown that he can hang with anyone in the world and beating Okada isn’t out of the question. Either way, Strickland needs something to do, though I don’t think it’s going to be winning the title.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Athena

Here we have another one that has me really intrigued. Storm is one of the most successful stars in the history of the women’s division (if not the most), but at the same time, Athena has been Ring Of Honor Women’s Champion for so long that it’s hard to remember not having the belt. She’s absolutely hit the ground running in AEW and feels like she could easily carry the division. That being said, I’m just not sure if she will.

I’m going to go out on a limb and take Athena to win here, with the full on feeling that Storm will wind up winning so she can put Mercedes Mone over and give her the win back later on. Athena needs the win more, and it isn’t like Storm is going to be hurt by losing anything. Hopefully Athena wins and I’ll go with that as my pick, albeit one that I expect to be wrong.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page(c) vs. MJF

So this was the contract match from All In but instead we’re getting that later, because the Money In The Bank style thing HAS TO BE AROUND. As annoying as that is, we should be in for a good match here, as MJF has an ability to bring it on the big stage. The stipulations of Page being able to lose the title by countout or DQ make things more interesting and that’s a positive sign for this.

That being said, it’s almost impossible to imagine Page losing the title in his first pay per view defense after the big title win at All In. I’ll take Page to win here as it makes the most sense, though hopefully we get the contract for another match immediately thereafter to burn that thing off for good. Either way, Page overcomes the odds to win and retain the title.

Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi/Darby Allin/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Will Ospreay vs. Death Riders/Young Bucks/Gabe Kidd

This is a Lights Out steel cage match with Will Ospreay likely not being around much longer after this due to needing neck surgery. I’m not sure what that is going to mean, but having ten people in a single cage is kind of asking for trouble. That being said, I have no reason to believe that they’re all going to stay in the cage anyway, which tends to be the case with these things.

At the end of the day, this is a match which could go either way and I’m curious about how it goes, but I’ll take the villains to win here. It allows Moxley to get a big win back after his World Title loss and sets up Allin to be the one to finally take Moxley and the Death Riders down. This also could be the match where Ospreay is written off television, even if it means sacrificing him getting a big win in the main event in front of his home country.

Overall Thoughts

If I didn’t know any better, I might miss the fact that this is Forbidden Door. The build has been far less than previous years and that is making it a lot better. Instead of taking a big side trip with all of the guest stars, the outsiders are little more than bonus pieces on the show and that has me a lot more interested. The show might not be a guaranteed smash hit, but it fees a lot more interesting coming in and I’ll definitely take that.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: August 20, 2025
Location: OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators: Bryan Danielson, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s the last Dynamite before we get to this weekend’s Forbidden Door. As a result, that means we are probably going to get some rapid fire build to the show. The good thing is that most of the card is already set, including a rather big lights out steel cage match, which should be…something. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Bryan Danielson comes out to be a special guest commentator. Yeah that still works.

Here is Will Ospreay to get things going. Ospreay says he’s been having one of the worst months of his career. He talks about the first time he ever came to Glasgow and got screwed over by a promoter. Ospreay praises the UK’s ability to drink and brings up Greggs’ sausage rolls (which are delicious) and we pause for a SAUSAGE, SAUSAGE ROLLS chant. Ospreay: “None of that vegan crap either!”

After calming Danielson down (that was funny), Ospreay talks about feeling human for the first time after having a bunch of health issues. A lot of wrestlers have gone down this same road and they never come back the same. Last week, he was not cleared for Forbidden Door, which is why he wanted the match to be lights out, meaning unsanctioned by AEW. He knows the risks and is willing to take them, and if he can’t be Will Ospreay after Sunday, then he’s going to give everything he has. This is about revenge and he is ready to enter the cage and tear the Death Riders apart.

Cue the Death Riders to interrupt, with Ospreay asking why Jon Moxley needs people to fight his battles. Ospreay is coming to get rid of Moxley, so Moxley should be ready to fight on his own. Cue Jet Speed to brawl with the Death Riders (before their scheduled six man tag tonight) and here is Hiroshi Tanahashi so let’s do the match now.

Jet Speed/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Death Riders

Tanahashi crossbodies Moxley down to start but gets kicked in the face by Castagnoli to cut him off. Bailey comes back in to kick away at Yuta, who knocks him down to take over again. Marina Shafir gets in a cheap on the floor, with the referee looking right at her, before we continue. Thankfully she is ejected, with Will Ospreay coming out to carry her to the back, and we take a break.

We come back with Knight in trouble in the corner, allowing Castagnoli to strike away. Knight kicks his way to freedom and it’s Tanahashi coming back in to clean house. Triple Twist And Shouts take the Riders down but cue the Bullet Club Wardogs from New Japan for a distraction. Cue Will Ospreay with a body bag, leaving Tanahashi to hit the High Fly Flow for the pin on Yuta at 11:04.

Rating: B-. Tanahashi is retiring in a few months and that is pretty much the best for everyone. He’s an all time legend and one of the best ever, but my goodness his body is horribly broken down and it’s sad to see what he can’t do these days. The rest of the match was fine and Yuta losing is always worth a look, but Tanahashi’s inability to run is just sad to see.

Post match the Wardogs and the Death Riders beat down the winners, with the Young Bucks running in to superkick Ospreay. The Conglomeration cuts them off but Darby Allin pops out of the body bag to help with the brawl. Cue the Opps to help clear the villains out but the brawl goes into the crowd, where Allin Coffin Drops off the balcony to wipe everyone out. Total people involved in this whole thing: 19.

Video on MJF vs. Hangman Page, focusing on the main character vs. villain angle.

Here is Adam Copeland for a chat, along with a serenade from the crowd. Before he can say anything though, here is Christian Cage to join him in the ring. Cage goes to tell the fans to be quiet but Copeland cuts him off, saying these people love him. Copeland admits that Cage is an a******, but he’s COPELAND’S a******.

As Copeland realizes that wasn’t the best way to word things, Cage acknowledges that he has found himself…which is someone who does not need to change. They aren’t on the same page, but at least they are reading the same book. This is a reunion of necessity because they are agreeing to help each other with their respective problems. We get the handshake and here are Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne to interrupt.

Nick Wayne pops up on screen, carrying a pair of crutches though, because he has a broken foot. Wayne won’t be at Forbidden Door, so consider it a blessing that he can’t cost Copeland and Cage everything. He is always one step ahead though…and Killswitch is back. A chokeslam plants Copeland and Cage is laid out as well, as Sabian seems to have a replacement partner. Copeland and Cage being back together is what matters here, and I’m sure they’ll be on the same page sooner than later. It’s the Canadian way.

Mark Briscoe is in England to hurt MJF.

MJF interrupts Ricochet and the Gates Of Agony, asking for their help with Briscoe tonight. Ricochet is in.

#1 Contenders Tournament Finals: FTR vs. Bandido/Brody King

Stokely Hathaway is here with FTR. Bandido shoves his way out of the corner to start before Harwood takes him down by the arm. Harwood’s running shoulder drops Bandido again and they trade takedowns until Bandido does the gun point at Harwood’s head. Wheeler comes in and gets dropkicked to the floor as the Hurt Syndicate is watching in the back. Harwood is so frustrated that he grabs a chair as King comes in to shove Wheeler down.

King strikes away at Harwood, who is right back with a piledriver…which King shrugs off. Bandido is dropped onto Harwood for two but Wheeler comes in to send King outside. Hathaway gets in a cheap shot with a loaded sling and King is in trouble as we take a break. We come back with Bandido and Harwood coming in to pick the pace back up. Everything breaks down and Bandido’s dive to the floor is cut off, with FTR dropping him onto the apron.

A Demolition Decapitator gives Wheeler two, though Danielson wasn’t impressed by the cover. The chinlock goes on but Bandido fights up and hits a middle rope crossbody for two more. We take another break and come back again with Bandido hitting a double hurricanrana, followed by a double DDT. That’s finally enough for the tag back to King to clean quite a bit of house. The cannonball in the corner gets two on Harwood, with Wheeler having to make the save.

Bandido hits a big flip dive to hit Harwood but he has kick Hathaway down and get his mask back. A frog splash gives Bandido two and Wheeler tornado DDTs King on the floor. The PowerPlex is cut off by King’s choke but King gets crotched on top. The top rope belly to back superplex into the top rope splash gets two as we hear the five minute call. A quick Shatter Machine gets two as Bandido is back in for some rollups. King saves Bandido from a Shatter Machine and chokes Harwood, who is chopped out to the floor.

Harwood is back up with a spike piledriver on the apron but Bandido is up with a moonsault to the floor. Back in and the Shatter Machine is blocked, as is the 21 Plex. Another Shatter Machine connects with King making the save…so FTR grabs a table with less than a minute left? King sends them into the barricade but Wheeler is up to miss a suicide dive through the table as time expires at 30:00.

Rating: B+. The ending with the table was rather odd and the ending setting up another triple threat for the titles is rather annoying. Maybe it’s a way to get the titles off of the Hurt Syndicate without them having to lose, but at least the match was rather good. King and Bandido are a team who were thrown together and wound up working very well, though being in there with FTR isn’t hurting things. Heck of a match here, weird table aside.

Post match Bandido gives Harwood the 21 Plex, as his timing is a bit off. And then we get the announcement of the three way title match because…well because of course.

Video on Swerve Strickland vs. Kazuchika Okada.

Here is Hangman Page for a chat. Last week, he was attacked in the parking lot by MJF and that shouldn’t be a surprise, because MJF is a coward. Page needs him to know that at Forbidden Door, there are no second chances and Page is sticking his boot up MJF’s checkered a**. MJF’s music plays but he’s nowhere to be found. Tony Schiavone says that MJF is in the back and has a message for Page, and if Page leaves the ring before he’s done, something bad is going to happen.

MJF is with Ricochet and the Gates of Agony, who have kidnapped Mark Briscoe. They threaten to LIGHT HIM ON FIRE unless Page agrees to three conditions at Forbidden Door: the title can change hands via countout or via DQ and the contract is NOT being used. MJF whips out a lighter and Page agrees. OH SCREW OFF with the contract still being a thing. Just get rid of the stupid contract and move on.

Post break, Page jumps Ricochet with a chair and then beats up security.

Mercedes Mone/Athena vs. Toni Storm/Alex Windsor

Billie Starkz is here with Mone/Athena. Mone headlocks Windsor to start but it’s too early for the Statement Maker. Windsor fall away slams Mone into the corner, where Storm kisses the side of her head before coming in. Athena backs Storm into the corner but gets caught with a basement dropkick. Mone breaks up a double suplex as everything breaks down. Double headbutts put Athena and Mone in the corner, though they avoid the double hip attack. Athena plants Storm on the floor but gets taken out by Windsor’s dive as we take a break.

We come back with Storm getting to come in and clean house, including a PerfectPlex for two on Athena. Windsor’s short arm lariat gets two and it’s right back to Storm, who gets Codebreakered into the Statement Maker. That’s broken up and Mone misses the running knees in the corner. Storm gives Athena a tornado DDT, which is enough for the diving tag back to Windsor.

A running clothesline and Blue Thunder Bomb get two each, leaving Athena to piledrive Storm on the steps. Windsor decks Athena and gives Mone a Samoan drop. The Sharpshooter makes Mone tap…but she’s not legal so it means nothing. Athena comes in with the O Face to finish Windsor at 16:02 in a smart finish (and extra points for Athena looking all fired up after the win, which doesn’t happen often enough in modern wrestling).

Rating: B. That ending was awesome and clever, which is a nice combination to see. I’m always a fan of taking two title matches and mixing them together like this, with the result working well. Good match here, and I’m becoming more and more convinced that Athena is winning the title.

Post match Mone gets shoved down by Persephone, another of her challengers at Forbidden Door, to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I get that it makes sense for the person doing it, but that whole deal with the contract took me out of a lot of the show. It feels like a twist for the sake of a twist or some massive backtracking, neither of which are something you want to see. Other than that, the show was rather good, with the tournament final and main event offering good action and Forbidden Door’s build going well, even without bogging the show down with all kinds of guest stars.

Results
Jet Speed/Hiroshi Tanahashi b. Death Riders – High Fly Flow to Yuta
FTR vs. Brody King/Bandido went to a time limit draw
Mercedes Mone/Athena b. Alex Windsor/Toni Storm – O Face to Windsor

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestle Dynasty 2025
Date: January 5, 2025
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Commentators: Walker Stewart, Chris Charlton

So it’s time for a bunch of wrestling promotions and Ring Of Honor to come together and have a big show in Japan. Why? Heck if I know and AEW basically glossed over the this this week anyway. It’s basically a big cross promotional show, which can go in all kinds of directions. Let’s get to it.

Note that I do not follow any of the international promotions involved with this show. I might know some of the wrestlers, but I apologize in advance for not knowing history or plot points.

Pre-Show: International Women’s Cup: Momo Watanabe (Stardom) vs. Willow Nightingale (AEW) vs. Persephone (CMLL) vs. Athena (ROH)

The winner receives a Women’s Title shot. Athena and Watanabe clear the ring to start until Nightingale kicks Watanabe in the head. Persephone comes in for a Matrix/spider walk but Athena takes her into the corner for a running shot. Back up and Nightingale kicks Athena in the face before suplexing the other two at the same time. The dives are on to leave Nightingale and Persephone as the only two standing, meaning Persephone hits her own running flip dive.

Back in and Athena hits a middle rope Codebreaker to Persephone and Nightingale but Nightingale is back up with a Pounce. Persephone suplexes Nightingale for two and Athena is knocked outside. Nightingale’s Death Valley Driver sends Watanabe into the corner but Athena is back up with the O Face. Cue Thekla (from Stardom) to pull the referee though, allowing Watanabe to hit Athena in the head with a club. A dragon suplex pins Athena at 11:29.

Rating: B-. So we sat through tournaments and qualifying matches and all that other jazz to hype up this match and it’s on the pre-show for some to be determined title match later? In theory this sets up Watanabe as Athena’s next challenger for something of a dream match, though it wouldn’t shock me if this is barely mentioned in Ring Of Honor. The match was fine, but it was nothing that AEW hasn’t done a dozen times in the last few months.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Sons Of Texas vs. House Of Torture

The Sons (Dustin Rhodes/Sammy Guevara) are defending against Sho/Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Sho shakes Dustin’s hand to start but holds it in place so Kanemaru can come in to jump him from behind. That doesn’t last long as Guevara comes in to moonsault Sho, setting up Dustin’s PK for two. Sho sends Guevara outside though and Kanemaru gets in a whip to the barricade.

The turnbuckle pad is ripped off and Dustin is sent into the exposed steel and it’s back to Guevara. A Boston crab goes on and Kanemaru steps on one of the titles. An enziguri gets Guevara out of trouble and it’s back to Rhodes to clean house. Kanemaru spits some liquid into Rhodes’ face and a moonsault connects for two. Guevara is back in with a cutter and Rhodes adds his own liquid (whiskey) to the face. The Final Reckoning into Guevara’s Swanton retains the titles at 9:27.

Rating: C. This was a gold match between two teams who aren’t that interesting in the first place. The Sons of Texas haven’t been interesting since they won the titles and there is a good chance that they’ll hold the belts until All In Texas, because TEXAS. There’s nothing to see here but Ring Of Honor had o be on the because reasons.

The opening video looks at the card in order and does a great job of hyping the show up.

Casino Gauntlet Match

Non-title and it’s one fall to a finish, meaning there is no guarantee everyone will get in. Hechicero is in at #1 and Kosei Fujita is in at #2. They grapple to start and get nowhere as Soberano Jr. is in at #3 after a very short interval. A Rocking Horse/top rope Fameasser hits Fujita and it’s Master Wato in at #4.

Wato and Soberano go at it until Mascara Dorada is in at #5 as these entrances are flying. Dorada gets to clean house with takedowns and dives until Taiji Ishimori is in at #6. A Lethal Injection hits Dorada and Titan is in at #7 to keep the pace fast. Titan hits a gordbuster into a kick to the face as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado is in at #8 to complete the field.

Everyone runs up the ramp to go after Desperado and they carry him to the ring for the big beating. Naturally that’s broken up when someone goes for the cover, meaning it’s time for the big collection of dives. Wato hits a big running flip dive onto the pile, with Dorada doing the same thing. Somehow Desperado is back up but gets pulled into a leg trap choke, only for Ishimori to steal the pin on Desperado at 16:16.

Rating: B-. This was a bunch of spots and staggered intervals, which made for a good enough showcase. I do like them getting that many people on the show at once, even if the only thing from AEW was the concept. The bit with Desperado was smart and protects him with the loss, which is perfectly fine. Nice stuff, though more of a “get them on the card” match than anything else.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata

This is a grappling match with a five minute time limit. They fight over a lockup to start until Shibata gets him to the ropes for a clean break. They chop it out with Shibata seemingly getting the better of things and telling Tanahashi to bring it. The chop exchange keeps going until time expires at 5:00. The whole match was the long lockup and chop exchanges with a few small moves in the middle.

Rating: C. This wasn’t a normal match and I’m not going to treat it overly harsh as a result. The idea here was either something of a tease or just to have the two of them in the Dome again. That’s perfectly fine and even though it wasn’t a traditional match, it wasn’t supposed to be some mat classic.

Respect is shown post match.

Rev Pro British Women’s Title/NJPW Strong Women’s Title: Mina Shirakawa vs. Mercedes Mone

Title for title. Mone takes her into the corner off a lockup to start before they both miss a few shots, allowing Mina to dance. The Statement Maker is broken up in a hurry and Mina bails to the floor, setting up a suicide dive. Mina gets smart by going after the knee but a quick Meteora gives Mone two.

The knee gets slammed into the mat to cut that off but Mone is right back with another Meteora. Mina sends the knee into the mat again and grabs a Figure Four, with Mone going straight to the ropes. Mone gets in a gutbuster, with commentary pointing out that it’s kind of stupid. Speaking of stupid, Mone’s knee is suddenly fine enough to hit Three Amigos, which she has apparently wanted to do in this building for fifteen years. To be fair, she hasn’t paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero in what, four days or so?

Mina hits a super DDT into another Figure Four but Mone is out again. The Glamorous river gets two but Mone is back with a pair of Coebreakers for two. A Gory Bomb sets up another Figure Four but Mone rolls her up for two. The Mone Maker connects out of nowhere for the pin to make Mone a triple champion at 14:06.

Rating: C-. I’m sure that Mone is happy that she gets another title and got to do something in the Tokyo Dome, but there is only so much to get out of a match built around working the knee when Mone keeps popping back up. The lack of selling was nonsense and took me completely out of the match, which didn’t have the highest drama in the first place. This felt like Mone was getting to do whatever she wanted and Mina was little more than a prop to make that happen. Big disappointment here.

David Finlay vs. Brody King

King wastes no time in kicking him in the face to start but misses a charge into the corner. A Stunner over the ropes lets Finlay get a breather and he starts in on the leg. Finlay’s slingshot dive to the floor is pulled out of the air though and King puts him against the barricade for a huge crash. Back in and a backsplash connects before King gets to say some bad words.

They forearm it out on the apron until Finlay has to break up the hanging sleeper. Finlay hits a big dive off the top but King is back with a lariat into a powerbomb. Finlay’s spear gets two, only for King to Death Valley Driver him into the corner. There’s the cannonball but Finlay sends him into the buckle. A powerbomb into the Overkill (knee to the face) finishes King at 12:35.

Rating: B-. This gets Finlay back on track after he lost the title yesterday. Finlay is someone who has some skills and I can see the potential in him, but there was something missing to get him to that next level. On the other hand you have King, who is a great monster and can work well against almost anyone. Nice power match here, with Finlay’s powerbomb looking good.

Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Castagnoli jumps him on the ramp to start and takes it to the ring to officially start the beating. Umino gets knocked outside before Castagnoli grabs a crossface to crank away on the neck. Umino fights up and shrugs off some shots, setting up a springboard tornado DDT. Another DDT onto the apron drops Castagnoli and he gets beaten up on the floor.

Back in and a springboard missile dropkick gets two but Castagnoli gorilla presses him off the top. A running clothesline sets up the Swing and Castagnoli grabs the Sharpshooter. That’s broken up and Castagnoli strikes away, only for Umino to hit the Death Riders elbows. Another DDT and another elbow to the head get two on Castagnoli but he blocks the Death Rider. The Riccola Bomb gives Castagnoli two but Umino is back with the Death Rider for the pin at 14:32.

Rating: C+. I’ve seen two matches from Umino now and neither has exactly made me interested. There’s just no spark to him and hearing about Jon Moxley and the Death Riders (yes I know Umino and Moxley have a history) for most of the match didn’t make it much better. Just a match with some good enough moves, but this form of Umino isn’t doing it for me.

AEW International Title/NJPW Never Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Takeshita, with Don Callis, is defending. Ishii’s chops don’t work very well and Takeshita knocks him into the corner, where some forearms eventually have some success. Some kicks to the head wake Ishii up though and he chops away. Ishii’s shots to the face earn him a German suplex though and they’re both down. The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Takeshita two and the Raging Fire gets the same, leaving Takeshita surprised.

The kneeling Tombstone plants Ishii but he’s back with a German suplex into a release German suplex. They trade headbutts from all fours until Takeshita gets the better of a forearm off. Takeshita takes him up top, where Ishii snaps off a super hurricanrana. Takeshita’s brainbuster is shrugged off but he grabs a poisonrana. Another hard forearm into Raging Fire retains the titles at 13:30.

Rating: B-. I’m not big on the “you hit me in the head but I scream and get back up really fast” style and that’s what Ishii does rather often. That’s what they were going for here and it was another nice win for Takeshita, but it was only so entertaining. Takeshita is going to come back to AEW with multiple titles and there is a good chance he’ll hold those for a rather long time to come. That makes sense, as he really is that good most of the time.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. United Empire vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

The titles are vacant coming in and it’s the Great O Khan/Jeff Cobb for the Empire and Tetsuya Naito/Hiromu Takahashi for Los Ingobernables. Tornado rules as well, because having to tag might hinder the Bucks’ art. It’s a brawl to start and the Bucks clear the ring, setting up stereo dives to the floor.

Cobb fights back and is quickly cut off with a double superkick. Back in and the Bucks cut off Cobb and Naito, including a SUCK IT, though the Superkick Party is broken up. Naturally Matt can hit the double northern lights suplex but a tornado DDT into a Time Bomb 1.5 gets two. Cobb starts throwing suplexes and eventually suplexes both Bucks at once but Matt is right back up to team up with Takahashi.

A double superplex drops Cobb but Matt jumps Takahashi, because the Bucks are smart. Destino gets two on Nick with O Khan making the save. The EVP Trigger hits Naito with O Khan making another save, earning himself a superkick party. The Meltzer Driver finishes O Khan to give the Bucks the titles at 13:47.

Rating: C. Well, that was a nice tribute/love letter to the Young Bucks. The story was that they were just put into the title match because they’re rich and famous, and then they dominate/win the match. This felt like the Bucks saying they needed to show how dominant and awesome they were and that’s exactly what we got. You know, in case we haven’t seen that enough in AEW over the years.

NJPW Global Title: Jack Perry vs. Yota Tsuji

Tsuji is defending. Perry takes him into the corner to start but Tsuji takes him down with a faceplant. They’re quickly on the floor with Tsuji being sent into the barricade as Perry takes over. Back in and Perry stomps away, only to get caught with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Another backbreaker gives Tsuji two but Perry ties him up in the Tree of Woe. A basement dropkick sets up a German suplex to give Perry two and they go up top. Tsuji’s super Spanish Fly gets two though and they’re both down. They forearm it out until Perry gets two off a DDT. A low blow sets up an Angle Slam for two but Tsuji hits a spear to retain at 13:12.

Rating: C+. While it’s not as bad as Shota Umino, I’m not sure I get it with Tsuji either. It doesn’t help that he’s completely average size and is using a spear, which is pretty much never a good idea. At least he won clean though and that’s a good thing. Granted I’m not sure how much value there is in beating Perry, who is showing that he isn’t the next big thing every single time he’s out there.

Gabe Kidd vs. Kenny Omega

This is Omega’s first match in over a year after dealing with diverticulitis. They grapple against the ropes to start and then strike it out until Omega knocks him into the corner. Commentary seems to call Tony Khan a “money mark” who took New Japan stars away to start AEW as Omega knocks him down and stomps away. They suplex each other out to the floor for the big crash and Omega is sent into the barricade.

Kidd takes too long setting up some tables though and gets taken own by a slingshot dive. Omega sends him into the barricade and hits a dragon suplex on the floor and Kidd is sent crashing though a table. Kidd is busted open so Omega takes him down with a dive but bangs up his own hip in the process. Some chair shots have Omega in trouble for a change and a suplex puts him through a table.

Omega is busted open as well so some chairs are thrown inside, leaving Kidd to work on the cut. Back in and Omega sends him into the chairs, only for Kidd to do the exact same thing. They trade chair shots to the head and both of them need a breather. Omega wins a strike off but Kidd blasts him with a discus lariat to leave both of them down. Back up and Omega snaps off a hurricanrana, setting up the big flip dive to the floor.

Back in and a Jay Driller gives Omega two and there’s a V Trigger against the ropes. The One Winged Angel doesn’t work though and Kidd grabs an abdominal stretch (remember Omega’s internal issues). That’s broken up so Kidd grabs a piledriver for two. Kidd is back up with a Ganso bomb into a package piledriver for two (Commentary: “GIVE ME A BREAK!” Yep.). A V Trigger into a powerbomb into another V Trigger gets one on Kidd before the One Winged Angel finishes Kidd at 31:49.

Rating: A-. They didn’t bother trying for a match here but rather had a fight, which made the match that much more emotional. Ignoring some of the “…really?” kickouts near the end and I had a great time with this. Kidd felt like a monster who had to be beaten and Omega did everything he could. This is the Omega that feels like a star and while he can only do it for so much longer, it worked here. Best match of the weekend so far.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Ricochet vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Sabre is defending and gets taken out by a dive before the bell. Ricochet hits another dive and a 450 gets two. Sabre ties him up in the ropes though and kicks him in the back so the fight can head outside. A flip dive is caught in a cravate (nice) and Sabre twists the neck. Back in and Sabre starts in on the leg but Ricochet hits a handspring elbow. A springboard clothesline into a moonsault gives Ricochet two but he has to break up Sabre’s choke.

Ricochet Death Valley Drivers him for two, only for Sabre to grab a dragon suplex for the same. Ricochet rolls some suplexes onto the apron and then the floor (that was different) for a double knockdown. Back in and they slap it out from their knees and then their feet. They fight up top until a super Zack Driver gets two, with Ricochet having to bail to the ropes to get out of an armbar.

Ricochet’s Vertigo connects for two and a shooting star press gets the same. A kick to the head sets up another Vertigo for another two but the 630 misses. The Zack Driver gets two so Sabre knocks him down again without much trouble. Sabre ties up the arms and Ricochet gives up at 21:06.

Rating: B+. I liked this a good deal, as it was a clash between a technical master and a high flier, which often works well. Sabre is quite good at what he does and some of the holds he pulls out are insane. Ricochet didn’t feel like the most serious challenger but he more than held up his own in a rather good match.

Post match Sabre puts over Ricochet and says the future of New Japan is the orange of TMDK. Posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. I had a better time with this one than Wrestle Kingdom, though that might be due to recognizing more of the names. The Omega vs. Kidd match is the best part of the weekend and the main event was better than last night’s. It’s not a concept that needs to be a regular thing but I’m sure it will be, even if some of the promotions were more or less tacked on (ROH not making it out of the pre-show was funny). Overall, a good show, but after two straight days of long shows, it’s a bit much to take in all at once.

Results
Momo Watanabe b. Willow Nightingale, Persephone and Athena – Dragon suplex to Athena
Sons Of Texas b. House Of Torture – Swanton to Sho
Taiji Ishimori won the Casino Gauntlet Match – Rollup to Desperado
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi went to a time limit draw
Mercedes Mone b. Mina Shirakawa – Mone Maker
David Finlay b. Brody King – Overkill
Shota Umino b. Claudio Castagnoli – Death Rider
Konosuke Takeshita b. Tomohiro Ishii – Raging Fire
Young Bucks b. Los Ingobernables de Japon and United Empire – Meltzer Driver to O Khan
Yota Tsuji b. Jack Perry – Spear
Kenny Omega b. Gabe Kidd – One Winged Angel
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Ricochet – Double armbar

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Wrestle Kingdom 19
Date: January 4, 2025
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Commentators: Walker Stewart, Chris Charlton

It’s that time again as we have the biggest international wrestling show of the year. The show is always worth a look as the action will be quite good, even if the company might not be as hot as it was in past years. The main event is Zack Sabre Jr. defending the IWGP World Title against Shota Umino so let’s get to it.

Note that I do not follow New Japan closely at all, with Wrestle Kingdom being the only show I watch every year. I know most of the names but I have no idea on storylines or character development. I apologize in advance for any details I miss or get wrong as I’m going entirely off what I see and what commentary tells me.

Pre-Show: New Japan Ranbo

This is basically a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals but in this case the winner gets a World Title shot rather than qualifying for the KOPW Title match. Great O Khan is in at #1 and Josh Barnett is in at #2. They go with the grappling to start (as is Barnett’s custom) and that’s a stalemate until Oleg Boltin is in at #3. With O Khan down and holding his knee, Boltin and Barnett grapple until Hirooki Goto is in at #4 (as the intervals are already getting wacky).

They pair off and the clock speeds way up as Yuji Nagata is in at #5. Nagata and Barnett (they have a history) pair off but Boltin breaks it up. Boltin and Barnett crash out to the floor for our first eliminations and Togi Makabe is in at #6. Makabe chokes O Khan in the corner (I don’t think the chain is legal) and Kenta is in at #7. Kenta knocks Nagata to the apron and kicks him out as Yoshi-Hashi is in at #8.

Kenta and Hashi strike it out with Kenta getting the better of things as Yujiro Takahashi is in at #9. Hashi sends Kenta to the apron but gets tossed out as Toru Yano is in at #10. As tends to be his case, Yano knocks Kenta to the apron and sends Takahashi into him for an elimination, followed by the rollup pin on Takahashi for the double upset. Hiroyoshi TTenzan is in at #11 and strikes away until longtime partner Satoshi Kojima is in at #12.

They beat up Yano but he sends them into each other and pins Tenzan for another surprise elimination. Tomoaki Honma is in at #13 as Makabe keeps kicking out. Sanada is in at #14 (after main eventing last year) and is immediately beaten up by Kojima and Makabe. Sanada kicks Kojima low though and tosses him out as Taichi is in at #15. Taichi and Sanada fight to the floor without being eliminated and it’s Tomohiro Ishii in at #16.

Honma jumps Ishii but gets forearmed out of the air and braibustered for the pin. Alex Zayne is in at #17 to complete the field, giving us a final grouping of O Khan, Goto, Yano Sanada, Taichi, Ishii and Zayn as Makabe has apparently been eliminated. Taichi gets caught trying to kick Sanada low and that’s a DQ, only for Taichi to kick Sanada out anyway.

Yano tries his turnbuckle shot but misses the swing and gets tossed. Ishii is out and we’re down to Zayne, Goto and O Khan. Zayne is sent to the apron and sent out, leaving us with two. O Khan hammers away to start but charges into the GTR, allowing Goto to send him to the apron. A running clothesline gives Goto the win at 34:37.

Rating: B-. Having the stakes being bigger and not having the whole final four advance deal made things better. Goto is a big enough name to earn a title shot and it makes sense to send him forward, so this does feel important. It’s still a nice way to get a bunch of people on the show and this worked as well as it needed to.

The opening video looks at the bigger matches and runs down the card (in order, as usual).

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Intergalactic Jet Setters vs. Ichiban Sweet Boys vs. Catch 2/2 vs. Bullet Club War Dogs

The Jet Setters (Kevin Knight/Kushida) are defending in a ladder match against Robbie Eagles/Kosei Fujita (Sweet Boys), TJP/Francesco Akira (Catch 2/2) and Clark Connors/Driller Mahoney (War Dogs). It’s a brawl to start (of course) with Knight being left in the ring until the Boys bring in the first ladder. The Dogs bring in some chairs to increase the violence before going up, only for Kushida to take out their ladder.

Everyone is on the floor and Knight is knocked out of the air by a flying chair. Something like a running piledriver onto the floor knocks Kushida silly but TJP won’t let Akira be sent through a table. Some people get back inside with Knight setting up a ladder and bridging another inside. Eagles hits a springboard 450 to Connors on the ladder and an electric chair cutter drops Fujita. Some mist blinds Eagles and he gets sent through the bridged ladder for a huge crash.

Knight goes to the top of the ladder and tries a Motor City Machine Guns Skull And Bones, only to pretty much completely miss Maloney for the huge crash. Fujita gets thrown off a ladder and Knight goes up, only to have the ladder shoved over. TJP knocks Maloney off a ladder, leaving Catch 2/2 and the Boys to go up at the same time. The brawl is on until Fujita is left with Akira. Some choking is enough for Fujita to pull down the titles at 13:07.

Rating: B. It’s rare for NJPW to run this kind of a match but it worked rather well. I can go for seeing something like this as a special treat and that is the kind of thing you want to see on a show like Wrestle Kingdom. It was a total car crash match with one big spot after another and that worked out rather well. Good opener, with the fans into what they were seeing.

IWGP Women’s Title: Mayu Iwatani vs. AZM

Iwatani is defending and they slug it out to start. AZM knocks her to the floor and hits a big running dive to take her out. Back in and Iwatani hits a running dropkick against the ropes but AZM catches her on top. A top rope double stomp gets two on Iwatani but she’s right back with a heck of a superkick. Iwatani’s moonsault misses and AZM grabs a Canadian Destroyer. A double underhook Canadian Destroyer gets two but Iwatani gets her feet up to knock her out of the air. They trade German suplexes until Iwatani hits a Tombstone. A moonsault gives Iwatani two and a dragon suplex retains the title at 8:47.

Rating: B. I’m not sure what to say about a match like this as there was very little story given by commentary (though they do seem to have a history) so they were just doing a bunch of moves to each other. That being said, it was quite the action packed match and they were laying their stuff in so it was an easy match to watch with both of them looking rather talented. Good stuff here, even if it didn’t have time to do much.

NJPW TV Title: Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa vs. El Phantasmo vs. Ren Narita

Narita is defending. Cobb and Oiwa trade big shoulders to start with Oiwa actually getting the better of things. An armbar is broken up but Narita is back in for some choking to Oiwa and a kneebar to Cobb. Phantasmo slips out of the Tour Of The Islands but gets knocked off the top onto the other two. Cobb is back up with a big running flip dive onto the other three, followed by a standing moonsault for two on Narita.

A Tower Of Doom plants Phantasmo but Narita is back in with a top rope knee to Cobb for a near fall of his own. Narita’s board is taken away by Phantasmo’s manager Jado, leaving Cobb to plant Phantasmo out of the air. A doctor bomb gets two on Cobb with Narita pulling the referee out at two. Back in and Cobb hits Tour Of The Islands on Narita but Phantasmo makes the save. Phantasmo’s springboard splash pins Narita for the title at 9:59.

Rating: B-. This was another all over the place match with Cobb as a monster, Narita breaking up everything he could and Phantasmo feeling like the star. Oiwa was there as well but didn’t really stand out. It wasn’t as good as some of the other matches but Phantasmo, who is recently back after winning a battle with cancer, winning was a nice moment.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Evil

Lumberjack match and Tanahashi’s career is on the line. They fight over a top wristlock to start until Evil grabs the hair like an evil villain. A quick crossbody staggers Evil but he catches Tanahashi skinning the cat and bites his leg (as you do). Evil sends him through a chair at ringside and Evil’s House Of Torture beats up Tanahashi’s lumberjacks.

Back in and a suplex gives Evil two but Tanahashi goes classic with a dragon screw legwhip. The middle rope flipping splash gives Tanahashi two but the threat of a Sling Blade sends Evil outside. One of the lumberjacks solves that rather quickly and it’s Twist And Shout to drop Evil again. The House Of Torture comes in to beat Tanahashi down and Dick Togo gets in a low blow.

Tanahashi’s friends make the save but Tanahashi misses a charge into an exposed buckle. That’s shrugged off and it’s a dragon suplex into a Sling Blade but Tanahashi crotches him on top. Powder to the eyes blinds Tanahashi and Darkness falls gets two. The Scorpion Deathlock goes on but Evil lets go, setting up an STO….but Tanahashi rolls him up for the pin out of nowhere at 15:07.

Rating: B. The action itself was good enough, but this was all about the storytelling. It’s one of those stories that anyone could understand, as it was light vs. darkness, with good winning in the end. That’s as basic of a story as you can get and it worked well here. I liked this, with Tanahashi overcoming the House Of Torture, who have been annoying every time I’ve seen them.

Post match the brawl is on with the House beating the good guys down. Katsuyori Shibata makes the save though and, with the villains gone, challenges Tanahashi for tomorrow at Wrestle Dynasty. Works for Tanahashi.

AEW International Title/NEVER Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Shingo Takagi

Title for title and Don Callis is here with Takeshita. They trade running shoulders to start with Takeshita missing a charge into the corner to slow him down. Back up and one heck of a forearm drops Takagi and a Vader Bomb gets two. Takagi isn’t having much of a chinlock and they go to the floor where he hits a pop up Death Valley Driver. A superplex into a sliding lariat gets two on Takeshita but he blocks Made In Japan.

Some German suplexes put Takagi down but Takeshita is too banged up to stay with him. A wheelbarrow German suplexes drops Takagi, who pops back up with a heck of a lariat to leave both of them down again. Made In Japan gives Takagi two but Takeshita grazes him with a jumping knee.

Another attempt connects far better for one, followed by the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Takagi is back with Last Of The Dragon but for some reason he doesn’t cover. They trade poisonranas before Takeshita forearms him in the back of the head for another knockdown. Another forearm sets up Raging Fire to make Takeshita a double champion at 12:43.

Rating: B+. This was two hard hitters beating the fire out of each other until one of them couldn’t get up. That’s always something that is going to work and it more than worked here, with Takeshita continuing his rise up the wrestling world. Heck of a fight here, and the best match on the show so far.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Douki vs. El Desperado

Desperado is challenging. They stare each other down to start and Desperado bails out to the floor. A quick switch lets Desperado hit a running flip dive, with his legs slamming into the barricade. They trade forearms on the floor for a bit before getting back in, earning some nice applause. Back in and Desperado plants him own, setting up a quickly broken Texas Cloverleaf. Douki sends him outside and hits a dive off the top, only to land on his arm and COMPLETELY wreck the elbow. The referee immediately stops the match, making Desperado champion at 5:51. I won’t rate it due to the injury but it was starting well.

Post match Desperado says he and Douki will do this again.

IWGP Global Title: Yota Tsuji vs. David Finlay

Finlay, with Gedo, is defending and Tsuji needs to win his first singles title to start realizing his potential. Tsuji knocks him outside to start but Finlay gets away before the dive. Finlay plants him on the floor before hammering away back inside. Tsuji blocks what looked like a Rock Bottom though and hits a stomp to put Finlay down for a breather.

A running hurricanrana sends Finlay outside and there’s the big running flip dive. Back in and a Cactus Clothesline puts both of them on the floor again, allowing Finlay to get in a nice posting. A whip through some chairs has Tsuji in trouble but he beats the count back in, as you probably guessed.

Tsuji manages a suplex into the corner and catches him on top with a kick to the head, leaving Finlay looking a bit dead. Finlay is fine enough to hit three straight Dominators for two but Tsuji is right back up. A missed moonsault lets Finlay grab a powerbomb for two more and we get a double breather.

Tsuji is back up with a spinning top rope double stomp to the back for another near fall and they’re both down again. Finlay cuts him off with a cutter and a brainbuster onto the knee gets two. The Stundog Millionaire into a spear gives Tsuji two and frustration is setting in. They trade shots to the face but Finlay knees him in the face for two more. Tsuji hits his own knee, setting up a powerbomb into another spear for the pin and the title at 19:35.

Rating: B-. It was good, but I’m not sure if it was as big of a moment as commentary tried to make it seem. Maybe I’m missing something here but it felt like just kind of a match rather than a big showdown or a moment. There is definitely potential in Tsuji, though I’m not sure if he’s going to be the next big thing around here. Maybe that’s due to me being sick of the spear, but this never got to that next level.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi

This is billed as fifteen years in the making, with Takahashi being said to have saved Naito’s career but it’s apparently their first ever match. Takahashi comes out in a costume that is…we’ll go with big and weir and I won’t try to go further than that. Takahashi seems to show some disrespect to start and the fans don’t like that as the bell rings.

They go with the grappling to start and Naito takes him down for a basement dropkick. Naito ties up the neck as we hear about his terrible eye issues until Takahashi makes the ropes for the break. Back up and a clothesline sets up Takahashi’s running basement dropkick for two more. Naito picks up the pace and armdrags him into another basement dropkick, meaning it’s time to pose.

Takahashi grabs an AA for two and there’s a German suplex to put Naito down again. Naito’s DDT is blocked so Takahashi can take him down but Naito grabs a quick Destino. Another Destino gets two but Takahashi counters a third. Back up and Naito hammers away on the neck, only to get tied up with a cradle for two. Takahashi hits his own Destino, setting up Time Bomb II for two. Back up and Naito hits his own Destino for two more but Takahashi grabs the leg to cut him off. One more Destino finishes Takahashi at 17:09.

Rating: B. This is a match where there is definitely a major backstory that I haven’t seen but commentary did a great job of explaining why I should care about what is going on. It’s a good sign when I can get the gist of what they’re going for without having seen any of their history and they pulled it off here. They seemed to be going for a match of respect here, which is a hard one to pull off. Nice stuff here, with what felt like a long history culminating with a good match.

Post match, Takahashi does show respect.

We recap the main event. Zack Sabre Jr. wants to become the first foreigner to walk in and out of Wrestle Kingdom as champion while Umino just wants to be champion. This doesn’t exactly feel like the hottest main event.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino

Sabre is defending and has his TMDK stable with him. Feeling out process to start and they fight over wrist control with neither getting anywhere. Umino grabs some full nelsons and Sabre gets annoyed that he can’t stay away. A running dropkick puts Sabre down and we finally have someone taking over. Some elbows have Sabre down as commentary points out how many times Umino has beaten Sabre, despite never winning a title or major tournament.

That’s a story that makes sense and it was summed up rather quickly there. Sabre starts in on the arm with some cranking and stomping as we hear about Sabre’s training in how to hurt people. An abdominal stretch lets Sabre switch things up a bit as he’s starting to pick Umino apart. Umino gets out and grabs a PerfectPlex for two, setting up a slingshot DDT onto the apron to knock Sabre silly.

Back up and Umino sends him into the barricade, followed by another dropkick. A hanging DDT off the barricade drops Sabre hard, setting up a top rope dropkick to the side of the head back inside. Sabre dropkicks him right back though and we get a double breather. Umino sits up and wants some kicks to the back, with Sabre being glad to oblige. Sabre starts in on the arm before tying both of them up to make it much worse. The double arm crank is blocked so Sabre switches to a triangle choke but Umino powers out for another double down.

Back up and Sabre hits a heck of a clothesline, only to walk into a reverse Twist And Shout. They trade uppercuts, with Umino hitting one to really rock Sabre. An exchange of kicks goes to Sabre but Umino is back with a springboard tornado DDT. The Zack Driver gives Sabre two and they’re both down again. Umino is back with a lifting DDT for two and a spinning double arm DDT gets the same.

Sabre starts going after the ankle with a variety of holds, including something like a reverse figure four. The rope is finally reached and Umino fights up with some not so great forearms. Another DDT works a bit better as Umino keeps trying to fire up and get the fans behind him. A super Zack Driver is blocked and Umino grabs a super Death Rider to leave both of them down.

Umino stomps away and shoves the referee, which the fans don’t like. Some more stomps keep Sabre down until he drops Umino and kicks away. Another exchange of strikes puts Umino down but he reverses another ankle lock. The ankle gives out though and another Zack Driver gets another two. A Gotch Style piledriver and a Sabre Driver (really creative names there champ) retains at 43:44.

Rating: C+. So the story of the match was Umino needed to step up and finally claim the title to become a star and he just didn’t. The fans never quite seemed to get into him and I only bought Sabre as being somewhat in danger. While not a bad match, it doesn’t feel like a main event of the biggest show of the year. It felt like a match to set up a big moment later, perhaps next year, and that’s only so exciting. Cut off ten to fifteen minutes and this is MUCH better.

Post match Sabre says he’ll be waiting for Umino again and he’ll win tomorrow in another main event. Happy New Year, and it will be the year of TMDK.

Overall Rating: B. This is a show where the action was quite good and nothing on the card is anything close to bad, but there was nothing on this show that felt like it was a must see match. I can go with a collection of good matches, but I could also go with some kind of a special moment of something that makes me want to see what is next. Tsuji winning feels like the start of a long term project and maybe we get some kind of torch passing moment next year, but that doesn’t leave much on this show. I certainly didn’t dislike the show, though it’s definitely not something that makes me think that NJPW is must see right now.

Results
Hirooki Goto won the New Japan Ranbo last eliminating Great O Khan
Ichiban Sweet Boys b. Intergalactic Jet Setters, Catch 2/2 and Bullet Club War Dogs – Fujita pulled down the titles
Mayu Iwatani b. AZM – Dragon suplex
El Phantasmo b. Jeff Cobb, Ryohei Oiwa and Ren Narita – Springboard splash to Narita
Hiroshi Tanahashi b. Evil – Small package
Konosuke Takeshita b. Shingo Takagi – Raging Fire
El Desperado b. Douki via referee stoppage
Yota Tsuji b. David Finlay – Spear
Tetsuya Naito b. Hiromu Takahashi – Destino

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Forbidden Door 2024
Date: June 30, 2024
Location: UBS Arena, Elmont, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, Taz

It’s back to the pay per view schedule with one of the biggest shows AEW presents every year. This is built around the international guest stars, including several stars from New Japan and CMLL. The main event will see Swerve Strickland defending the World Title against Will Ospreay in a pretty big showdown. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kyle Fletcher vs. Serpentico

Bonus match (on a card that already has 14 matches). Fletcher runs him over to start and poses a bit before going after the mask. The comeback is cut off with another kick to the face, followed by a running kick to the back. The piledriver plants Serpentico but Fletcher would rather put him on the ropes. An El Generico brainbuster in the corner finishes for Fletcher at 3:12.

Rating: C-. Total squash as I guess Fletcher gets some heat back after losing the ROH TV Title in Mexico on Friday. The match was nothing to see as Serpentico gets wrecked again, but it also didn’t make me any more interested in Fletcher. He does well enough in the ring, but there is little about him that stands out in any significant way.

Zero Hour: Private Party vs. House Of Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong

O’Reilly and Black go to the mat to start before trading shots to the ribs. Ishii comes back in to a nice reaction and gets to chop it out with King. Kidd tags himself in and Strong adds a running shot to the face. Quen tags himself in as the rapid fire tags continue, only to be sent outside. Kidd comes back in to chop away (and bark) at O’Reilly, who gets caught in the corner for an exchange of chops from Kidd and Strong.

The team argues over who gets to chop him so it’s off to Ishii for a double clothesline. The House kicks Ishii down before everything breaks down. Quen hits a Trouble In Paradise on Black, who is back with a jumping knee to the face. Kidd brainbusters Ishii but gets chopped by King. Private Party hit stereo running flip dives before Kassidy rolls King up, with tights, for two, only to get Ganso Bombed for the pin at 8:35.

Rating: B-. This was the wild match that you would have been expecting and that’s not a bad thing. There is something to be said about getting a bunch of people in the ring and letting them fly all over the place to go nuts, which is what we got here. Good choice to fire the fans up, as this kind of thing almost always tends to be. The House winning is the right choice too as they’re the bigger of the two regular AEW teams.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano vs. Momo Watanabe/Kris Statlander

Stokely Hathaway is here with Watanabe and Statlander. Nakano takes Statlander down to start and hits a quick dropkick before it’s off to Nightingale. That means Statlander runs off to Watanabe, who is quickly dropkicked down for two. Watanabe and Nakano slug it out until Nakano hits a heck of a superkick. A Hathaway distraction slows things down though and Statlander gets in a belly to back suplex.

Statlander’s delayed vertical suplex gets two and Watanabe hits a hard shot to the back of the head. Nakano finally manages a quick shot and brings Nightingale back in to beat up Statlander. That lasts for all of ten seconds before the threat of the Pounce means it’s back to Watanabe. A hard spinebuster gives Nightingale two but Statlander offers a distraction, allowing Watanabe to get in a kick to the head.

Nightingale is back up with a dropkick, only for Nakano to miss a high crossbody. Nakano’s German suplex gets two on Statlander and a tiger suplex plants her again. That leaves Nightingale to hit a super Death Valley Driver for two on Watanabe, followed by a heck of a Pounce. Nakano comes back in and grabs a bridging German suplex to pin Watanabe at 10:23.

Rating: B-. Another good one here, though a middle rope Death Valley Driver not being the finish is a bit ridiculous, especially when the finish came a minute later. Either way, this was more about teasing Statlander vs. Nightingale, which does feel like a personal feud and a big rivalry. Throw in the fans loving Nightingale and things are even bigger.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya

Toni Storm and Harley Cameron are here too. May sends her into the corner to start and hits some running uppercuts, setting up a rather spinning side slam for two. A Stratusphere plants Saraya again and a missile dropkick gets two more. The hip attack takes too long though and they fight up to the top. May gets sent crashing out to the floor, leaving Saraya to do some jumping jacks until she gets back in.

A double knockdown gives them a breather and they slug it out from their knees. May sends her into the corner for the running hip attack but Storm has to cut off Cameron. Saraya’s superkick into the Rampaige gets two but the Scorpion Crosslock is broken up. Instead Saraya rams her face first into the mat over and over but a suplex is countered into a bridging rollup to give May the pin at 8:28.

Rating: C+. That was the only way this should have gone as May winning the whole tournament to set up a title match against Storm at All In is not the worst idea. At the same time, May gets a nice boost here and beats another former champion in Saraya. Good enough match here, though I’m not sure why it needed to be on this show.

Zero Hour: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Mistico/Lucha Bros

Fenix and Titan start things off with Fenix knocking him down and springboarding around, setting up a double flip into a standoff. The fans greatly approve as it’s off to Penta vs. Tsuji, with the latter blocking Cero Miedo. Penta isn’t having that and sends him into the corner for the running dropkick, only to be stomped face first onto the mat. Back up and they chop it out before trading shots to the face.

The Fear Factor is broken up so Penta kicks him to the floor instead. It’s off to Mistico to face Takahashi and the fans greatly approve again. An early mask tear attempt is blocked so Mistico sends him outside instead. Tsuji and Titan come in to stomp away but Mistico breaks that up and hits a dive onto Takahashi. Back in and the Bros strike away, setting up Mistico’s Swanton for two on Takahashi. Titan and Tsuji send the Bros outside for dives, followed by a running sunset bomb from Takahashi to send Mistico onto the floor.

Back in and Mistico fights off all three of them at once, allowing the tag back to Penta. Everything breaks down and Fenix’s assisted splash off of Penta’s shoulders gets two on Titan. We hit the parade of big knockdowns until Titan tornado DDT’s Fenix into a superkick for the six way knockdown. Mistico hits the big dive to the floor and the spike Fear Factor hits Takahashi, who rolls out to the floor. Back in and La Mistica finishes Titan at 12:05.

Rating: B. I’m not sure why this wasn’t on the main show, or maybe just make this the only Kickoff Show match. It had the action, but having Mistico, a CMLL star, and the Lucha Bros, best known as AAA guys, on the same show is a big deal that you do not see very often. Almost like it would be….forbidden.

The opening video looks at the major matches and how big this night really is.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero

MJF is of course the big hometown boy and gets a hero’s welcome, even doing a bit of crowd surfing. Hechicero takes him to the mat to start for a quickly broken cross armbreaker. Back up and MJF shakes his hand, which allows for a kick to the ribs and a “yeah of course I did” shrug.

MJF flips (yes flips) away into a double eye poke ala Roddy Piper. They head outside with MJF setting him in a chair and hitting a running boot to the face. Back in and Hechicero snaps the arm across the top rope to take over and we hit the armbar. MJF fights up but the Heatseeker is blocked, allowing Hechicero to plant him down for two. A running knee in the corner connects for Hechicero and the fans are NOT happy.

MJF manages a quick clothesline before spinning around into a piledriver for a needed breather. Hechicero is right back up with a springboard spinning dropkick before grabbing the cross armbreaker. That’s broken up as well so MJF tries the Salt Of The Earth, which is reversed into a double arm crank with Hechicero’s legs. The ropes are reached for the break so MJF hammers away in the corner and even bites the mask. A Canadian Destroyer into the brainbuster gives MJF the pin at 9:48.

Rating: B-. The match could have been worse, but it still feels like quite the waste of MJF in a spot where he could have been doing something more important. At the same time, it made Hechicero look great all over again, as he has more than enough talent to be a star anywhere. That kind of thing will always work, though I’m not sure if it was the best idea in this spot.

We get a rather praise-heavy Young Bucks video (with Kenny Omega’s face blurred in a nice touch) which mocks the Acclaimed and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Elite vs. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Caster’s rap mocks President Biden at the debate and Okada’s use of the word b****. Okada and Caster start things off but Okada decks Tanahashi off the apron, meaning it’s time for a historic standoff. Instead of doing anything though, it’s off to Matt, who gets taken down with a middle rope crossbody into some air guitar. Bowens comes in to take Matt into the corner, where some running elbows put him in even more trouble. Nick is brought in and it’s a double Scissor Me Timbers for a nasty crash.

Back up and Okada gets in a cheap shot to take over on Caster, with Matt putting on the headphones so Okada can dance. Caster gets caught in a camel clutch so Nick can run the ropes and then kiss his brother on the cheek. The slow beating continues in the corner as we get a few CM PUNK chants. That turns into a HE GOT FIRED chant as Caster knocks Matt off the top and hits a high crossbody.

Okada comes in and gets dropped as well, allowing the tag off to Bowens for the house cleaning. Okada gets dropped with a right hand and a spinning torture rack slam gets two on Matt. Bowens is taken down as well though and it’s a double tag to bring in Okada and Tanahashi. The dragon screw legwhip sets up the Texas Cloverleaf on Okada but the Bucks make the save.

Everything breaks down and the Rainmaker is countered into the Arrival into the Mic Drop. The High Fly Flow is broken up though and the rather delayed version hits raised knees. A superkick puts Tanahashi down again and the Bucks hit stereo slingshot dives to take the Acclaimed down on the floor. Okada hits his top rope elbow but the Rainmaker is countered into a small package for two. Back up and the Rainmaker finishes Tanahashi at 13:02.

Rating: C+. Tanahashi was trying here but those knees are just not holding him up any longer. Other than that, it was about what you would expect with the Bucks and the Acclaimed, which was only going to go so far. We still have the title match to come between the teams and that probably should have been here, but instead we get this feud extended even further.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

McGuinness is already on Danielson, as you knew he would be. Danielson goes after the arm to start before tying up Takagi’s leg. That’s broken up in the ropes so Danielson takes him down again and grabs a surfboard. As usual, that doesn’t last long and it’s Takagi dropping him down hard. A backsplash gives Takagi two as McGuinness compares Danielson to Mozart and Napoleon, both of whom were FAR more successful.

Danielson gets knocked out of the corner but manages to send Takagi outside. The suicide dive doesn’t quite work though and Takagi catches him with a hanging fisherman’s neckbreaker,. Danielson lands on his head, because Danielson, and we pause for the medics to check on him. Thankfully he gets back up and beats the count back in, where Takagi drops a knee to the back of the head. Danielson fights up and they trade shots to the face until Takagi hits a clothesline.

Another kick to the head gives Danielson a breather and he goes up top. Takagi is right there with him, so Danielson grabs a belly to back superplex for the big double knockdown. Danielson’s triangle choke is muscled up into a powerslam and they’re both down again. Back up and Takagi superplexes him into a heck of a sliding lariat for two.

Made In Japan is broken up but Danielson misses a charge into the corner. Now Made In Japan can connect for two more, with McGuinness being left speechless. Danielson can barely get up so Takagi hits a running shot to the side of the head. Another sliding lariat is loaded up but Danielson reverses into a Fujiwara armbar.

That’s switched into the LeBell Lock but Takagi slips out. A reverse fisherman’s suplex puts Takagi down and the running knee gives Danielson two. Danielson stomps away at the head and grabs a triangle choke but Takagi powers up. That doesn’t work though as Danielson pulls him into a Disarm-Her for the referee stoppage at 19:58.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it’s another awesome Danielson match. At some point he needs to win a few of these things and this was a goo example of how to make it work. Rather awesome match here and Danielson gets to move on towards what could be a rather deep run in the whole thing.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Mina Shirakawa. The bigger story though is the battle over Mariah May, as both of them want her too.

Women’s Title: Mina Shirakawa vs. Toni Storm

Storm is defending and Mariah May is in a neutral corner. As you might expect, Storm is dressed as the Statue Of Liberty. May refuses to pick before the match so they circle each other instead. Shirakawa stops to dance and gets a hip attack to the face for her efforts. That just earns her more dancing before Shirakawa drops Storm knees first onto the mat. The Figure Four around the post goes on and McGuinness thinks May needs a hug. Back in and a dropkick to the leg keeps Storm in trouble but she’s back with a fisherman’s suplex for two.

There’s the running hip attack to put Shirakawa on the floor but another one only hits the steps. Shirakawa uses the breather to hit a big dive, only to have Storm catch her with a super chokebomb back inside. Storm misses a charge though and Shirakawa grabs the Figure Four to stay on the bad leg. They sit up and slap it out until Storm manages to escape.

Back up and they slug it out with Shirakawa getting the better of things and going up top. Storm is right there for another forearm off until Shirakawa hits a super DDT for two more. Shirakawa’s Glamorous Driver is broken up and Storm snaps off a release German suplex. Another hip attack gives Storm another two but Shirakawa is right back with the Glamorous Driver for her own near fall. Storm gets in a quick rollup for two, followed by Storm Zero to retain at 11:38.

Rating: B. Storm continues to feel it in these big pay per view matches, but May was more or less just window dressing. That’s normally a good thing, but she’s the entire point of the story in the first place. The match was good, though it was hard to believe that Shirakawa was going to be the one to end Storm’s reign.

Post match Storm and May look at each other and Shirakawa wants a handshake. Respect is shown and we get the big hug and we get the three way kiss. So May’s choice of a side was to not pick a side. Got it.

We recap Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy.  Sabre isn’t over Cassidy pinning him last year and Cassidy is having a rough time but is ready to fight again.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

They go technical to start with Cassidy not being able to get very far with some arm cranking. Instead Cassidy bails out to the floor for a breather before rolling back inside, with Sabre holding the ropes open. Back in and they fight over a cross arm choke until Cassidy ties him up on the mat.

That’s broken up as well so they trade rollups for two each. Sabre ties him up in a headscissors but Cassidy makes it over to the ropes rather quickly. Sabre does his own slow kicks but Cassidy takes out the knee to put him down for a change. Cassidy twists on the leg outside and again inside, setting up a top rope DDT for a rather near fall.

Sabre is right back with a kick to the arm and some finger snapping to put Cassidy down. The double arm crank goes on but Cassidy escapes and goes back to the leg. The Texas Cloverleaf is broken up so Cassidy hits the Beach Break for two instead. Back up and the Orange Punch is blocked so Sabre pulls him back into the European Clutch for two. Cassidy tries the Mouse Trap but Sabre reverses into a….well he tied up all four of Cassidy’s limbs at the same time with Cassidy having to give up at 16:20.

Rating: B. I’m still not sure I get why Cassidy was so upset coming into this one but he was holding his own out there well enough, only to get tied up by Sabre. It was a good back and forth match, with Sabre being able to do things in there that no one else can make work. Cassidy needs something new though, and I’m not sure what that is going to be coming off this loss.

Post match Sabre actually gives him the sunglasses back.

We recap the Learning Tree vs. Samoa Joe and company. Joe and company are sick of Chris Jericho and want a fight, with Jericho bringing in Jeff Cobb to replace the injured Bryan Keith.

Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe/Hook/Katsuyori Shibata

Jericho is sure the fans don’t really want him to retire as he starts with Shibata. Before that goes anywhere though, it’s already off to Bill to face Shibata instead (third time tonight we’ve seen the “heel tags out instead of fighting” sequence). Chopping ensues with neither being able to get the better of things so it’s off to Cobb vs. Joe for the hoss showdown.

Cobb takes over by powering Joe into the corner and Jericho comes in to rake the eyes. Cobb comes back in and Joe gets the better of things for a change, allowing the tag off to Hook. Jericho chokes him on the ropes to cut him off and Cobb adds a standing moonsault. Hook manages to fight back and brings Shibata back in, with the good guys taking over on Cobb in the corner.

Jericho comes back in to take over on Shibata as everything breaks down. Shibata gets posted and Hook goes up top for an ax handle to Bill. The referee gets distracted though and Jericho hits Shibata low, setting up the Walls. That’s broken up so Cobb comes back in for the Tour of the Islands, only to have Hook t-bone him. The Codebreaker gives Jericho two on Hook but Hook comes back up with his own Judas Effect for the pin at 13:38.

Rating: C+. Hook gets a nice rub off the ending but this was the least interesting match n the card and the match didn’t make things much better. While the ending would suggest something of a downgrade for Jericho and the Learning Tree, that doesn’t seem to be the most likely outcome. Perfectly fine match, but it could have been on any AEW TV show instead.

TNT Title: Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Ladder match for the vacant title. Takeshita drops Perry to start and everyone else goes after ladders. With that not working, the fight heads outside instead with Briscoe grabbing various toys. Perry goes up a ladder but Rush makes the fast save. A ladder is thrown outside and almost hits Briscoe, leaving Rush to go up the ladder for a change. Phantasmo goes up but Martin makes the save and climbs as well.

That’s broken up but Martin dives onto Phantasm on the way down. Back up and Takeshita brainbusters Martin onto the side of the ladder, only for Briscoe to come in with the ladder around the neck. Briscoe grabs a chair and hits a step up flip dive onto a ladder onto Takeshita on the floor for the big crash. Perry goes up but Phantasmo walks across a bridged ladder to cut him off on top.

Martin gets taken down and bangs up his leg, leaving Perry to set up a table. Briscoe and Takeshita brawl on the floor until Rush dives onto the latter. That leaves Briscoe to go up a ladder for a splash but he lands on his feet, instead hitting a forearm on Perry on the table, which doesn’t break (similar to how Adam Copeland broke his leg).

Back in and Takeshita powerbombs Rush onto a ladder before pulling Phantasmo into a knee to the face. One heck of a Blue Thunder Bomb puts Phantasmo through the tables but Briscoe cuts off the climb attempt. Briscoe plants Takeshita onto the ladder and goes up, only to have Perry breaks up Briscoe’s climb. Perry beats on Briscoe with the chair and then wins the title at 16:48.

Rating: B-. That was a ladder match alright. Looked like it had about six people, some ladders, a chair and some tables too. There really isn’t much else to say about this, as it featured pretty much exactly what you would expect and had the most likely winner getting the title in the end. That’s pretty much exactly what was expected the second the match was announced and while it was ok enough, it was hardly thrilling.

We recap Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer, which is winner take all for the TBS Title and the New Japan Strong Women’s Title respectfully.

TBS Title/NJPW Strong Women’s Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer

Title for title. We get the referee’s instructions and Vaquer headbutts her to start. They trade rollups for two each until Vaquer grabs a wristlock and hits a very springboardy wristdrag. Mone gets in a quick breather and hits a Meteora for two. Vaquer is right back up with a shot of her own but Mone grabs Two Amigos, with Vaquer countering the third. Vaquer starts in on the leg and ties her legs around Mone’s head for some rams into the mat to wake the crowd up.

Mone fights up again and knocks her into the corner for the running knees and a springboard DDT gets two. The Mone Maker is countered into a DDT from Vaquer and she drops a leg for two more. Another shot from Mone leaves them both down so it’s a double nip up for the forearm exchange. Vaquer grabs a crossface but Mone reverses into a Bank Statement. That’s broken up as well, with the fans mostly cheering for Vaquer now.

Some knees to the ribs put Mone down but Vaquer can’t follow up. The fans give us a F*** THE CELTICS (as in Mone’s hometown team) chant as Mone goes up, only to dive into raised boots. Vaquer dragon screws her into the corner as the fans move on to the Red Sox. Mone’s crossface is countered, as is the Mone Maker, only to Mone pull her into the crossface for the tap at 16:47.

Rating: B-. This is where the Forbidden Door concept stops working for me. The action was fine enough, but it was really hard to get interested in a match between Mone, who has only wrestled here a handful of times, and Vaquer, who has had one short match in the promotion. It didn’t feel like a feud or a rivalry, but rather two people who don’t have a history around here having a match. It was good, but I had no attachment to either of them and it kept me from getting into this one.

Post match Mone celebrates….and Britt Baker returns to a hero’s welcome.

We recap Jon Moxley defending the IWGP World Title against Tetsuya Naito. Moxley took the title from him a few months ago and it’s time for the rematch.

Jim Ross is back for the last two matches.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley is defending. They slug it out to start with Moxley going after the knee to take Naito into the corner. Some corner clotheslines have Naito in more trouble and they head outside with Moxley dropping him onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Naito spits in his face so Moxley slaps him down for two. A piledriver gives Moxley two more and he puts Naito on top for a rake to the back.

Naito slips between the legs though and shoves Moxley down to the floor for the big crash. They go outside with Naito grabbing a piece of the barricade to beat on Moxley, sending JR into a hilarious frenzy about that not being tranquilo. Back in and Naito has to fight out of a Figure Four, turning it into a small package for two. Moxley’s Death Rider attempt is countered into a springboard tornado DDT for two more and they’re both down.

Moxley gets up and tries a sleeper, only to be reversed into Destino for…no cover, as Naito tries it again but gets reversed into a Death Rider. They slug it out again until Moxley hits a heck of a lariat into the Death Rider for two. With nothing else working, Moxley grabs a chair, which is quickly taken away by the referee. Destino and the Death Rider are both blocked, only for Destino to to give Naito the pin and the title back at 16:41.

Rating: B-. Much like the previous match, this was a feud that has been taking place elsewhere and the match was only taking place here because it had to. Naito getting the title match is a good thing, if nothing else to get it away from AEW, which doesn’t need another title floating around. The match was good and it feels like a big deal when Moxley loses in AEW, but it wasn’t overly interesting.

We recap the AEW World Title with Swerve Strickland defending against Will Ospreay. Strickland is the reigning champion but Ospreay is the hot new star so it might be time for a changing of the guard.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is challenging and his International Title isn’t on the line. They fight over a lockup to start before both of them flip out of hurricanrana attempts. Missed kicks to the head leave us with a standoff and the fans are WAY into this. Swerve kicks away but Ospreay chops him into the corner to cut that off. They head outside with Ospreay striking away, only to get caught with the middle rope elbow to the back of the head back inside. Swerve slows things down and chops away as Prince Nana is a bit worried.

They go outside again and Swerve loads up something on the barricade, only to be hurricanranaed back down. Back in and Swerve manages a short armscissors but Ospreay slips out. Swerve hammers away but Ospreay gets up and they forearm it out. The Hidden Blade and House Call both miss, with Ospreay grabbing a Styles Clash for two. The Oscutter is countered into the Swerve Stomp as we cut to Daniel Garcia watching in a sky box.

They go up top again with Strickland grabbing something like a super Angle Slam for the big crash and a near fall. Swerve takes it to the apron, where the Oscutter misses, sending Ospreay crashing onto the apron. The Swerve Stomp is loaded up but Ospreay rolls away before it can launch, leaving Swerve to hit the Stomp onto a standing Ospreay against (not through) the announcers’ table.

A piledriver onto the barricade (geez) rocks Ospreay again and the JML Driver gets two back inside. Another Swerve Stomp takes too long and Swerve gets crotched, setting up a springboard Oscutter for a very near fall. The Hidden Blade is blocked and the Oscutter is as well, leaving Swerve to go after the arm. That’s broken up and now the Oscutter connects, setting up the Storm Breaker for two. Ospreay scores with a headbutt but the Tiger Driver 91 is countered into a cradle to give Swerve two of his own.

The Hidden Blade connects for Swerve but he misses a Swerve Stomp. The referee gets hit by another Hidden Blade, followed by another to Swerve….and Don Callis is here. Nana won’t let Callis use a screwdriver so Ospreay goes after him, only to let him go. Back in and the House Call into the Swerve Stomp gets two more with a second referee. Swerve snaps the arm and another House Call (that looked great) gets a VERY near fall. Another House Call sets up a JML Driver to retain the title at 27:04.

Rating: A-. This was pretty easily the best match on the show and I might even be underrating a bit. They beat the living daylights out of each other but took their time to get there, with Swerve getting to show just how awesome he can be. Swerve needed a big win like this and even Callis being around didn’t bring it down. Awesome stuff here and a heck of a main event.

Medics check on Ospreay and Swerve shows respect to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event pulled it up a lot and there is nothing really bad on the show, but this is absolutely not my show and it never has been. The amount of matches and the parade of guest stars isn’t something that draws me in, as it feels more like Tony Khan getting to run loose in a candy store and do a show he finds fun rather than something for everyone else. As usual, the wrestling is more than good enough to hold up, but you could pretty easily chop off almost all of the pre-show and not lose anything.

Results
Kyle Fletcher b. Serpentico – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
House Of Black b. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly, Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong and Private Party – Ganso Bomb to Kassidy
Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano b. Momo Watanabe/Kris Statlander – Bridging German suplex to Watanabe
Mariah May b. Saraya – Bridging German suplex
Lucha Bros/Mistico b. Los Ingobernables de Japon – La Mistica to Titan
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Hechicero – Brainbuster
Elite b. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi – Rainmaker to Tanahashi
Bryan Danielson b. Shingo Takagi via referee stoppage
Toni Storm b. Mina Shirakawa – Storm Zero
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Orange Cassidy – Arm and leg crank
Hook/Samoa Joe/Katsuyori Shibata b. Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb – Judas Effect to Jericho
Jack Perry won the TNT Title Ladder Match
Mercedes Mone b. Stephanie Vaquer – Bank Statement
Tetsuya Naito b. Jon Moxley – Destino
Swerve Strickland b. Will Ospreay – JML Driver

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It’s that time again as we have the show built around the idea of gust stars from a variety of other promotions. You get to wrestlers from around the world coming in to compete against the stars of AEW, which can make for some rather interesting situations. The buildup to the show is not often the strongest but you can see one heck of a night of action. That should be the case again so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander/Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano

This, along with the other two Zero Hour matches, were not important enough to be announced on Dynamite but rather a few hours later on Twitter. I’m not sure I get the thinking, but it isn’t exactly making me interested in what we’ll be seeing here. In this case, Statlander vs. Nightingale is the big draw, as they are already set to face off in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament.

I’ll go with Statlander and Watanabe winning here to give a bit of doubt about Nightingale being able to make it to the finals of the tournament. That should make for a good match here, but Watanabe and Nakano are people who have not been around AEW very much over the years. That doesn’t exactly make for a big time match, but that is kind of the point in having the match on the Zero Hour show.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya

It’s a little weird to have May on the show when she already has a major role in another, bigger match on the card. For now though, we could be in for a nice match as either of them going forward could be an interesting way to go. Both of them could make for an a solid choice for the next round, though there is some logic that comes into play here which should determine the winner.

At the end of the day, May being involved in the Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa match is a lot more important and there is pretty much no reason for her to go into that spot as a loser. May going over here makes a lot more sense and while there is something to the idea of Saraya going on towards a title shot in London, it isn’t the best option that they have available here.

Zero Hour: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Mistico/Lucha Bros

The big draw here is that Mistico and the Bros have never teamed together before. That isn’t the biggest draw in the world but it is certainly a cool enough moment and better than nothing. In other words, this feels like an excuse to get Mistico onto the show and that is not a bad idea. The match itself is only so important here, but that is often the case on Zero Hour.

There is pretty much no reason for Mistico and the Bros to lose here as Mistico can do his stuff and pop the crowd. There are some talented people in Los Ingobernables but it feels like they are here for the sake of making Mistico look that much bigger. It’s not a bad idea either, so hopefully they at least have an entertaining match on the way to the main show proper.

Zero Hour: House Of Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabriel Kidd/Roderick Strong vs. Private Party

Yes there is a fourth match on this show, which was added during this week’s Collision. This feels like little more than a way to get a bunch more people onto the card, which is often not the most thrilling way to go. In this case we do have some big names who probably should have been on the show, but that doesn’t exactly make for the most exciting match possible.

I’ll take the House Of Black here, as they’re the biggest of the two regular teams (at least in AEW) and it makes the most sense to give them the win. This is going to be the insane match with everyone going nuts all over the place and trying to get in as much as they can, which isn’t going to be easy given how many people are involved. Odds are it should be fun though and that’s what you want out of a match like this one.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

We’ll start the main card here as Sabre wants revenge on Cassidy for beating him at last year’s show in a four way match. The other idea is that Cassidy isn’t good enough to beat Sabre on his own and is going to need some kind of special trick to pull it off. I’m not sure what that is going to be, but then again that’s kinds of the point of watching the match in the first place.

As much as I want to take Sabre here, it feels like a situation where Cassidy is coming in as the huge underdog but manages to pull it off somehow anyway, as tends to be his custom. It might not be the most thrilling way to go but that has never really stopped AEW with Cassidy before. It’s always fun to see whatever Sabre can do to torment someone else so we should be in for a good one here with Cassidy winning.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero

This is a bit early for a match involving someone as big as MJF but it isn’t like AEW has treated it like anything important. For the second year in a row, MJF’s Forbidden Door match feels like it was thrown on for the sake of giving him something to do and I do not get the thinking behind that move. It’s MJF’s first pay per view match since December and he’s more or less an after thought. That’s quite the odd way to go, but at least it’s an easy pick.

Save for some wacky interference, there is no reason for Hechicero to win here so we’ll take MJF in what should be an easy one. MJF will probably get in some trouble here but then wind up winning anyway, because there is pretty much no reason for Hechicero, who is probably not sticking around, to beat one of the biggest stars in the company. I’m still not sure I get the thinking here, but MJF wins.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

The roller coaster that is the last full time year of Danielson’s career continues and that means we have another match against a hard hitter. That is kind of his trademark at this point and in this case he actually has a better chance to pull it off. It’s quite the way to go for a first round match in a #1 contenders tournament, but Danielson has a tendency to go a bit nuts anyway.

While Danielson might not have the best win/loss record, there is no reason to believe he goes down here. Takagi is another guy who isn’t likely to be around for the long term, which would likely include another match in the tournament. That leaves Danielson to win a heck of a fight, which isn’t something you get to say very often in AEW but it makes all the sense in the world here.

Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe/Hook/Katsuyori Shibata

Cobb is substituting for an injured Bryan Keith as Jericho’s latest weird character gets a pay per view match. The good thing about Jericho being in the match is that he can’t talk, which would be about as bad as it could get around here. Joe vs. Cobb is the hoss fight fans would want to see while the rest…well they’re all involved as well, no matter how odd it might be.

I’ll take the Learning Tree and Cobb to win here, as it seems like we’re going to be seeing Jericho do his thing for a long time to come, no matter how much of a mess it might be. That doesn’t go well if he loses his big match as part of the team, so odds are Cobb pins Shibata to get the win, giving Jericho something else to talk about. The match itself should be ok, but egads this has been a rough sit for a good while now.

Elite vs. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tanahashi is replacing Billy Gunn for the sake of it’s Forbidden Door and therefore Tanahashi has to be on the show. Much like the Learning Tree match, the good thing here is that if the Bucks are in the match, they can’t be talking (in theory at least) and that should make things a bit less annoying. This feels like a match that should be on Dynamite but here we are instead, though at least the addition of Tanahashi makes it feel more special.

It’s hard to imagine the Bucks losing a big match until Blood And Guts at the earliest so we’ll say the Elite wins here and keeps things going. Odds are we get a rematch of this later on with Gunn in there rather than Tanahashi, but for now at least we should be in for something good enough. The Elite go over though, as they’re a bigger deal than another makeshift team.

TNT Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry

Here we have a ladder match for the vacant title as Adam Copeland decided that jumping off a cage and landing on his feet was a good idea. The ladder match part makes it all the more eye roll inducing because it’s such a cliché at this point, but it also lets someone potentially steal the title without having to get a pinfall. That opens up some doors, but I think you know where this is going.

As much as I’d love to see someone like Martin, who could actually be made by something like this, get the title, this feels like it’s Perry all day. AEW is obsessed with getting this guy over one way or another and it feels like he’ll do it here as a way to become that much bigger of a deal. The match will be the usual car crash, meaning it’s only going to be so good, but it should be exciting.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Mina Shirakawa

This is both a title match and part of a love triangle, as both of them are trying to woo Mariah May. That has made for quite the unique story but it is something that has been set up well enough that I’m curious to see where it goes. The match quality itself might be up in the air as Shirakawa doesn’t have a long track record in AEW, but that is far from the most interesting part here.

I’ll go with Storm to win of course, as the title isn’t likely changing hands here, though the question becomes what happens with May. It would not surprise me at all to see her side with Storm before eventually winning the Owen Hart Tournament and getting a shot against Storm at Wembley. For now though, all is right in the world as May signs with Storm and moves forward, though it could be quite the path there.

AEW TBS Title/NJPW Women’s Strong Title: Mercedes Mone(c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer(c)

We’re going title for title here and…I have almost no idea what to expect here as all I’ve seen from Vaquer is most of an eight minute match this week on Collision. Other than that it’s been all hype videos and promos from Mone, which isn’t the best way to go. What matters though is that we have what could be a huge match which could go either way, as the title vs. title stipulation shakes things up.

While there is a chance that Vaquer wins, I can’t imagine Mone loses anywhere near this close to her AEW debut. AEW knows that she is a star and isn’t about to have her lose a big match, or any match for that matter, here. They have also hyped up the idea that she needs to win the NJPW belt, even if that means we are going to be seeing another title running around AEW, because we haven’t had that in a bit.

IWGP World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Tetsuya Naito

This is the other World Title match on the show, which is arguably a bigger match than the main event. Thankfully AEW has managed to avoid treating this as such a big deal, as that would be about as bad of a result as you could get for the AEW World Title. Moxley is already one of the biggest stars in AEW, but that brings up the question of whether or not he gets to retain the title here.

This one could go either way, but I’ll take Naito to win here, as I can’t imagine Moxley being the next big thing in AEW. Naito can get back the title that Moxley took fro him and we could be in for a rather good match on the way there. It also gives the other promotions their big win on the show, which very well could otherwise be dominated by AEW. This one could go either way of course, but I’ll take Naito to get the title back.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland(c) vs. Will Ospreay

Here we have the biggest match on the card and thankfully the best built up story. It’s an idea that has been done before, as you have Ospreay as the new ace of the company and Strickland being the “not so fast” champion. Ospreay has pretty much been able to do no wrong so far in AEW and Strickland can work well with anyone. That opens up the door for something great, but there is one thing in the way.

That thing is the Don Callis Family and unfortunately I’m expecting them to be what costs Ospreay the match here. Ospreay getting the World Title at some point seems to be an inevitability, but I would hope that Strickland gets at least one successful defense in the main event spot. Strickland has done incredibly well in this role and this could be another great one, though odds are the Family gets involved to cost Ospreay. It’s predictable, but that’s about all I can expect to happen.

Overall Thoughts

As you can probably tell from here, this is going to be a very long show. Fourteen matches and a show that could go around six hours makes for one heck of a marathon and I’m worried about things getting bogged down by sheer volume. There is a great show in there somewhere but AEW has a tendency to put in way too much on any pay per view. Hopefully they can find a way around it, but they’ve got a big challenge in front of them.

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Wrestle Kingdom XVIII
Date: January 4, 2024
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Commentators: Walker Stewart, Chris Charlton, Rocky Romero

It’s the biggest non-American show of the year and the show tends to be rather awesome. New Japan hasn’t seemed as prominent in recent months but this show is always worth at least a look. The main event will see IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada defending against Tetsuya Naito, plus a secondary big match between Kazuchika Okada and Bryan Danielson. Let’s get to it.

Note that I barely keep up with New Japan so I will not know a good deal of backstories, alliances or anything in that area. I’ll be primarily going off what commentary tells me.

New Japan Ranbo

90 second (ish) intervals and the final four are qualifiers for the King Of Pro Wrestling competition (which is a whole thing in its own right). Chase Owens is in at #1 and Great O Khan is in at #2. They go with the expected striking and grappling to start but neither can get anywhere. Gabriel Kidd is in at #3 and gets to beat on both of them, as tends to be the case. Alex Coughlin (Kidd’s stable mate) is in at #4 as O Khan chops away at Kidd in the corner.

The double teaming is on until Jeff Cobb is in at #5 and house is quickly cleaned. Coughlin gets in some shots of his own and it’s Henare in at #6. O Khan, Henare and Cobb (stable mates in the United Empire) get rid of Coughlin and Kidd so here is Tomohiro Ishii in at #7. The trio goes after Ishii but can’t really do much to slow him down. Mikey Nicholls is in at #8 and slugs it out with Henare to little effect. Cobb can’t get rid of Ishii so we keep up with the brawling on the ropes until Shane Haste (Nicholls’ partner in the Mighty Don’t Kneel) is in at #9.

Haste dropkicks Ishii to start and Nicholls suplexes O Khan as Yujiro Takahashi is in at #10. For some reason he brings in a cane, which goes horribly wrong. The Mighty manage to get rid of Cobb and Henare (off camera) but Master Wato is in at #11 to keep the ring a bit more full. That gives us Owens, O Khan, Ishii, Nicholls, Haste, Takahashi and Wato. Yoshinobu Kanemaru is in at #12 and gets to stomp on pretty much everyone else.

A triple submission has O Khan in a lot of trouble but more brawling ensues instead of an elimination. Yoh is in at #13 and is wearing a track suit instead of regular gear so the Mighty beat him up out of principle. Ishii blocks a double suplex and DDTs the Mighty instead as Sho (the Murder Machine) is in at #14. Yoh, his former partner, comes up to brawl with him on the ramp, meaning it’s a fight over Sho’s….wrench. Uh yeah wrench.

Sho gets the better of things and it’s Fujita Hayato in at #15. That seems to be a big surprise and he jumps both Sho and Yoh on the ramp. The three of them get inside with Hayato cleaning house. Taiji Ishimori is in at #16 as Ishii puts Haste on the apron and sends Nicholls into him for the elimination. Ishii and Nicholls go to the apron, where the latter is eliminated as well. Some interference gets rid of Ishii and Hayato is kicked out as Douki is in at #17.

Douki and Ishimori are dumped out by some double teaming and Toru Yano is in at #18. His entrance takes so long that it’s Takashi Iizuka (apparently retired but still rather scary) is in at #19. House is quickly cleaned and Iizuka, after rejecting a House Of Torture shirt, grabs a choke. Taichi is in at #20 (singing his way to the ring) but Iizuka is up with some kind of iron claw (must be a movie fan) to beat up various people.

Sho and Kanemaru are tossed, leaving us with Taichi vs. Iizuka, which apparently has a history. They shake hands but Iizuka bites him in the head, allowing a bunch of people to toss them both out. We’re down to Owens, O Khan, Ishimori, Yoh and Yano (apparently there were some off screen eliminations), with everyone going after O Khan. Owens takes him to the apron but gets knocked out instead, leaving O Khan, Ishimori, Yoh and Yano as the winners at 32:43.

Rating: C+. This is the “get a lot of people on the show” match but this edition worked a bit better than previous years. It felt like they were trying to put some stories in there rather than random people coming out and getting in fights. I liked this well enough and it was a fun start to the show, with the fans certainly seeming to be stunned by Iizuka, who did look cool.

A brawl ensues post match and an announcer loses his clothes for some reason.

As usual, the opening video runs down the card in order (still not sure if I like that or not) with the bigger matches getting the attention.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Catch 22 vs. Bullet Club War Dogs

Catch 22 (Francesco Akira/TJP) are challenging Clark Connors/Drilla Moloney. TJP was locked in a coffin in an earlier match so here he has to claw out and seems a bit more monstrous. We get the intros and TJP reveals one heck of a scary mask (to go with the claws, because he has claws). TJP starts for the champs but gets sent outside for a quick double teaming, including a double dive. Connors is rather pleased and chains TJP to the barricade.

Akira gets beaten down inside and the bleeding Moloney gets in some shots of his own to keep Akira down. Connors powers him into the corner but Akira manages to ram them into each other, setting up a Canadian Destroyer. TJP is back in (commentary isn’t sure how he got free either) and it’s time to clean house.

A running knee in the corner rocks Moloney as everything breaks down. The Drilla Killa (over the shoulder running piledriver) hits TJP but he pops up, only to be taken down by Connors. A spear knocks Akira off the apron as Drilla gets two on TJP. Everyone gets back in and TJP mists Moloney, setting up stereo running knees to give Catch 22 the titles back at 9:26.

Rating: B-. Well they weren’t going to have Catch 22 loses after that kind of an entrance and this made for a good opener to the show proper. Catch 22 has been a good team every time I’ve seen them and the War Dogs got to show off here as well, which is often the case in an opener like this. Good stuff here as the show is starting well.

TV Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Tanahashi (now the company’s president) is challenging and the match has a fifteen minute time limit. Sabre goes after the arms to start and spins around to grab a hammerlock. A quick Twist and Shout gets Tanahashi out of trouble and then does it a few more times to set up a Sling Blade for two. Tanahashi hits a high crossbody but the High Fly Flow (frog splash) hits raised knees. Sabre’s PK is cut off so Tanahashi goes for the Texas Cloverleaf.

That’s reversed into a triangle choke, which is reversed into another Cloverleaf. With that broken up, Sabre grabs a cross armbreaker, only to have them fight over an abdominal stretch. Tanahashi rolls him up for two and they get up for a chop off. Sabre pulls him into a choke so Tanahashi flips backwards for two and the…well not escape actually as Sabre hangs on. Sabre twists his boots around Tanahashi’s head and they trade rollups….with Tanahashi actually getting the pin and the title at 8:51.

Rating: B. This didn’t have a ton of time to get things going but there’s the point of the time limit. I do like the idea of seeing the ending coming out of nowhere as it was a nice surprise and played up the idea of Tanahashi getting what might be one last moment. I’m sure there ill be jokes about Tanahashi getting the title after he takes over the company but Tanahashi winning a title feels right.

Post match Tanahashi wishes the fans a happy new year.

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

These two seem to have quite the rivalry with Tsuji looking rather evil. Feeling out process to start with Tsuji powering him out to the floor, setting up a heck of a suicide dive. Back in and Tsuji keeps up the slow beating but gets pulled into a quickly broken cross armbreaker. Tsuji kicks him down again but Uemura comes back up with some slaps to the face. The always nice dropkick puts Tsuji down and they both get a breather.

A belly to back suplex plants Tsuji but the high crossbody misses. They go up top, where Tsuji backflips down and superkicks a diving Uemura out of the air. A suplex into a powerbomb (cool) gets two on Uemura but he avoids a Curb Stomp. Instead Uemura snaps off a German suplex and a dragon suplex gets two on Tsuji. The Deadbolt (a double arm trap suplex) finishes for Uemura at 10:59.

Rating: B-. This was a match where it felt like they were telling a story, with the evil Tsuji facing the more wholesome Uemura. You could see Uemura doing the technical stuff and ultimately winning with a catchy suplex. Good stuff here, and it seems to be part of a rivalry that is going to be continuing.

House Of Torture vs. Shota Umino/Kaito Kiyomiya

Kaito is from Pro Wrestling Noah and Umino comes down on a motorcycle. The House is Ren Narita/Evil, flanked by all kinds of people. It’s a brawl to start and Umino and Kiyomiya grab stereo submissions. Fellow House member Yoshinobu Kanemaru rings the bell for the save and the ref if bumped in there somewhere. Dick Togo comes in for an assisted low blow for a delayed two on Kiyomiya.

Somehow Kiyomiya gets over for the tag but he has to beat up more of the House on the floor. Back in and a Trident (reverse inverted DDT) and a series of strikes get two on Narita. Evil makes the save with…something that looked like a jacket and Everything Is Evil plants Kiyomiya. Umino German suplexes Narita but he’s back with some kind of a bar to Umino’s face for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C. I’ve seen the House more than once over the years and nothing they’ve done has made me want to see more. It’s like cheating is the only thing they do rather than something that they do and that gets old in a hurry. Umino vs. Narita feels like part of a big feud (tends to be the case with former Young Lions) so odds are they have a long way to go.

Never Openweight Title: Tama Tonga vs. Shingo Takagi

Takagi is defending and this is more or less the tough man title. As such they slug it out to start and trade shoulders to limited avail. Takagi gets caught with a dropkick to cut him down, followed by a suplex to do it again. Back up and Takagi manages a running elbow to the face and Tonga is knocked outside. That means the big running flip dive, followed by some seemingly meaningful yelling into the camera back inside.

Tonga manages to neckbreaker his way to freedom, followed by a top rope superplex for a heck of a bounce. Takagi is back up but can’t hit Last Off The Dragon. Instead it’s a Tonga Twist into a frog splash for two. One heck of a powerbomb gives Takagi two of his own and they both need a breather.

Tonga is right back with a Gun Stun, followed by Bloody Sunday for one. Takagi gets up so Tonga BLASTS HIM with a clothesline to put him back down. Tonga’s running forearm doesn’t work so Takagi hits his own Gun Stun. Made In Japan is good for a rather near fall but a second is escaped. Tonga hits a Styles Clash into another Gun Stun into the DSD (or something like that) for the pin and the title at 13:47.

Rating: B. These matches tend to be about who can hit the other the hardest and keep getting up and that’s what we had here. I’ll take this kind of a match over the “you chop me, I’ll chop you” fests as they were both laying it in throughout this one. Tonga wins the title back, which seems to be a recurring theme, but it’s also a nice fit for him. Good fight here, though I’m not sure if there was much of a story built in.

Nick Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) and his brother Ryan Nemeth are here in a surprise.

IWGP Tag Team Titles/Strong Openweight Tag Team Titles: Bishamon vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny

For both sets of titles (not unification), with Bishamon (Hirooki Goto/Yoshi Hashi) holding the IWGP and the Guerrillas (Hikuleo/El Phantasmo) holding the Strong. Hashi chops away at Phantasmo to start but Goto comes in to run him over. Hikuleo comes in for a double suplex to take over and the fans seem impressed. A side slam into a middle rope elbow gets two on Goto as the Guerrillas clear the ring.

Sudden Death (superkick) is broken up though and Hashi suplexes his way out of trouble. The bigger Hikuleo is sent outside and a running Blockbuster/Russian legsweep combination drops Phantasmo. Back up and Phantasmo manages a running hurricanrana to bring Goto off the top and into Hashi for a big crash. Phantasmo superkicks Hikuleo by mistake though and it’s Goto getting to make the comeback.

An assisted knee to the chest gives Goto two on Phantasmo and an assisted Nightmare On Helm Street gets the same, with Hikuleo making the save this time. Goto manages a fireman’s carry backbreaker for two on Hikuleo but Phantasmo is back in with a superkick to put Goto down. With Phantasmo moonsaulting onto Hashi, setting up Super Thunder Kiss 86 (that’s a great name) for a rather near fall and what is apparently a first time kickout. A piledriver into a frog splash from Hikuleo finishes Goto for the titles at 9:46.

Rating: B. The match was good but it never hit that next level. I’ve heard little but praise for Bishamon and while they were doing good stuff here, it felt like the first half of what should have been a bigger match. The results also felt like a bit of an upset, even with the other champions having a rather rough night so far.

Celebrating ensues post match.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi

Takahashi is defending and these two feel like they’ve been feuding on and off forever. Desperado doesn’t feel like waiting around so he drops Takahashi with a running flip dive to the floor. Back in and Desperado has to bail out of a top rope splash, allowing Takahashi to hit a running corner dropkick. They head back to the floor with Takahashi sending him over the barricade, followed by a Falcon Arrow for one back inside.

Desperado pulls him into a Brock Lock to work on the leg, with Takahashi bailing straight to the rope. The leg is banged up though and a shinbreaker makes it worse. Takahashi manages a quick knockdown for a breather and then backdrops his way out of a double underhook. They both need a breather before Takahashi grabs a rebound German suplex. Desperado gets the Block Lock again but Takahashi fights out, this time grabbing the Time Bomb for two.

Time Bomb II doesn’t quite work due to the knee so Desperado winds up on top. A super sitout bulldog is countered though, with Desperado hitting a swinging belly to back superplex instead. Desperado misses the big right hand and gets superkicked down to rock him rather well. Time Bomb II is countered again, this time with Desperado hitting something like an Angle Slam. Pinche Loco gets two on Takahashi and they both need another breather. Desperado is back up with a Jay Driller into another Pinche Loco for the pin and the title at 13:51.

Rating: B+.Yeah this worked and you can tell that the two of them have worked together a bunch of times. They had the chemistry flowing and it felt like they were building all the way throughout. Desperado winning the title feels like a huge moment and that’s how something like this is supposed to feel. Probably the best match on the show thus far and I worked rather well.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay vs. Will Ospreay

For the inaugural Title, which is replacing the United States Title, which was held by Ospreay. Moxley and Ospreay, who have a pre-match agreement (which only lasts five minutes), jump Finlay to start so he bails out to the floor. The fans don’t approve, but they do like Ospreay kicking Finlay in the face. Moxley crotches Finlay on the barricade for a running clothesline and the double beating goes into the aisle. Finlay manages to send Moxley over some crates and goes after Ospreay, only to get dropped by Moxley again.

A table is loaded up and Finlay is sent through it but the five minute time limit is (mostly) up so Ospreay and Moxley can fight each other. They forearm it out until Moxley grabs a nasty German suplex. Ospreay is able to catch him in the corner with the Cheeky Nandos kick but Moxley snaps off a sleeper suplex. Ospreay’s Spanish Fly is countered into a cross armbreaker but Moxley can’t hang on.

The Death Rider and Stormbreaker are both broken up but Finlay is back on his feet. A neckbreaker (with shillelagh) puts Ospreay down on the apron but Moxley (yes he’s bleeding) is back up. That’s fine with Ospreay, who hits a handspring double kick to the head. Ospreay sends them both outside for a heck of a moonsault. Back in and Moxley is fine enough to hit the Death Rider for two on Ospreay, followed by the bulldog choke. Ospreay is back up but the Stormbreaker is countered into a sunset flip.

With Moxley blocking said flip, he piledrives the invading Finlay onto Ospreay for two in a clever counter. Moxley grabs some chairs to throw inside, one of which hits Ospreay square in the head, and two of which are set up back to back. That takes too long of course, allowing Finlay to put Moxley down and plant Ospreay onto him. Moxley is back up to Death Ride Ospreay, who pops back up with the Hidden Blade, only to have Finlay steal the cover for two. Finlay gets sent outside but comes right back, where he is promptly beaten back down.

Ospreay and Moxley load up something but cue the Bullet Club War Dogs to jump both of them. Some tables are loaded up outside, allowing Moxley and Ospreay to fight back. The Dogs are put on the tables for a huge Swanton from Ospreay, with Coughlin being left in a hole in the table. Back in and Moxley hits Finlay with a Death Rider, only to get caught with the Hidden Blade for….one. Stormbreaker drops Moxley but Finlay is back with the brainbuster onto the knee for two. A knee to the back and another to the face finish Ospreay to give Finlay the title at 22:21.

Rating: B+. This was a heck of a match with Finlay not quite stealing the title as much as he survived to get the win. Moxley and Ospreay beat him up for a good while until everything went nuts, with the interference being the biggest downside. Finlay seems to be a big deal here and with Ospreay going to AEW and Moxley going back to AEW, it was the best choice of the three.

Post match Finlay yells at Nick Nemeth, who gets in his face and is slapped back down. The fight is on until everything is broken up. It’s split up but starts again, as tends to be the case in wrestling. Good debut for Nemeth, who showed some fire here.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson

Rematch from Forbidden Door, where Danielson beat him. Okada steps into a glass case and his ring gear changes for a rather unique entrance. Danielson on the other hand has an eye patch thanks to Okada, so it’s time for revenge. Feeling out process to start with Danielson winning a grapple off, sending Okada over to the ropes. They forearm it out until Okada gets two off a DDT.

Okada goes vicious with the running kick to the eye and things head outside. Danielson is back up with a jumping knee and then slams the barricade onto Okada for a nasty crash. Back in and a wrist clutch northern lights suplex gives Danielson two, meaning it’s time to break an arm. Significant cranking ensues but Okada slips out and kicks him in the eye. An Air Raid Crash onto the knee puts Danielson back down and Okada goes up.

That takes a good while though and Danielson catches him with an uppercut into a butterfly superplex. The LeBell Lock goes on but Okada is right next to the rope. They head to the apron, where Okada grabs a Tombstone to plant Danielson again. Danielson manages to get back in so the eye patch comes off, with Okada getting in some boot scrapes in the corner. Okada misses his top rope elbow so Danielson kicks him square in the arm, followed by another to the head.

The hammer and anvil elbows have Okada…actually more angry than anything else so Danielson hits the running knee for two. Danielson is livid and grabs something like the Rings of Saturn with his leg instead of an arm. Somehow Okada makes the bottom rope so Danielson grabs the arms again and stomps away at the head.

The LeBell Lock is broken up though and Okada uses the good arm for the Rainmaker. Okada hits him in the face again but has to fight off another LeBell Lock attempt. Another Rainmaker is loaded up but Danielson kicks him in the good arm. A kick to the head and the running knee rock Okada, who avoids another running knee. The Rainmaker finishes Danielson at 23:24.

Rating: A. They surprised me a bit with that finish as I was expecting it to go on even longer. The arm vs. the eye stuff went very well and it wouldn’t shock me to see them face off one more time in some neutral territory. This was every bit as good as it felt like it should have been and I liked it more than the Forbidden Door match. It helped that I could feel the hatred from Danielson, while Okada was more about refusing to lose. Awesome match and well worth a look, as I was left wanting more for a rare feeling.

We recap Tetsuya Naito challenging Sanada for the World Title. Naito won the G1 Climax tournament to earn the shot, then played baseball. Sanada stood on a cliff and held up the title, while looking rather spiffy in a blue suit. This is also more or less Naito’s last chance, while Sanada wanted to show that he can beat his former stable leader.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Sanada vs. Tetsuya Naito

Sanada is defending and they go technical to start, with Sanada working on the leg on the mat. Naito reverses into a headscissors but Sanada is up without much effort. Sanada sends him outside and flips back in, where he holds the ropes open for Naito in a rather disrespectful move. Back in and Naito drops him down hard onto the knee to bang up the neck, followed by a cravate.

A backbreaker onto the knee sets up a double arm/neck crank with the legs as Sanada can’t get much going so far. With that one broken up, Sanada avoids a clothesline and dropkicks the knee, setting up a backdrop suplex. A double leapfrog into a dropkick sends Naito outside, with the required dive following. Back in and a TKO gives Sanada two, followed by the dragon sleeper. Naito gets over to the ropes and out to the apron, where a legsweep drops Sanada hard.

Another drop onto the head has Sanada’s neck in more trouble but he beats the count at 18. A super hurricanrana plants Sanada, with commentary calling the move a good luck charm for Naito. The springboard tornado DDT is countered though and Sanada grabs a hanging swinging neckbreaker for the double knockdown. Sanada nips up and hits a Shining Wizard, only to have the moonsault hit knees as he can’t go full Muta.

Naito is back up first and strikes away at the neck, followed by something like a flipping middle rope cutter. Destino connects for no cover but Sanada reverses into a TKO. Sanada’s moonsault gets two and frustration is setting in, but Naito suplexes him onto his head, setting up a spinebuster. More elbows to the neck set up Destino or no cover (that seems like a bad idea).

Another Destino doesn’t go through clean and Sanada is up at two. A Dead Fall plants Naito again and they’re both down for a bit. They strike it out again and Sanada hits something like a Destino of his own. Naito kick shim in the head and hits the tornado DDT but Sanada is back with a bridging rollup for two. Sanada blasts him with another Shining Wizard but Dead Fall is countered into the same thing from Naito. A brainbuster plants Sanada and one heck of a Destino makes Naito champion at 25:35.

Rating: B+. This took some time to get going but the last few minutes were were really good, with the ans going nuts on everything. Sanada put in a heck of a performance of his own and had some very good moments in there, but this was about Naito and the ending was a big rush of emotion from the fans. That’s what you want from a main event like this and Naito gets his big moment. Pretty great main event, especially when it was coming after Danielson vs. Okada.

Post match Naito is busted open but gets the title. He loads up the Los Ingobernables Roll Call (a big thing that was interrupted in his previous chance) but cue the House of Torture to break it up again. Sanada comes in for the save and the fans approve. With the villains cleared out, Sanada shows respect and then leaves. Naito puts his hat on and says he’s holding his microphone because of Sanada, who appreciates that. He thanks the fans and promises a big year before getting to do the roll call that he didn’t get to do years ago. Naito gets the big walk off as commentary wraps everything up.

Overall Rating: A-. This show went the better part of six hours (Kickoff Show included) and it never felt that long, which is one heck of a trick. There was a lot of good stuff here, with the Danielson vs. Okada match being the best on the show. Some of the other matches were getting up there but didn’t quite get over the hump, but when you add them all up, it was a Wrestle Kingdom worthy show. At the very least, they kept it to one night to really make things better. Check this out if you have the chance, though skip the House Of Torture…well everything from them really.

Results
Great O Khan, Taiji Ishimori, Yoh and Toru Yano won the New Japan Ranbo
Catch 22 b. Bullet Club War Dogs – Stereo running knees to Moloney
Hiroshi Tanahashi b. Zack Sabre Jr. – Rollup
Yuya Uemura b. Yota Tsuji – Deadbolt
House Of Torture b. Shota Umino/Kaito Kiyomiya – Bar to Umino’s face
Tama Tonga b. Shingo Takagi – DSD
Guerrillas Of Destiny b. Bishamon – Frog splash to Goto
El Desperado b. Hiromu Takahashi – Pinche Loco
David Finlay b. Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley – Knee to Ospreay
Kazuchika Okada b. Bryan Danielson – Rainmaker
Tetsuya Naito b. Sanada – Destino

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Multiverse United 2: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Date: August 20, 2023
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan, Veda Scott

This is a special show as it’s a battle between Impact Wrestling and New Japan. The original version was held over Wrestlemania weekend and now we could be in for a cool sequel. This includes a main event of Alex Shelley defending the Impact Wrestling World Title against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Let’s get to it.

Note that I do not follow New Japan incredibly closely so I apologize for missing any characters, plot points etc.

Kickoff Show: Joe Hendry/Heath/Yuya Uemura vs. Master Wato/Rocky Romero/Ryusuke Taguchi

Heath and Romero start things off with Heath hitting an atomic drop into a clothesline. Taguchi comes in for the double stomping in the corner but it’s Heath coming in for some dancing. A hip attack drops Heath though and it’s Hendry coming in to face Wato. This doesn’t work for the Impact guys either, as Wato gets in a double bulldog and sends them outside.

Back in and Hendry chops away at Wato before hitting a delayed suplex for two. Uemura comes in for a slam as things settle down into the standard rotating beatdown. Hendry’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Wato fights up and brings Romero back in to pick up the pace. Hendry fall away slams Romero and Wato at the same time, allowing the double tag to Uemura and Taguchi. Everything breaks down and Uemura hits a high crossbody for the pin at 10:21.

Rating: C+. Nice way to start here with three fun Impact stars getting a win to warm up the crowd. Hendry and Uemura seem to be gearing up for a tag team run and Heath can work well in any midcard spot. The New Japan guys were treated as stars here too, with Wato being a near buzzsaw at times. Entertaining opener and that’s as good as you can expect.

Impact – 1
NJPW – 0

Kickoff Show: Digital Media Title: Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Kenny King

King is defending. Feeling out process to start with Kanemaru cranking on a headlock before hurting himself on a shoulder block. The headlock works a bit better, at least until King breaks it up and stomps away, setting up a camel clutch. Back up and King misses a charge in the corner, allowing Kanemaru to hammer away a bit more. A DDT plants King for two, followed by a moonsault for the same. King spinebusters him for two more before ducking the miss. A kick to the head sets up the Royal Flush to retain the title at 6:51.

Rating: C. They kept this relatively short as it was mainly a way to get a title match on the show. King’s title is about as low down as you can get in Impact and having him defend against a former champion like Kanemaru makes sense. The match itself was fine enough and that’s really all it needed to be for the spot they were in.

Impact – 2
NJPW – 0

The opening video looks at some of the bigger matches. Rather simple here and nothing wrong with that.

Chris Sabin vs. Kevin Knight vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Bushi vs. Yoh vs. Rich Swann vs. Mao vs. El Desperado

Everyone in at once, one fall to a finish. We get a quick eight man lockup before they pair off and go outside. Naturally this means some dives until it’s off to Mao (who dances a lot) vs. Swann, the latter of whom kicks him in the ribs. Yoh comes in to clear the ring without much effort but Knight hits him with a spinning splash for two.

Sabin is in with a missile dropkick to Knight before getting taken down by Kazarian. Desperado and Mao are back in to clean house in a hurry until Mao punches him in the mask, as you probably guessed was coming. We get the eight man submission chain until the referee breaks it up for using the rope (Rehwoldt: “Using the rope was the most ridiculous part of that.”).

Everyone beats down Bushi before they go after Swann with running splashes in the corner. A Tower Of Doom bring Swann down again and Knight comes off the top for two. Kazarian sends Knight to the apron and pulls him back in with a cutter, setting off the parade of knockdowns. Sabin drops Yoh and Knight at the same time before hitting the Cradle Shock to finish Yoh at 8:24.

Rating: B-. I never know what to say in a match like this, as it’s all over the place and complete insanity, with a big parade of spots and dives. That being said, it can be fun to see something like this, as it’s nonstop action until someone gets the win. They also did the right thing in keeping it relatively short, which can be a huge problem in matches like this. Fun opener, as they’re certainly starting fast.

Impact – 3
NJPW – 0

Post match Desperado mists Sabin to blow off some steam. And some mist.

TMDK vs. Team Impact

That would be Zack Sabre Jr./Shane Haste vs. Moose/Eddie Edwards for your wacky Impact team of the night. Eddie and Sabre start things off with Sabre wasting no time in going after the arm. Haste comes in for two off a dropkick and it’s already back to Sabre to work on the arm again. Eddie gets in a shot to Haste and hands it back to Moose, who gets two off Eddie’s backpack Stunner.

The Impact guys take turns chopping at Haste, who gets slammed down to make it worse. Haste kicks his way to freedom though and brings Sabre back in. Moose is low bridged to the floor and an armbar over the rope has Eddie in trouble again. A PK hits Eddie, who pops back up with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a double knockdown. Haste and Moose come back in, with the former armdragging his way out of a release Rock Bottom.

The second attempt works but Sabre is back up with a tornado DDT to Moose. Eddie drops Sabre and everyone is down again. Back up and Sabre slugs it out with Moose, with Sabre pulling him into a choke. Eddie makes the save and hits the Boston Knee Party to Sabre. Haste rolls Moose up for two but the spear gives Moose the pin at 13:23.

Rating: B. This was another rather solid match and it was cool to see a makeshift team hang with and even beat an established pairing. Haste taking the fall to a former Impact World Champion is hardly some big slap in the face, though this was quite the upset. If nothing else, Sabre didn’t get to snap any limbs!

Impact – 4
NJPW – 0

Video on the four way for the New Japan Strong Women’s Title.

New Japan Strong Women’s Title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Momo Kohgo vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Giulia

Giulia is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Purrazzo and Giulia grab headlocks to start but get broken up for a staredown just as fast. Everyone goes or a rollup and I’s another four way showdown. Shaw brags a bit too much and gets dropkicked to the floor, leaving Purrazzo to dropkick the other two. Momo is back up with a superkick for two on Giulia, with Shaw making the save.

Shaw takes Momo and Giulia down and covers both of them in a row for rapid fire near falls. Deonna pulls Giulia to the floor so Momo can hit a big dive before Shaw goes after Giulia for a change. Back in and Giulia butterfly superplexes Shaw, leaving to a four way knockdown. They pair off for the stereo forearm exchanges until Shaw’s spear misses Purrazzo and hits Giulia by mistake.

An assisted Backstabber puts Momo down again but Shaw gives Purrazzo a super Spanish Fly. Momo makes the save, leaving Purrazzo to Queen’s Gambit Giulia and Shaw. Purrazzo and Shaw grab stereo submissions but stop o fight each other. Giulia is back up and hits a northern lights bomb on Shaw to retain at 12:25.

Rating: B-. Another title match to make the show feel more special and in this case it went well. The more I see of Giulia in the ring the more obvious it is that she is a star. It’s a good idea to feature someone like that and Shaw has lost enough that another one isn’t going to do much damage. Purrazzo vs. Giulia down the line could be a heck of a showdown and that might be the case eventually. For now though, I’ll take a Giulia showcase.

Impact – 4
NJPW – 1

Sami Callihan vs. Douki

Before the match, Sami says we’re missing the extreme around here so let’s make this a street fight. Douki agrees and wastes no time in knocking him outside before putting Sami in a chair. The kick from the apron takes too long though and as a result, Sami throws in a bunch of weapons.

Back in and Sami whips out an 8×10 of himself and paper cuts Douki’s fingers, followed by the arm pit. A t-bone suplex sends Douki onto a chair, which Sami loads into the corner. That takes too long and Douki sends him into it instead, meaning it’s time for a kendo stick. Some shots to Sami let Douki stack the chairs on him, setting up a top rope double stomp.

Sami is back up with a neckbreaker onto the chair for two before it’s time for a ladder. Douki manages to send him into said ladder though and a slingshot X Factor gets two. The Douki Driver is countered and the Cactus Driver 97 gives Sami two. Sami loads up four chairs and they climb onto them, with a Cactus Driver 97 sending Douki into them for the pin at 12:42.

Rating: C. Pretty basic hardcore match here and since they’re in Philadelphia, it would almost have been insane to not include something similar. Sami is the right choice for a match like this too, as he might not be the most polished in the ring, but he knows how to do this kind of thing. Douki more than held up his end, but it was just a bunch of the same stuff we’ve seen far too many times over the years.

Impact – 5
NJPW – 1

Kosei Fujita/Robbie Eagles vs. TJP/Francisco Akira

Akira and Fujita go to the mat to start and neither can get very far. Back up and Fujita chops Akira up against the ropes but TJP comes in off a blind tag for a double dropkick. Eagles comes in with a dropkick of his own for two on Akira before Fujita grabs a quickly broken leglock.

It’s back to TJP for a facewash in the corner, followed by a dropkick to put Fujita down again. That doesn’t last long a the hot tag brings in Eagles for the rapid fire house cleaning. The running knees in the corner get two on Akira and the Ron Miller Special (leglock) makes it worse.

TJP makes the save before being sent outside but Akira is back up with a poisonrana. A top rope double stomp/reverse DDT combination puts Fujita down for two and the Mamba splash gets the same. Eagles superkicks Fujita by mistake though and something like a 3D puts Fujita down again. Stereo running knees finish for TJP at 11:30.

Rating: C+. This was the showcase match for New Japan and that isn’t a bad idea. There was enough good action here to make the match interesting, with TJP and Akira coming off more like a successful team than Fujita and Eagles. Solid fast paced match here though and I could go or more of TJP and Akira.

Mike Bailey is ready to challenge Hiromu Takahashi for IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title but tonight, they’re teaming together.

Bullet Club vs. The World

Bullet Club: David Finlay, Chris Bey, Ace Austin, Alex Coughlin, Kenta, Clark Connors
The World: Josh Alexander, PCO, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, DKC, El Phantasmo

Finlay spits at Tama to start and quickly send him outside for the big beatdown. Back in and PCO chops it out with Coughlin with the latter somehow managing a gutwrench suplex. Coughlin is sent outside for the big beatdown from the World as everything breaks down. Back in and DKC runs Connors over until a powerslam takes him down.

Finlay comes in for some rapid fire shoulders in the corner but DKC kicks his way to freedom. The big tag brings Alexander in (first time in five months) to clean house but Austin/Bey kick him down. It’s off to Kenta for some kicks to the back and Austin drops a leg for two. Alexander suplexes Austin and Bey, allowing the tag off to Phantasmo.

Everything breaks down and Finlay is surrounded so the beatdown can be on. DKC’s frog splash gets two but the Club makes the save. Kenta’s GTS to Alexander is countered into an ankle lock, which is broken up as well. PCO dives onto them and then hits a big dive onto the pile. Back in and Finlay hits a quick powerbomb to finish DKC at 14:08.

Rating: B-. This was similar to the opener with all of the chaos and everyone doing their thing at various times. The good thing is that they managed to have more of a structure this time around, with the Club getting the big win, as they should have earned. What mattered here was getting a bunch of people onto the show at once and it was one step away from being total chaos, which makes it pretty engaging stuff.

Impact – 5
NJPW – 2

Mike Bailey/Hiromu Takahashi vs. Lio Rush/Trey Miguel

Takahashi and Miguel start things off with Miguel telling the crowd to be quiet so he can stomp away in the corner in silence. Bailey comes in to trade dodges with Rush and hit a dropkick on Miguel. We settle down to Miguel missing a charge in the corner and getting dragon screw legwhipped by Rush.

Bailey’s running shooting star press gets two but Miguel suplexes his way to freedom. Everything breaks down and Bailey moonsaults onto Rush on the floor. Back in and Rush avoids the Ultimate Weapon, meaning Miguel and Takahashi get to chop it out. Takahashi gets double kicked down until Bailey makes the save.

The Lightning Spiral is countered into Takahashi’s pop up powerbomb and Miguel is rocked. The Ultimate Weapon into a Regal Roll gets two with Rush making the save. Rush hits Rush Hour for two on Takahashi, leaving Miguel to Meteora Bailey on the floor. Back in and Rush counters the Time Bomb and hits Takahashi low, allowing a rollup to give Rush the pin at 14:30.

Rating: B. This has been the night of letting people go nuts throughout their match and that is where these people shine. The ending could set up a champion vs. champion (X-Division vs. Junior Heavyweight) and that could be a big showdown at some point. Letting talented people fly around and showcase themselves is always a good idea and that’s what they did here at a pretty high level.

Impact – 6
NJPW – 2

Post match Rush says he wants the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title shot but Bailey brings up asking for the shot, which Takahashi granted.

Quick video on the main event, which is both for the title and teacher vs. student.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Alex Shelley

Shelley, Tanahashi’s former student, is defending. Tanahashi takes him into the corner to start and we get an early standoff. A headlock takeover frustrates Shelley a bit, though the air guitar might soothe him a bit. Shelley has to fight his way out of the headlock and gets to the middle rope for a knee to the arm.

The cranking on the arm ensues until Shelley gets taken down, with his knee being sent into the post. Tanahashi starts working on the knee but a slingshot stomp to the arm cuts him right back off. Shelley works on the arm outside and then again on the apron as he certainly has a target. Tanahashi gets in another shot to the knee but Shelley slugs away and hits a running forearm.

The standing Sliced Bread sets up the Border City Stretch to keep Tanahashi down for a change, but the foot in the rope makes the save. That means a dragon screw legwhip over the rope can put Shelley down again. The Texas Cloverleaf goes on but Shelley escapes and knocks him down again.

They slug it out with Tanahashi getting the better of things until three straight Twist and Shouts take Shelley down. The Sling Blade gets two but Shelley avoids the High Fly Flow. A running knee and ripcord clothesline give Shelley two so Tanahashi German suplexes him for the same. They head up top with Shelley Air Raid Crashing him back down before Shell Shock retains the title at 18:53.

Rating: B. This felt like a title match, as it came off like two stars fighting over a prize. While Tanahashi is definitely a few steps slower than he used to be, there is enough talent there to let him wrestle a good match with the right opponent. Shelley might not be setting the world on fire as champion, but you’re going to get a well wrestled match against any opponent. In other words, he is a perfectly acceptable placeholder and that’s not the worst place to be. Good main event.

Impact – 7
NJPW – 2

Overall Rating: B-. This felt like a rather cool DVD extra, as it doesn’t change storylines in any meaningful way. Instead, it was a nice showcase of the Impact stars against some midcard names from another company. You don’t need to watch it to keep up with what was going on, but you’ll have a good time with the whole thing, even if it’s about three and a half hours counting Kickoff Show. Pretty easy watch though, with a rather surprising final score too.

Results
Joe Hendry/Yuya Uemura/Heath b. Master Wato/Ryusuke Taguchi/Rocky Romero – High crossbody to Taguchi
Kenny King b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Royal Flush
Chris Sabin b. Kevin Knight, Frankie Kazarian, Bushi, Yoh, Rich Swann, Mao and El Desperado – Cradle Shock to Yoh
Moose/Eddie Edwards b. TMDK – Spear to Haste
Giulia b. Deonna Purrazzo, Momo Kohgo and Gisele Shaw – Northern lights bomb to Shaw
Sami Callihan b. Douki – Cactus Driver 97 onto a pile of chairs
TJP/Francisco Akira b. Kosei Fujita/Robbie Eagles – Double knees to Fujita
Bullet Club b. The World – Powerbomb to DKC
Lio Rush/Trey Miguel b. Mike Bailey/Hiromu Takahashi – Rollup to Takahashi
Alex Shelley b. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Shell Shock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Forbidden Door 2023
Date: June 25, 2023
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, Taz

It’s time for the annual crossover show as we have a bunch of AEW vs. New Japan matches. The entire build to the show as well as the show itself are a total side trip away from what AEW normally does but it is one heck of a side trip, with an absolutely stacked card that has some serious potential. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Mogul Embassy vs. Best Friends/Rocky Romero/El Desperado

Kaun takes Romero into the corner to start but gets dropped with a hurricanrana. The Best Friends come in for a double elbow so it’s off to Toa, who gets high crossbodied. Everything breaks down and the villains are sent to the floor for the big series of dives. Trent caps it off with a moonsault onto Toa as the fans are rather pleased.

Back in and Toa hits a pop up Samoan drop to cut Trent off, followed by a whip over the corner to the floor. Kaun hits the slingshot hilo and Cage hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron. Trent suplexes his way out of trouble but the Embassy does the pull his partners to the floor thing.

Strickland takes over on Trent but a quick shot allows the tag to Desperado. A shot to Cage on the apron causes everything to break down and Strickland plants Desperado for two. We hit the parade of everyone hitting something until Cage accidentally discus clotheslines Swerve. Strong Zero gets two on Swerve but Cage is back in for the F5 into Swerve’s cutter. The Swerve Stomp finishes for Swerve at 12:24.

Rating: C. It’s always nice to see Swerve getting a pin, even if it is one of the less important matches of the show. What mattered here was starting the fans off with something fun and the Best Friends will always get that kind of a reaction. I’m still not sure why Swerve has to be stuck with these guys, as the Gates continue to feel worthless and Cage isn’t going anywhere, but at least he got a little something here.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Billie Starkz vs. Athena

Athena’s ROH Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Starkz fires off the kicks to start and a suplex brainbuster gets two. A headscissors into the corner gets Athena out of trouble and we slow it down as Athena prefers. Athena stays on the ribs with some more kicks but the O Face is countered into a Death Valley Bomb for two.

Starkz gets caught on top though and it’s a pop up powerbomb into a kick to the face for two, leaving Athena annoyed. Back up and they trade dropkicks until Athena misses a standing moonsault. Starkz misses a Swanton onto the apron and crashes hard, setting up a spinning gutbuster to give Athena the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. That’s all it should have been, as Athena is on a roll and Starkz isn’t in here league yet. Athena didn’t quite run her over but it was hard to believe that there was any danger in this one. Not exactly a classic match, but Athena is on fire right now and any excuse to get her out of ROH and into AEW is a good thing.

Zero Hour: El Phantasmo vs. Stu Grayson

They shake hands to start before Grayson takes him into the corner to hammer away. Grayson pounds away and they stand there for the exchange of chops. Then Phantasmo grabs the nipples to take over, setting up a springboard spinning crossbody. Grayson is sent outside for the suicide dive into the barricade, followed by the springboard Swanton for two back inside.

Phantasmo catches him with a kick to the head on top and snaps off a super hurricanrana. The top rope splash (and a good one at that) gives Phantasmo two but Grayson kicks him back down. A 450 gives Grayson two but Phantasmo is back with a springboard tornado DDT. Something like Diamond Dallas Page’s old Pancake (with the arms held back) finishes Grayson at 7:17.

Rating: C. Of all the matches on the card, this one felt the most like “here’s a way to get more people on the card”. Grayson has been in the middle of an ordeal with the Dark Order on Ring Of Honor for weeks now and isn’t exactly a big star. Phantasmo is a bigger name, but I don’t know how many people were going to sit home if he wasn’t on the show. Fine match, but something that could have been dropped with no consequence.

Zero Hour: United Empire vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

United Empire: Jeff Cobb/TJP/Kyle Fletcher
Los Ingobernables: Bushi/Hiromu Takahashi/Shingo Takagi

Bushi gets double teamed to start and his comeback is quickly cut off by the numbers game. Cobb comes in to power Bushi around but a dropkick to the knee puts Cobb down. Takahashi comes in to clean house until Cobb pulls him into an overhead belly to belly. It’s off to Takagi, who gets kicked in the face by Fletcher so TJP can come in with a high crossbody. Everything breaks down and Takagi hits TJP with a pop up Death Valley Driver. Cobb has to make a save so Bushi dives onto Fletcher. Takagi’s Last Of The Dragon is blocked so TJP kicks him in the face, earning a discus lariat. Made In Japan finishes TJP at 7:22.

Rating: C+. Best thing on the Kickoff Show and a lot of that probably has to do with the people involved. There were some talented names in this match and I could have gone for a bit more of it. The Empire losing is a bit weird as they’re around AEW more often, but it isn’t like the result truly matters in the grand scheme of things.

The opening video gives a quick look at the major matches.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MJF, who still believes New Japan is an indy company, is defending. Tanahashi takes him down to start so MJF bails to the floor, saying he’s already done. A COWARD chant is enough to bring him back in and a knee to the ribs cuts Tanahashi off. MJF grabs a bearhug into the abdominal stretch with a grab of the ropes keeps Tanahashi in trouble. Tanahashi fights out and knocks MJF down for the middle rope Swanton and a near fall.

MJF catches him on top for a good looking superplex and a near fall. The Heatseeker is blocked though and MJF bangs up his knees. MJF is right back up with a double underhook shoulder breaker, which only hurts the knee even more. Tanahashi is down so MJF calls him a joke (and a fan calls MJF a coward), which is enough to start the comeback.

The bad knee is taken out and the Texas Cloverleaf sends MJF bailing to the ropes. Twist and Shout into the Sling Blade sets up the High Fly Flow, which only hits the raised knees. They’re both down for a bit until MJF rolls outside and grabs the title. The referee takes it away and Tanahashi grabs a rollup for a VERY delayed two. Another referee distraction lets MJF hit Tanahashi with the diamond ring to retain at 16:20.

Rating: B-. Good opener here but the ending didn’t do it any favors. The ribs vs. the knees worked well for a story here as Tanahashi isn’t as fast as he was before so it gave him a reason to slow down. MJF gets over for his talking abilities but it is nice to see him being able to easily hang in a match like this. Nice choice for the first match on the main card here, as the fans still buy into MJF’s antics.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

The fans are NOT pleased with Punk and commentary acknowledges the not so positive reaction. They start rather slowly with Kojima’s headlock not doing anything. Kojima goes after the back to take over and stops to pop his pectoral muscles. Punk sends him outside and pops his own pecs before going outside or some chops. A leg sweep knocks Punk down on the apron but he’s right back with a knockdown of his own.

The legdrop connects and we get the required Hogan references. They strike it out in the corner until Punk whips him hard into said corner. Punk hits his own Kojima style lariats in the corner (while shouting “KOJIMA” over and over), setting up a belly to back suplex for two (with quite the evil grin during the cover). A missed splash in the corner lets Kojima fire off his rapid fire chops and then he does it again in another corner. Kojima’s top rope elbow gets two and a DDT plants Punk again.

Punk knocks him down again though and drops a top rope elbow for two of his own. The Anaconda Vice goes on until Kojima hits him in the back of the head to break it up. The GTS is broken up and Kojima fires off his double chops into the Koji Cutter to drop Punk. Kojima’s lariat is countered into a neckbreaker for two more but the GTS is blocked again. A brainbuster gives Kojima two but Punk kicks him in the head, setting up the GTS to finish Kojima at 13:33.

Rating: B. They beat each other up rather well here and Kojima gave him more of a run for his money than I was expecting. If nothing else, it was a lot of fun to see Punk laying into the heel stuff, as he can shift from one side or the other like few in wrestling today. This got physical at the end and it wound up being a rather entertaining match.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia

Cassidy is defending (Shibata’s ROH Pure Title/Sabre’s NJPW TV Title aren’t on the line) and it’s one fall to a finish. They all block kicks to start until Sabre and Shibata are both sent outside. The Dragontamer has Cassidy in trouble until Shibata makes the save. Shibata Figure Fours Cassidy until Garcia makes a save and grabs a hold of his own. That’s broken up as well and everyone but Cassidy strike it out. Cassidy comes back in and everyone is knocked down for a bit.

Back up and Cassidy and Garcia grab holds, only to have Shibata and Sabre slug it out with said holds still on. With that broken up, Cassidy hits a Stundog Millionaire but Sabre twists the arm around to hit Cassidy in his own ribs. Garcia grabs a belt to knock Shibata silly for two but Cassidy clears Garcia out. That lets Cassidy and Shibata sit down to slap each other until an Orange Punch drops Shibata.

Cassidy’s hand is too banged up to cover so it’s the Beach Break for two. The Mousetrap to Sabre is countered into a double arm trap with a save being made. Sabre pulls Cassidy back into the hold until Shibata makes a save of his own. Everything breaks down again and Garcia pildrives Sabre. Shibata hits the PK on Garcia but Cassidy steals the pin to retain at 11:32.

Rating: B. The match was almost all action and Cassidy continues to show that he can hang with just about anyone. That being said, I’m not sure how many times the story has been “Cassidy is banged up and facing overwhelming odds” but he retains anyway. The point has long since been made and it’s time for someone to beat him for the title. He isn’t really gaining much more by doing it over and over again, yet here we are (after another rather entertaining match).

IWGP World Title: Sanada vs. Jungle Boy

Jungle Boy, with Hook, is challenging and gets run over by the champ. The threat of a Snare Trap sends Sanada straight to the ropes and Jungle Boy is already looking frustrated. Jungle Boy’s attempt at a Paradise Lock is broken up and Sanada gets one of his own, setting up the running dropkick for two. Back up and Jungle Boy fights back before a double knockdown gives them both a breather.

They chop it out until Jungle Boy gets Sanada’s own Skull End, slowly sending him over to the ropes. Sanada is right back up with a TKO for two but a moonsault doesn’t work as well. Jungle Boy snaps off a poisonrana but Sanada is right back with the swinging Skull End. Sanada’s poisonrana sets up a Shining Wizard for two, followed by a moonsault to retain at 10:37. There seemed to be a bit of confusion on the ending there, as the referee checked the shoulders and the bell didn’t immediately ring.

Rating: C+. This was a step down from the rest of the show, but there was only so much that could be done with the idea of Jungle Boy getting a World Title shot. He wasn’t going to win here and it fits in with his recent struggles. Commentary referred to this as a learning experience for Jungle Boy and that’s rather accurate, as he wasn’t going to win but could still get something out of it.

Post match Jungle Boy seems banged up but is fine enough to turn on Hook (Taz is LIVID). The fans give a very loud YOU F***** UP chant as this team with three whole matches together is done.

Blackpool Combat Club/Konosuke Takeshita/Shota Umino vs. Elite/Tomohiro Ishii/Eddie Kingston

Umino takes Page into the corner for some pats on the chest, plus a forearm to annoy Page a bit. Takeshita comes in instead and takes over, only for the Bucks to come in and pick up the pace. A neckbreaker/backbreaker combination hits Yuta (One of the Bucks: “See you in h***!”) and it’s off to Kingston vs. Moxley for one heck of an audience reaction. They stare each other down and then go to the big chop off as the other eight just watch from the floor.

Realizing that doesn’t make a ton of sense, the others come in for a big slugout of their own until the Bucks hit stereo dives to the floor. Page adds the moonsault as Kingston and Moxley are still chopping away. Castagnoli comes in to drop Kingston as Moxley goes outside to pour water on his chest. Takeshita comes in and BLASTS Ishii (on the apron) with an elbow before Kingston is caught in the wrong corner for some elbows from Castagnoli.

Kingston lariats his way out of trouble but Moxley is right there to cut him off. Stereo lariats connect and Moxley’s banged up chest keeps him down even longer. Ishii comes in to run Yuta over and slips out of a Hart Attack attempt. A back suplex drops Umino and a diving tag brings in Page for the big comeback. The Bucks hold Takeshita over the floor so Page can hit a running shooting star press from the apron.

Takeshita is back up but the Bucks start firing off the superkicks. The Blue Thunder Bomb Takeshita two on Matt and a wheelbarrow suplex drops him again. Castagnoli’s swing into Yuta’s dropkick gets two with a bunch of people making the save. Nick breaks up…something from Yuta and a rather cold tag brings Ishii back in as everything breaks down. Moxley cutters Ishii but the Bucks superkick their problems away again. Yuta ducks the Buckshot lariat and Ishii takes his head off with a lariat of his own. The brainbuster finishes for Ishii at 21:22.

Rating: B+. This was the all action match of the night and that’s all it needed to be, as the score (unofficially) is evened up between the Elite and the Club. You can book Blood & Guts from here and it should be rather epic. It was also rather nice to not have the match turn into a wild brawl, as they already covered that at Double Or Nothing. Heck of a fight here, and the storytelling with Kingston/Moxley/Castagnoli worked well. Throw in Takeshita looking like a main eventer and it was even better.

Post match Kingston isn’t having anything to do with his partners and leaves, as he didn’t want to hurt Moxley.

Video on Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale. Storm is so mean that even Nightingale doesn’t like her!

AEW Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale

Storm, with the Outcasts, is defending and Nightingale’s NJPW Women’s Strong Title isn’t on the line. They run the ropes to start until Nightingale counters a hiptoss into a cradle for two. Nightingale drops her to the floor but stops to yell at the Outcasts, allowing Storm to hit a hip attack on the way back in. The seated full nelson keeps Nightingale in trouble and Storm forearms her in the back to cut off a comeback.

Back up and they head to the apron with Nightingale hitting a Death Valley Driver to plant her hard. Nightingale goes up but the Outcasts throw in the spray paint. That’s enough for a double ejection but the delay causes Nightingale to miss the moonsault. The hip attack into a DDT gives Storm two, only to have Nightingale pull her into an Indian Deathlock. With that broken up, the Pounce sends Storm outside but she’s right back with a poke to the eye. Storm Zero retains the title at 11:03.

Rating: C+. This was more of the same from the Outcasts, but at least Storm was able to cheat on her own to retain here. Nightingale losing isn’t a surprise but it’s certainly annoying, as it seems to happen far too often. Odds are we’re coming up on Storm vs. Jamie Hayter for the title at All In, but at least Nightingale didn’t get squashed.

We recap Will Ospreay challenging Kenny Omega for the IWGP US Title. Omega escaped with the title at Wrestle Kingdom but now Ospreay is back and more dangerous for the rematch.

IWGP US Title: Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is challenging and seems to be the big favorite. Omega takes him down into an early chinlock but Ospreay reverses into an arm crank. They chop it out but it’s way too early for the One Winged Angle. The Oscutter is countered as well and Omega has to duck a kick, leaving us with a standoff. Omega takes him down and hits a moonsault but here is Don Callis with his “military grade security” for the distraction.

That’s enough for an ejection but said distraction lets Ospreay send him into the barricade and take over back inside. Some shots to the back have Omega in trouble and Ospreay stays on said back for two. Omega manages to hit a quick Kitaro Crusher but Ospreay drapes him over the top rope. That sets up a shooting star press to the back and the Oscutter on the apron keeps Omega rocked. They head outside with Ospreay ramming him hard into the announcers’ table to knock Omega even sillier.

Omega is sent through the table’s covering and is busted rather open, allowing Ospreay to lick the blood off of his own arm. Ospreay V Triggers him to the floor and grabs the Canadian flag to clean himself, ala Shawn Michaels in 1997. That’s enough for Omega to knock him hard to the floor, where Ospreay is sent hard into the steps to bust him open as well. A DDT onto the steps knocks Ospreay silly again and Omega elbows away at the cut to make the blood flow even more freely. Ospreay powerbombs his way out of a choke and they’re both down.

Back up and Omega hits a V Trigger, only for Ospreay to grab the standing Spanish Fly for two. A rather terrible Sharpshooter sends Omega to the ropes but Ospreay pulls him back in and switches to a Crossface. With the rope break getting Omega out of trouble, Ospreay kicks him in the head a few times. The Oscutter is blocked (perhaps shouting OSCUTTER in advance was a bad idea) and Omega hits some Snapdragons. A piledriver gives Omega two and there’s the V Trigger to the back.

Omega tries a super One Winged Angel but Ospreay counters the chance of death into a Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay hits a skytwister to the floor, followed by a Liger Bomb for two back inside. Omega knocks him down again but here is Don Callis (the fans are NOT pleased) at ringside. A knee to the face hits Ospreay as Callis hides behind security. Callis’ distraction doesn’t stop the V Trigger but he manages to slip Ospreay a screwdriver.

The One Winged Angel is broken up with the screwdriver to the head and the Hidden Blade into the Stormbreaker gives Ospreay….two. Well that was ridiculous. Ospreay’s One Winged Angel gets one so Omega loads up his own version, only to switch into a German suplex for two. Ospreay Tiger Driver 91’s him for two and it’s a Hidden Blade into Stormbreaker to finally finish Omega at 39:07.

Rating: A. What else do you want here? They sold the idea of two people leaving it all in the ring until one of them couldn’t stand any longer and it felt like a violent war. That’s exactly what this should have been and on almost all accounts, it would have been a bit better without the (awesome) false finish off back to back finishers. That was a bit much and should have been the finish, but that’s a rather nothing complaint all things considered.

Omega has to be helped out due to obvious reasons.

Sting/Darby Allin/Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho/Minoru Suzuki/Sammy Guevara

Guevara flips over Naito to start before hitting a dropkick to take over. Naito sends him outside though and that’s enough for the Tranquilo pose. Allin comes in to yell at Guevara but gets Suzuki instead. That doesn’t go well for Allin so it’s off to Jericho vs. Sting for the big staredown. Sting takes over without much trouble and hits the Stinger Splash into the Scorpion Deathlock.

Guevara makes the save with a cutter and we get a triple Le Suzuki Gods pose. Naito is back in to clean things out and we settle down to Naito’s Gloria being broken up. Everything breaks down and the villains grab triple chokes, which are quickly escaped. Allin hits a dive onto Suzuki but Jericho hits the Judas Effect to cut off Allin’s sequel dive.

Jericho brings out a table (of course) and puts Sting on it before ordering Sammy to hit the 630 off the top to drive him through it. Naito rolls Jericho up for two but Destino is countered into the Walls. Sting is back up for the save so Jericho gives Naito the Codebreaker for to instead. Naito and Sting beat on Suzuki and it’s an atomic drop into a rollup to finish Suzuki at 15:02.

Rating: C. This one didn’t do much for me and it felt like they were just kind of going through the motions in some places. I’m also guessing that Sting was supposed to get up before that 630 but just didn’t in time, which would explain (not excuse, but explain) his quick save. The match wasn’t bad, but nothing you need to see.

Post match Jericho grabs the bat but Sting clears everyone out.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. In summation, it’s Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada.

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

Danielson comes out to Final Countdown for a special moment. Okada goes for the arm to start but Danielson reverses into a surfboard with a double knee stomp to leave Okada a bit annoyed. An elbow to the face drops Danielson and they go to the floor, where Danielson starts working on the arms. Some shots to said arms have Okada in trouble and Danielson cranks away at both back inside. Okada fights up and lets Danielson kick him, which just wakes Okada up even more.

The forearms don’t work because of the arm but it’s fine enough to catch a charging Danielson in a flapjack. They fight to the floor again and this time Danielson is sent into the crowd. Okada is right after him with a big running clothesline, setting up a neckbreaker onto the knee for two back inside. Danielson pops back up and hits a missile dropkick before it’s time to strike it out again.

Okada shotgun dropkicks him into the corner, followed by another dropkick for two. Back up and Danielson goes for the arm again, this time getting in a Disarm-Her. With that broken up, Danielson sends him outside but misses the dive. The Rainmaker is blocked and Okada gets dropkicked up the ramp. The YES Kicks rock Okada but he’s right back with a Tombstone onto the ramp.

Danielson is mostly out of it and the Rainmaker is loaded up. Hold on though as we pause for the doctor, who says Danielson can go, despite convulsing. Danielson is cleared and immediately hits a knee to drop Okada. Danielson declares it time to kick his f****** head in and stomps away but Danielson’s arm seems to have given out.

The YES chant is loaded up but Okada cuts off the running knee with the dropkick. The Landslide sets up the Rainmaker for two but two more attempts miss. Danielson tries the LeBell Lock, only to opt for some weird double arm lock. Okada can’t reach the rope so Danielson lets go and hammers him in the face. The double arm crank goes back on and Okada taps at 27:33.

Rating: A-. This was great in a different way than the Omega vs. Ospreay bloodbath in that this felt more like a traditional classic wrestling match. You had Danielson tearing the arm apart all match while Okada worked on the neck, only to have Danielson get the better of things and tie him up for the win. I had a great time with it, but the lack of a story other than “hey let’s have a classic” slowed it down a bit.

Danielson is banged up to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The two big matches and the ten man tag are more than enough to carry this, but it doesn’t quite get to that all time level. There are some matches on here that don’t exactly feel epic, but the good stuff is so, so good that it carries the rest. Definitely check out Okada vs. Danielson and Ospreay vs. Omega, but the rest you might want to pick and choose (save for the Zero Hour stuff, which added pretty much nothing). Another awesome show here, as we now veer back into the normal AEW material.

Results
Mogul Embassy b. Best Friends/Rocky Romero/El Desperado – Swerve Stomp to Romero
Athena b. Billie Starkz – Gutbuster
El Phantasmo b. Stu Grayson – Arm trap faceplant
Los Ingobernables de Japon b. United Empire – Made In Japan to TJP
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Diamond ring to the head
CM Punk b. Satoshi Kojima – GTS
Orange Cassidy b. Daniel Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr. and Katsuyorhi Shibata – Crucifix to Garcia
Sanada b. Jungle Boy – Moonsault
Elite/Tomohiro Ishii/Eddie Kingston b. Blackpool Combat Club/Konosuke Takeshita/Shota Umino – Brainbuster to Yuta
Toni Storm b. Willow Nightingale – Storm Zero
Will Ospreay b. Kenny Omega – Stormbreaker
Sting/Tetsuya Naito/Darby Allin b. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Minoru Suzuki – Rollup to Suzuki
Bryan Danielson b. Kazuchika Okada – Double arm crank

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