AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 is scheduled for June 25, 2023 at ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Follow along here for spoilers and information on the event's card, lineup of matches and news regarding the pay-per-view.
The following are my predictions for the 2023 AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door PPV. Check back for Forbidden Door 2023 results and review coverage here when the time comes.
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| AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Spoilers |
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sanada (c) vs. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
Obviously, Sanada isn't going to lose his title. Not only is there the company crossover effect in play where I doubt New Japan would want their title changing hands on a non-NJPW-specific show, but also, Jack Perry isn't going to just wrestle a full schedule for them. You can't give the belt to an AEW guy, or vice versa. Plus, Perry isn't ready for that type of spotlight just yet. But this match should be a lot of fun, regardless. This is an interesting choice for a challenger when they could have gone with any number of other guys like Chris Jericho or other more established main event talent.
PREDICTION: Sanada retains.
AEW World Championship Match: MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Just like with the IWGP world title, MJF isn't going to lose the top title of AEW to a non-AEW guy. Tanahashi is a veteran that will put up a challenge and give MJF someone to tout that he's beaten. The match should be great and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they work together. Cool!
PREDICTION: MJF retains.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay
Keeping the title on Kenny Omega wouldn't be the biggest shock in the world, but I'm 100% going with Ospreay recapturing it. Why? Two-fold. Omega beat Ospreay for it, so if you do the opposite, they're 1-1. On top of that, Omega's had it for 150+ days. That's already one of the longer reigns, putting Omega behind just Jon Moxley for overall combined days. Giving it back to Ospreay, who will be wrestling more often for New Japan, naturally, just makes sense. Omega frees up his commitments and can still wrestle a NJPW show if wanted, but it just doesn't have to be for this particular title. And with Don Callis potentially screwing Omega over to further that feud, this just all points toward Ospreay winning.
PREDICTION: Will Ospreay wins the title.
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
This match should be awesome. There doesn't need to be any rhyme or reason for it. Just let these two go out there, wrestle the best match they can, and that's all you need. Okada is winning this, I bet. Danielson strikes me as the type of guy who would say "I just want to wrestle this person. I don't need to win the match, too."
PREDICTION: Kazuchika Okada wins.
AEW Women's World Championship Match: Toni Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale
Didn't they do this match before, too? My goooooooooooooooooood I'm so sick of the same people feuding in circles. Willow has her own belt. She's not winning this from Storm right now. SKIP.
PREDICTION: Toni Storm wins.
AEW International Championship Four-way Match: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia
If this were just Zack Sabre Jr, I would think he's winning the title. Having Shibata and Garcia involved, though, convinces me Garcia's taking the pinfall and Cassidy is retaining. I'm not 100% confident in that, as I keep thinking the belt is going to change hands, but I don't think it'll happen in a four-way. A singles match works better.
PREDICTION: Orange Cassidy wins.
Men's Owen Hart Cup Tournament First Round Match: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
CM Punk obviously wins. And this seems more like a replacement match where maybe they couldn't settle on a finish for Punk against KENTA, so they settled on picking someone from New Japan who could lose. Punk isn't going to lose this quickly into his return. Not happening. He might even go to the finals of this tournament, if not win it.
PREDICTION: CM Punk wins.
10-Man Tag Team Match: Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita, and Shota Umino vs. The Elite ("Hangman" Adam Page, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii
BCC have gotten the better of The Elite in a few scenarios. It's time to balance out the scales a bit. Whether it's Ishii pinning Umino or something to avoid directly having a guy like Jon Moxley take a pin, or its Kingston pinning Castagnoli to set up a rematch for the ROH title, the babyfaces winning this seem like a more fruitful option in my mind. There's also a chance Kota Ibushi shows up to help them out.
PREDICTION: The Elite, Kingston and Ishii win.
Trios Tag Team Match: Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki vs. Sting, Darby Allin, and TBA
Depending on who that third person is for the babyface team, that could sway the pendulum even more in their direction—but even without knowing who it is, I'm still going with Sting's team winning. Miscommunication between Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara seems like an obvious direction to go to further that story and set up a match between the two at All In or All Out.
PREDICTION: Sting, Darby Allin and TBA wins.
[PRE-SHOW] Women's Owen Hart Cup Tournament First Round Match: Athena vs. Billie Starkz
Athena wins. She's the contracted star who has a more prominent spot on the roster and to have the ROH women's champion lose in the first round would only be beneficial if they were specifically setting up Starkz to fight her for that belt. That might be the case, but I still think Athena is just winning and it's as simple as that.
PREDICTION: Athena wins.
More matches will be announced. Check back frequently for updates to the card and to my predictions and potential spoilers.
This page will be altered on a regular basis to reflect changes to the show including any new matches added to the lineup, adjustments to the card, revised predictions and any other information about this event. Stay tuned for the latest updates!
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