AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Preview: Full Card, Match Predictions & More
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 is coming up this Sunday and before the event takes place, let’s run down everything you need to know about the upcoming pay-per-view.
Who is scheduled for the card? How interesting does the show seem? What’s going to happen with all the matches?
Here is a full preview of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023.
PPV EVENT INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, June 25, 2023
Start Time: 7 p.m. ET (kickoff), 8 p.m. ET (main show)
Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MATCH CARD, PREDICTIONS & HEAT INDEX ANTICIPATION LEVELS
(as currently advertised; card is always subject to change)
Temperature Scale = Scorching > Hot > Lukewarm > Temperate > Chilly > Cold > Freezing
Heat Index is my assessment of how interesting the segment is, including how excited I am for the match and how intriguing the feud has been. The hotter, the better. Scorching translates to not being able to wait to see it, while Freezing means I couldn’t possibly care less and think it will be awful.
SINGLES MATCH:
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
Heat Index = Scorching
Prediction: Kazuchika Okada wins.
Thoughts: This match has a lot of hype to live up to, but I think they’ll pull it off. It’s Danielson and Okada. C’mon. Of course I’m Scorching for this. It has Match of the Year potential. As far as a winner goes, Okada is the more protected of the two, so I’m leaning in his direction. Someone from The Elite may interfere to cost Danielson the match to further that feud.
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: MJF wins.
Thoughts: I can’t say I know too too much about Tanahashi’s style, but from what I have seen, he seems to be a better fit to fight MJF than some others. Plus, he’s a guy who can lose. We all know MJF isn’t going to drop his title here, so it’s more about the journey to see what type of in-ring performance they pull off. I have faith it’ll be quite fun.
IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay
Heat Index = Scorching
Prediction: Will Ospreay wins.
Thoughts: Hell yeah. These two will have an amazing Match of the Year candidate bout. Since Ospreay is a New Japan guy, it makes more sense for him to win this belt and carry it going forward, than for it to be still on Omega. A win for Ospreay also sets up a rubber match. Don Callis or someone else will interfere and cost Omega.
IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Sanada (c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Sanada wins.
Thoughts: I enjoy pretty much all of Jungle Boy’s matches, so I doubt I’ll dislike this. However, I know next to nothing about Sanada. He doesn’t strike me as one of those strong champions that New Japan is putting a lot of stock into, but that’s an outsider’s perspective way beyond being tapped in. This just gives me a vibe that it’s a midcard title match that happens to be a world title match. Sanada retains, obviously. I’d bet my bank account on that.
AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Toni Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale
Heat Index = Cold
Prediction: Toni Storm wins.
Thoughts: I’ve said this about everything related to The Outcasts and their extended opponents for the past year, but I’ll repeat it again. Stop doing the same matches. I didn’t care before and I certainly won’t care again here with a repeat. Willow stands no chance. She already has her belt. Storm isn’t dropping it. This is just pure filler. How is it that once again, the women’s division has such a blah match on this card? You can’t find anyone from New Japan’s affiliation to challenge Storm here? It was all riding on Mercedes Mone and nobody else? Moving on.
AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR-WAY MATCH:
Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Orange Cassidy wins.
Thoughts: Admittedly, I think I would have preferred just Zack Sabre Jr against Orange Cassidy, despite how adding two more talented people doesn’t really hurt the match. But if it were down to that, I’d be more convinced there would be a title change. Now, with the four-way idea, I think Cassidy is retaining. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing overall, as OC has been one of my favorites from the very first show and I’ve enjoyed this title reign a lot. But it does take a little away from the match to feel like the title isn’t in as much jeopardy. It should still be great, though.
MEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: CM Punk wins.
Thoughts: Replacement match, right? Surely this wasn’t the plan for the past several weeks or longer. Since this is a tournament match, Punk is the in-house guy, Kojima is someone who can lose AND Punk just returned and they won’t want to have him lose momentum this fast, I think we can all bet safely Punk is winning this.
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
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: The Elite wins.
Thoughts: On paper, sure. But I honestly don’t think this will meet or exceed the Anarchy in the Arena match. I’m not salivating over Ishii and Umino popping into this feud, either. It’s just not striking me as super amazing wow factor awesomeness. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though. As far as a winner goes, I’ll lean more toward The Elite to offset Omega losing. I can imagine Kingston pins Castagnoli to set up a future rematch for the ROH title.
TRIOS TAG TEAM MATCH:
Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki vs. Sting, Darby Allin, and TBA
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: Sting, Darby Allin and TBA wins.
Thoughts: Without even knowing the third member of Team Sting, I’m still expecting them to win. Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho will have some sort of miscommunication that will lead to their team’s downfall. That will, in turn, further set up Jericho vs. Guevara at All In or All Out.
[PRE-SHOW]
WOMEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
Athena vs. Billie Starkz
Heat Index = Chilly
Prediction: Athena wins.
Thoughts: Unless the whole plan is for Starkz to be set up to beat Athena for the ROH Women’s World Championship, I can’t imagine a scenario where Athena loses this match. It’s a first-round tournament bout. Athena’s the more established name and a champion. Yeah, she wins, and it’s probably going to be a match I don’t pay too much attention to, overall, unless they capture me in the first 2 or 3 minutes.
OVERALL PPV:
How excited am I for the event as a whole?
Heat Index = Hot
Thoughts: There are a couple “meh” matches, but also some that I’m really looking forward to. This has Event of the Year potential, for sure. Let’s see what else gets added to the card (if anything) and how all of this plays out. I’m more excited for this than some of the other recent events in both AEW and WWE.
What do you think is going to happen at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door? Which matches are you most excited to see? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
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