All Elite Wrestling returns to pay-per-view today (Aug. 24) with Forbidden Door in London’s O2 Arena.
The free Zero Hour pre-show kicks things off starting at 11:30 am ET on All Elite’s YouTube channel. That leads right into the PPV at 1 pm ET, which you can buy from PPV.com, Amazon, and YouTube in the United States, as well as on traditional PPV. Internationally, it’s on Triller TV, and may be available via those providers as well.
Will Ospreay is doing something very dumb before he has neck surgery
The main event of Forbidden Door is a Lights Out Steel Cage match
pitting Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Darby Allin against Jon Moxley, Young Bucks, Claudio Castagnoli, and Gabe Kidd.
The big story underlying this match is about Will Ospreay’s health. In the aftermath of All In Texas, Ospreay revealed he has two herniated discs that are going into his spinal cord. Ospreay strongly hinted that he will undergo neck surgery to correct the injury after Forbidden Door. If there’s a chance he will never be the same wrestler again following that operation, then he will go out with a bang today in his home country and give everything he has left in this hardcore style cage match.
If Ospreay is true to his word, then it’s pretty much guaranteed he will attempt multiple spectacular spots in this main event that don’t seem like the smartest idea for a wrestler in his condition. Regardless, Ospreay said the doctors told him the injury won’t get worse by wrestling in this match, so he won’t be deterred.
On paper, the heel side isn’t very flashy in terms of star power, especially since Moxley, Kidd, and Claudio are teaming up with a couple of jobbers who no longer have influence behind the scenes in AEW. However, there are all sorts of questions about the health and/or current skills of most of the big stars on the babyface side.
Ospreay’s injured neck has already been covered. The legendary Tanahashi had a hard time running at full speed last week. Omega is rusty (hasn’t performed since July 12) and still adjusting to wrestling post-diverticulitis. Ibushi is nowhere near the same level of performer he was at his peak due to all the injuries he’s endured. With all of that in mind, it’s a very good thing they’ll be able to cover up their weaknesses with all the weapons and blood that come with a Lights Out Steel Cage match.
This main event match may ultimately come down to Moxley vs. Darby, the two leading men who are going to keep going at it until something very bad happens to one of them. Darby has promised to take everything away from Mox, and recently even tried to murder him. Will one of them end up in a body bag by the time this unsanctioned match is finished?
Tune into Forbidden Door to see Will Ospreay’s last hurrah in AEW before neck surgery, and to also see pure chaos and violence play out between so many top stars inside a steel cage.
The rest of the card
These remaining 12 matches and segments are also currently advertised for today at Forbidden Door:
“Timeless” Toni Storm (c) vs. Athena for the AEW women’s world championship
Athena is so confident she has Toni Storm’s number that she went ahead and announced she’s cashing in her Casino Gauntlet contract for a world title match at Forbidden Door, rather than using the more strategic method of surprising a vulnerable champ with a title match on zero notice. Will that level of hubris cause Athena’s downfall in London?
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Swerve Strickland for the AEW Unified Championship
This title match follows Continental rules, which means nobody is allowed at ringside. That might normally favor a babyface former world champion like Swerve, but he’s unfortunately going into this fight with a bum knee. Does that mean he’s about to become just another one of Okada’s bitches?
Hangman Page (c) vs. MJF for the AEW world championship
Hangman initially duped MJF into using his Casino Gauntlet contract to get this title match at Forbidden Door. However, after MJF kidnapped Mark Briscoe and threatened to burn him to death, Page caved and said MJF can challenge for his title and still hold onto that contract. He also granted MJF’s demand that the title can change hands on a disqualification or count out. If MJF loses this match, will he immediately cash in his contract for another title match if the opportunity presents itself?
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness for the IWGP world championship
This is the kind of dream match that exemplifies what Forbidden Door is all about. Nigel won a 4-way Technical Spectacle in order to earn this title match, and one of the men he beat (Daniel Garcia) is now in his corner today. Will Daniel turn on Nigel if he blows this opportunity that he took away from him?
Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Alex Windsor vs. Bozilla vs. Persephone for the TBS championship
The CEO suffered her first singles loss in AEW last month at All In Texas, but that has not stopped her from adding more belts to her collection. Nine Belts Mone looks to keep the good times rolling by fending off challengers from AEW, Stardom, and CMLL all in the same match. But can Alex Windsor pull off a major upset with the backing of fans in her home country?
Hurt Syndicate (c) vs. Brodido vs. FTR for the AEW world tag team championship
The AEW world tag team championship eliminator tournament didn’t have winner when the final match between FTR and Brodido ended in a time limit draw. There’s a rumor that AEW booked things that way because Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin don’t want to do the job for FTR. If Dax and Cash end up pinning Brodido to win the belts here, those rumors will certainly seem more credible.
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Killswitch & Kip Sabian
E&C are finally back together in AEW, and their reunion match takes place today at Forbidden Door. Cope and his asshole Cage are going to wipe the floor with the former Patriarchy members, before (probably) moving on to a fight with FTR somewhere down the line, perhaps as soon as All Out in Toronto on September 20.
Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the TNT championship
Fletcher and Don Callis demanded a title defense against NJPW’s best pound-for-pound wrestler, and Takahashi answered the call. Hiromu was on the winning side of an 8-man tag match against the Callis Family on the go home episode of Collision, but can he beat Fletcher with the title on the line?
The Opps (c) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs for the AEW world trios championship (pre-show)
Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney, and Robbie X showed up on Dynamite to back up their guy Gabe Kidd in a wild brawl that The Opps were involved in, related to the story of the Lights Out Steel Cage match. Now the two factions will clash over the AEW trios titles, which are very likely staying put with Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Powerhouse Hobbs.
Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, Queen Aminata & Harley Cameron vs. Triangle of Madness & Megan Bayne (pre-show)
Can Statlander and Nightingale work together in this “all-star” 8-woman tag team match to take down Megan Bayne? If not, does Harley Cameron have enough wrath to go around for the entire heel team to feel?
Yuya Uemura, Paragon & El Desperado vs. Hechicero, Josh Alexander & CRU (pre-show)
Tony Khan is also slapping the “all-star” label on this somewhat random mishmash of an 8-man tag team match, because of course he is.
JetSpeed & Michael Oku vs. Ricochet & GOA (pre-show)
AEW needed to find a spot somewhere on this card for Ricochet, even though he is very bald.
Summary
NJPW’s involvement in the build to this cross-promotional event was thrown off by the G1 tournament, which prevented many of its stars from showing up in AEW until last week. Overall I’d say Forbidden Door still looks like a good card, but one that is dependent on the main event cage match to deliver at a high level.
What will you be looking for at Forbidden Door?
