AEW's annual cross-promotional pay-per-view returns for the fourth year in a row with today's Forbidden Door, live from the O2 Arena in London, England. There are nine matches scheduled for the main card, which begins at 1 p.m. ET. Before that, starting at 11:30 ET, the Zero Hour pre-show is set to include four bouts.
Following his big win at AEW All In last month, "Hangman" Adam Page will defend the AEW World Championship against Maxwell Jacob Friedman, and the title can change hands through count-out or disqualification.
Athena won the Women's Casino Gauntlet match last month to earn a title shot, and the longtime ROH Women's World Champion quickly chose "Timeless" Toni Storm and her AEW Women's World Championship, with Forbidden Door as the venue.
No titles will be on the line but blood will likely be shed in the ten-man Lights Out steel cage match. The teams are comprised of Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, the Young Bucks, and Gabe Kidd against Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin, and NJPW's Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Kazuchika Okada will defend the AEW Unified Championship against Swerve Strickland, with reports indicating that Strickland is dealing with an injury heading into the bout.
The AEW World Tag Team Championship will be up for grabs in an elimination three-way, featuring The Hurt Syndicate defending against FTR and the duo of Brody King and Bandido. Meanwhile, in another tag match, Christian Cage will rely on the help of his old friend Adam Copeland as they take on two of Cage's former allies, Killswitch and Kip Sabian.
Both the TBS and TNT Championships will be defended, with Kyle Fletcher facing Hiromu Takahashi while Mercedes Mon has to contend with Alex Windsor, Bozilla, and Persephone. Nigel McGuinness will also challenge Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
The Zero Hour pre-show begins with Renee Paquette, RJ City, Jeff Jarrett, and Madison Rayne covering everything planned for today's show.
They spend some time going in depth on tonight's biggest matches. Paquette points out that Ospreay was not medically cleared ahead of the cage match tonight. Jarrett says he's not worried about it while City shared his concern for everyone involved. After that, both Jarrett and Rayne expressed their confidence that Page will retain today.
Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, El Desperado, and Yuya Uemura vs. Josh Alexander, Hechicero, Lio Rush, and Action Andretti
With Taz unable to make the journey to the United Kingdom, Excalibur is joined on commentary by Ian Riccaboni. Rush and Andretti enter first, followed by Don Callis, who introduced Hechicero himself.
The action starts with Uemura and Alexander sizing each other up. Desperado and Hechicero both tag in, trading holds, shoves, and counters until Hechicero starts to take control. He pulls Desperado to the corner and tags Alexander back in, but Rush quickly tags himself in instead.
Andretti distracts Desperado and they start double-teaming the NJPW star. Desperado regains composure and tags O'Reilly in, but the sustained double team proves too much for him. He's able to tag Strong in and the faces are able to briefly regain the advantage. Things break down as all eight men start fighting.
After the melee, Andretti and Rush are back in the ring with Strong, with Rush as the legal man. Strong attempts to tag out but Rush keeps him locked up in the center before hitting him with a suplex and pin attempt. Strong is able to hit a backbreaker on Rush and he struggles to his feet to tag in O'Reilly, who stops Rush from tagging out.
Andretti breaks up O'Reilly's submission attempt on Rush and the heels begin double-teaming the Paragon member again. O'Reilly holds off strong but eventually has to tag in Uemura. The heels tag in Alexander, and he begins exchanging strikes with Uemura.
Uemura dropkicks Alexander and gets fired up, but Alexander regains the advantage and tags in Hechicero, and they begin double-teaming Uemura as Rush and Andretti clear the rest of the opposition. The heels take turns landing offense on Uemura and go for a pin attempt but Desperado breaks it up.
The two teams run through their offense until only Andretti and Rush are left standing. Uemura gets back up, clears and Andretti, and starts wrestling Rush. Uemura gets the pin with a Deadbolt.
WINNERS: Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, El Desperado, and Yuya Uemura
The Don Callis Family starts attacking the winners but Tomohiro Ishii makes his way to the ring. He and Lance Archer face off, and Ishii hits Archer with a Brainbuster. Ishii tries to celebrate with Strong and O'Reilly but Strong isn't into it.
Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, and Michael Oku
Ricochet and Oku start off together in the ring, with Oku taking the immediate edge before GOA gets involved. The heel advantage doesn't last long, with JetSpeed neutralizing GOA so Oku can focus on Ricochet.
Oku takes a nasty fall to the outside after being shoved in mid-air by Liona. Ricochet pulls Oku into the ring and attempts a pinfall but Oku kicks out. GOA work on Oku before Ricochet tags back in. Oku starts to gain steam, goes for a tag but Ricochet stops him and tags out. Oku tags in Knight, who starts taking out the opposition.
Bailey tags in and all three faces start working on Kaun before Ricochet breaks up a pin. Everyone gets leveled with a series of offense until Oku and Ricochet are left to tag in. Oku avoids a kick and knocks Ricochet to the ground on the outside. He pumps up the crowd, jumps onto Ricochet, and avoids a tackle from Liona.
Oku then hits Ricochet with a frogsplash in the ring but Ricochet kicks out of the pin attempt. GOA get into the ring but JetSpeed stop them from taking out Oku. Ricochet then hits Knight with a knee but Bailey avoids being thrown out. Bailey takes out GOA on the outside and Knight clotheslines Ricochet, with Oku hitting a springboard moonsault.
Ricochet kicks out but Oku puts him in a half-crab but GOA takes down JetSpeed. Ref Rick Knox gets distracted by GOA, Ricochet gouges Oku's eyes, and the heels regain the advantage, with Ricochet picking up the win.
WINNERS: Ricochet and GOA
Don Callis is backstage for an interview, hyping up Okada and Fletcher in their title defenses. He says he wouldn't mind having Strickland join his family if it wasn't for Prince Nana.
Megan Bayne, Julia Hart, Skye Blue, and Thekla (accompanied by Penelope Ford) vs. KrisStatlander, Willow Nightingale, Queen Aminata, and Harley Cameron
The match starts with an eight-woman brawl, but the faces take control and get their opponents separated into each corner. Nightingale and Thekla begin wrestling and Thekla stops Nightingale's momentum before tagging in Hart. Hart ends up in the ring with Aminata, who gets in some offense before tagging in Statlander.
Hart gets away from Statlander and tags in Blue, and they start working on Statlander together, with Hart tagging back in. They clothesline Statlander into the outside and clear the faces from the ring apron. Megan Bayne and Thekla execute some tandem offense onto their opponents on the outside before Thekla tags in and throws Stat into the corner.
Stat reverses another whip into the corner but Thekla gets Statlander into a submission in the corner before tagging Hart in. Statlander gets thrown into a kick and goes for a pin attempt but Stat kicks out. Blue tags in but Statlander is able to tag Cameron in, and Bayne makes her way into the match.
Cameron is able to get an advantage over Bayne with some quick offense. Bayne regains her footing and takes control of Cameron, but she's able to tag Aminata in. She and Bayne exchange offense and Aminata gets Bayne down, allowing her to tag in Nightingale. Bayne tags Blue in and Blue takes Nightingale by surprise. Nightingale reverses and goes for a pin attempt but it's broken up.
Aminata and Thekla start duking it out in the center of the ring and Aminata goes down. Thekla dives from the corner onto Aminata and Statlander, leaving everyone down on the ground except for Thekla. She and Aminata fight their way up the ramp and away from the ring. Bayne and Cameron are in the ring as the legal wrestlers, and Bayne goes for a Liger Bomb against Cameron until Harley removes her facemask and gains the advantage.
They both end up down and Cameron goes for the tag until Blue and Hart pull Nightingale off the apron. Nightingale knocks them both down and gets back into position, but Bayne tags in and kicks her down. Cameron tries to roll Bayne up but Bayne kicks out. Bayne lands a Liger Bomb on Cameron and pins her.
WINNERS: Megan Bayne and the Triangle of Madness
The Young Bucks are backstage with Lexi Nair, but they soon start bullying one of the production crew members for their recent treatment. Matt says he wants their old music and the correct graphics, and he tasks the crew member with filling up a bag with weapons and hiding it under the ring for the cage match.
Tony Schiavone is out and he introduces Tony Khan, Dr. Martha Hart, and Owen Hart's son Oje. Khan announces the show as the biggest wrestling crowd in the history of the O2 Arena, and Dr. Hart says she likes MJF but thinks Page will win tonight.
AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Opps (Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Powerhouse Hobbs) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors, Robbie X, and Drilla Maloney)
Shibata and Connors start thing out, with Riccaboni pointing out that Shibata trained Connors. They trade strikes and Shibata throws Connors to the outside. He tosses Connors into the barricades throughout the outside and gestures to the crowd before throwing Connors back into the ring.
Connors hits Shibata with a shoulder tackle and takes control, with Maloney tagging in. However, Shibata throws him into the corner and tags Joe in. They exchange elbows but Maloney is able to get Joe down with a dropkick. X tags in and attempts to get the better of Joe in strikes but it doesn't work, and Joe recreates his viral moment with Serpentico by casually avoiding a dive from X.
Joe tags Shibata in and Shibata brutalizes X in the corner. He gets for the pin attempt but X kicks out, and Shibata puts X in a sleeper hold. Shibata bounces off the ropes but Connors grabs his legs and pulls him outside as Maloney pulls Joe off the apron. Hobbs gets involved on the outside and he takes Connors down.
Shibata makes his way back into the ring but X has the momentum. He hits a senton on Shibata but the NJPW star kicks out, and then X tags in Maloney. He and Shibata exchange chops and Maloney gets control. Connors tags in and he tries to pin Shibata but Shibata kicks out, goading Connors into chopping him repeatedly. Shibata gets fired up but Connors takes a cheap shot. Still, Shibata escapes and tags in Hobbs for the first time.
Hobbs takes down the other team by himself, landing heavy hits on Maloney in the corner before dropping him with a lariat. Connors hits Hobbs with a chop block out of nowhere and Xclears Joe and Shibata from the apron. The War Dogs beat down Hobbs and go for a pin but Hobbs kicks out. Maloney attempts to hit Hobbs with the Drilla Killa but Hobbs counters and tags in Joe as Maloney tags in X.
Joe lands a powerslam on X but Connors break up the pin attempt. Connors and Maloney start beating down Joe as X climbs to the top rope. Shibata knocks him down though, and prevents Gedo from getting involved. This allows Hobbs to regain the advantage over Maloney as Joe hits a muscle buster on X for the win.
WINNERS: The Opps
