Posted on 8/24/125 by Bob Magee
AEW and NJPW (along with CMLL and STARDOM) tore the house
down at London’s sold-out O2 Arena for Forbidden Door 2025,
delivering one of the most violent, emotional, and
unforgettable nights in company history.
In a show that featured dream matches and title changes,
fans witnessed “Hangman” Adam Page retain the AEW World
Championship against MJF, Toni Storm force Athena to tap out
to keep the AEW Women’s World Title, and Mercedes Moné
outlast three challengers to remain TBS Champion. Meanwhile,
Brodido stunned the world by dethroning The Hurt Syndicate
to become AEW World Tag Team Champions, and Zack Sabre Jr.
survived Nigel McGuinness in a technical masterclass to hold
onto the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
But it was the chaotic Lights Out Steel Cage Match that
defined the night, as Darby Allin, Will Ospreay, Hiroshi
Tanahashi, and the Golden Lovers overcame the Death Riders,
Gabe Kidd, and the Young Bucks—only for Jon Moxley and
Claudio Castagnoli to leave Ospreay motionless in a
horrifying post-match assault. Add in Wardlow’s shocking
return to align with the Don Callis Family, and Forbidden
Door proved once again to be AEW’s most unpredictable and
explosive pay-per-view of the year.
Here’s your full AEW Forbidden Door 2025 recap, including
the results of every match.
AEW Forbidden Door Recap: Results for Every Match
Zero Hour 8-Man Tag Team Match: El Desperado, Paragon
(Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly), & Yuyu Uemura def. CRU
(Action Andretti & Lio Rush) & Don Callis Family (Hechicero
& Josh Alexander)
Zero Hour Trios Match: GOA (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) &
Ricochet def. JetSpeed (Kevin Knight & "Speedball" Mike
Bailey) & Michael Oku
Zero Hour 8-Woman Tag Team Match: Megan Bayne & Triangle of
Madness (Julia Hart, Skye Blue and Thekla) def. Harley
Cameron, Kris Statlander, Queen Aminata & Willow Nightingale
AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Opps (Samoa Joe,
Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs) def. Bullet Club War
Dogs (Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney and Robbie X)
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage def. Killswitch & Kip Sabian
TNT Championship Match: Kyle Fletcher (c) def. Hiromu
Takahashi
TBS Championship 4-Way Match: Mercedes Moné (c) def.
Bozilla, Alex Windsor & Persephone
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr.
(c) def. Nigel McGuinness
AEW World Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Brodido
(Bandido and Brody King) def. Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley
and Shelton Benjamin) (c) & FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax
Harwood)
AEW Women’s World Championship Match: “Timeless” Toni Storm
(c) def. ROH Women’s World Champion Athena
AEW World Championship Match: “Hangman” Adam Page (c) def.
MJF
Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Darby Allin, Golden Lovers
(Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will
Ospreay def. Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Claudio
Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd & Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
Zero Hour 8-Man Tag Team Match: El Desperado, Paragon
(Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly), & Yuyu Uemura def. CRU
(Action Andretti & Lio Rush) & Don Callis Family (Hechicero
& Josh Alexander)
The crowd inside London’s sold-out O2 Arena roared to life
as AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door kicked off with a frenetic all-
star eight-man tag, pitting El Desperado, Paragon, and Yuyu
Uemura against the alliance of CRU and members of the Don
Callis Family.
Josh Alexander and Yuya Uemura started things off with a
mat-based exchange, trading waistlocks and counters before
tagging out to Hechicero and El Desperado. What followed was
a dazzling chain wrestling display between the masked
alchemist of the ring and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight
Champion, complete with counters into counters, including a
brief ankle lock and a stretch muffler attempt from
Desperado before Hechicero slipped free.
The pace quickened as Paragon’s Kyle O’Reilly entered, only
to be hit by a barrage of tandem offense from CRU. Lio Rush
hit a low-angle dropkick while Andretti followed up with a
springboard roundhouse kick. A tag to Roderick Strong turned
the tide, as Paragon connected with an elevated Decapitation
on Hechicero and a thunderous DDT-backbreaker combo.
O’Reilly took over, wrenching Rush into a cross armbar, only
for Andretti to break it up with a standing shooting star
press. As the match descended into chaos, Uemura tagged in
and ran into a barrage of double-team offense from the
Callis side, including a frog splash from Rush. But
Desperado flew in to break up the pin and reset the match.
Action Andretti soared over the top with a tornillo dive.
Rush missed a second frog splash and got rolled up into a
backslide by Uemura, who followed with a butterfly suplex
for a near fall. Moments later, Uemura connected with a
second, bridging butterfly suplex that finally kept Rush
down for the three-count, sealing the win.
But the celebration was short-lived.
The Don Callis Family attacked the victors post-match,
sparking a chaotic beatdown. That is, until Tomohiro Ishii
stormed the ring to even the odds. The Stone Pitbull brawled
with Lance Archer in the center of the ring, absorbing a big
shot before muscling Archer into position for a vertical-
drop brainbuster that brought the crowd to its feet and left
the Murderhawk Monster laid out.
Zero Hour Trios Match: GOA (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) &
Ricochet def. JetSpeed (Kevin Knight & "Speedball" Mike
Bailey) & Michael Oku
The second bout of Zero Hour exploded out of the gates –
literally – as Ricochet and GOA ambushed their opponents
from the opening bell. JetSpeed and Michael Oku fired back,
briefly isolating Ricochet and even slapping him in unison
atop his bald head. But the momentum didn’t last long.
Michael Oku got launched clean over the top rope by a
thunderous POUNCE from Toa Liona that left Oku crumpled on
the floor. From there, Kaun and Liona tagged in and out with
precision, manhandling Oku and cutting the ring in half
while Ricochet taunted on the apron.
Despite being rocked from the pounce, Oku dug deep and
eventually escaped to tag in Kevin Knight, who electrified
the O2 Arena with rapid-fire uppercuts and a picture-perfect
dropkick. Bailey tagged in next and connected with a
standing moonsault double knee drop, and the tag partners
assaulted Kaun with high-impact tandem offense, only for
Ricochet to break up the pin just in time.
The action spilled into chaos as Oku soared to the outside
and wiped Ricochet out, then climbed to the top and
delivered a frog splash. Somehow, Ricochet kicked out at
two.
JetSpeed kept GOA at bay with missile dropkicks while Oku
applied his signature Half Crab, dragging Ricochet to the
center of the ring and wrenching back with everything he
had. But just as Ricochet looked on the verge of tapping, he
gouged Oku’s eyes behind the referee’s back to escape.
Bishop Kaun struck next with a shotgun dropkick, and GOA hit
“Open the Gates” to lay out Oku. Ricochet blasted Oku with a
Spirit Gun to score the pinfall.
“Career-defining moment snatched away by Ricochet,”
Excalibur noted, as the victorious trio stood tall.
Zero Hour 8-Woman Tag Team Match: Megan Bayne & Triangle of
Madness (Julia Hart, Skye Blue and Thekla) def. Harley
Cameron, Kris Statlander, Queen Aminata & Willow Nightingale
The O2 Arena came unglued as eight of AEW’s fiercest
competitors collided in an all-star eight-woman tag team
clash during Zero Hour. And while the matchup began in
chaos, it ended in heartbreak for the fan-favorite quartet,
thanks to a dominant showing from the "Megasus" Megan Bayne
and the undefeated Triangle of Madness.
Fists flew before the bell even settled, with all eight
women pairing off in wild brawls across the ring. Statlander
and Bayne renewed hostilities in one corner, while Willow
Nightingale drove Skye Blue face-first into the turnbuckle
across the ring. In a fun early moment, all four of Harley,
Stat, Aminata and Willow hit synchronized mounted punches in
the corners to the delight of the crowd.
Once order was restored, Willow took command, battering
Thekla with a corner lariat and a hip attack before tagging
in Queen Aminata. The Queen delivered a swing into a full
nelson bomb, followed by her Chocolate Kisses. Statlander
followed up with a lateral press, but only earned a two-
count.
Momentum shifted after Julia Hart connected with a blind tag
and dropped Statlander with a clothesline to the back of the
neck. Triangle of Madness took over, isolating Statlander
with punishing corner offense. Hart and Skye Blue alternated
in, both landing covers for near-falls. Penelope Ford got
involved from ringside, and the numbers game continued to
overwhelm the opposition.
Eventually, Harley Cameron tagged in and unleashed a fast-
paced offensive flurry of headscissors and back elbows that
rattled Megan Bayne. But Bayne countered a springboard with
a massive fallaway slam. From there, Aminata and Thekla
brawled up the ramp, Willow flattened Skye Blue with a
spinebuster and a Death Valley Driver, only to have the pin
broken up. As all eight women tumbled in and out of the
ring, chaos reigned.
In the final stretch, Harley Cameron found herself legal
against Bayne. She connected with a surprise DDT and ripped
off her protective facemask to strike Bayne in the face with
it, nearly scoring the win with a schoolboy pin, but Bayne
kicked out at two. Statlander accidentally knocked out her
own teammate Willow with a misfired strike, creating the
opening Bayne needed. With Harley reeling, Bayne muscled her
up and planted her with the Liger Bomb for the emphatic
three-count.
Backstage, the Young Bucks approach a member of the
production team in front of a table of tools and various
potential weapons and demand the most dangerous weapons that
he can find for the Lights Out Steel Cage Match later.
AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Opps (Samoa Joe,
Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs) def. Bullet Club War
Dogs (Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney and Robbie X)
The final Zero Hour bout saw the AEW World Trios
Championships on the line as The Opps defended their gold
against the brash and brutal Bullet Club War Dogs trio of
Clark Connors, Drilla Maloney, and Robbie X. With Gedo
looming at ringside, the challengers did everything in their
power to steal the belts, but The Opps proved too powerful,
too composed, and too violent.
Shibata and Connors opened with a stiff exchange of elbows
and forearms, the veteran outclassing his former pupil early
before Connors caught him with a chop and a knee strike.
Moloney tagged in next, but the match turned when Shibata
brought in Samoa Joe, who flattened the War Dogs with jabs
and a big boot before Robbie X entered to try his luck. Joe
dodged a springboard, caught Robbie on the way down, and
tagged Shibata back in to press the advantage.
Connors turned the tide by yanking Shibata off the apron and
sending him crashing into the barricade, allowing the War
Dogs to isolate Shibata. Moloney drilled him with stomps,
and Robbie X landed a senton for a near fall.
When Shibata finally tagged Hobbs, he cleaned house with
explosive offense, tossing Moloney, flattening Robbie X, and
hoisting Moloney into the air with a massive spinebuster.
But a quick chop block from Connors and a heel kick from X
set Hobbs up for a triple-team combo that nearly ended it.
Robbie X climbed to the top rope for a final blow, but
Shibata popped back up and kicked him off the turnbuckle. In
the chaos that followed, Joe locked Clark Connors in a
sleeper while Shibata took out Maloney. With the ring
cleared, Samoa Joe snatched Robbie X and delivered a
crushing Muscle Buster to seal the win and retain the AEW
World Trios Championship.
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage def. Killswitch & Kip Sabian
For the first time in more than a decade, Adam Copeland and
Christian Cage reunited as a tag team, stepping into the
ring together at Forbidden Door to take on Killswitch and
Kip Sabian, accompanied by Mother Wayne. The O2 Arena
erupted for the reunion of the legendary duo, though
questions about trust and history loomed large.
Copeland and Sabian opened, with the Rated-R Superstar
quickly grounding Kip before Cage tagged in to unleash right
hands on his former protégé. Sabian scurried to his corner,
bringing in Killswitch for a thunderous exchange with
Copeland. The fight spilled outside, where Copeland drilled
the dinosaur into the barricade with a dropkick, only for
Mother Wayne to step in his path. In the confusion,
Killswitch manhandled Sabian and hurled him at Copeland from
a power-bomb position.
The alliance between Sabian and Killswitch showed early
strain. Aggressive blind tags and miscommunications piled
up, with Killswitch throwing Kip at his opponents. Sabian,
bloodied above the eye, barked orders at the monster while
Cage was yanked off the apron by Mother Wayne to prevent a
tag.
In a moment of chaos, Killswitch hoisted Sabian onto his
shoulders, allowing Copeland to connect with a spear that
flattened Kip. Cage finally tagged in, lighting up
Killswitch with chop after chop before sending him shoulder-
first into the ring post. He even choked both of his former
family members simultaneously across the ropes, regaining
control for his side.
The match reached its breaking point with a flurry of big
shots: Copeland powerbombed Killswitch off the ropes, Cage
followed with a diving headbutt, and together they spiked
the monster with a double Impaler DDT, only for referee
Bryce Remsburg to wave the pin off due to a blind tag by
Sabian. Kip nearly stole the win with a schoolboy on Cage,
but Cage reversed momentum.
With Killswitch neutralized by a spear from Copeland off the
apron, Cage caught Sabian and lifted him directly into the
path of a mighty spear from Copeland, then made the cover
himself.
“In the end it was teamwork,” Tony Schiavone observed, as
Copeland and Cage stood tall to a standing ovation.
Post-match, Cope extended his hand to Cage for a handshake,
which was accepted. That then turned into a brief side-
embrace from Cope – one that Cage shrugged off, although
with no apparent animosity.
TNT Championship Match: Kyle Fletcher (c) def. Hiromu
Takahashi
The high-octane chaos of Forbidden Door continued as “The
Time Bomb” Hiromu Takahashi challenged Kyle Fletcher of the
Don Callis Family for the TNT Championship. With the O2
Arena in London rocking, these two dynamic athletes put on a
hard-hitting clash that had fans on the edge of their seats
until the final bell.
The bout opened with Fletcher using his size and power to
shoulder Takahashi down, while Hiromu responded with
blistering chops. A misdirection stomp to the foot set up a
corner lariat, but the champion cut him down with a massive
boot. Fletcher followed with a kick to the spine, then
delivered multiple emphatic body slams, each punctuated with
covers that forced Takahashi to keep exerting energy.
Takahashi found his rhythm with a barrage of strikes and a
dropkick that earned him a near fall. He then twisted
Fletcher into a dragon screw/arm drag combination, only for
the Aussie powerhouse to snap off a brutal Dragon Suplex and
a Michinoku Driver that left both men sprawled on the
canvas.
The challenger rallied, countering a brainbuster attempt
into a DDT on the apron and following with a devastating
sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. Back inside, Takahashi
connected with an Axe Bomber lariat, a Northern Lights Bomb,
and even after absorbing heavy elbows, he laughed off
Fletcher’s strikes, defiantly standing toe-to-toe with the
champion.
Fletcher responded with an avalanche back suplex off the
ropes and a thunderous Liger Bomb, but Takahashi refused to
stay down. The Time Bomb even countered a Tombstone into a
small package for a razor-close two-count. The crowd erupted
as Takahashi seemed poised for the finish, but Fletcher dug
deep. Dragging Hiromu back to center ring, Fletcher muscled
him up and spiked him with a sheer-drop brainbuster, finally
keeping the challenger down for the decisive three-count.
TBS Championship 4-Way Match: Mercedes Moné (c) def.
Bozilla, Alex Windsor & Persephone
The CEO walked into London with gold around her waist,
escorted by royal guards holding all eight of her belts
other than the TBS Title, but Mercedes Moné had to survive a
global collision of styles, power, and unpredictability to
leave Forbidden Door with the TBS Championship still in her
grasp.
The match kicked off with a brief alliance between
challengers, all three turning their attention to Moné
before Bozilla made her presence known in a big way. The
German juggernaut tossed the champion like a ragdoll,
slammed Persephone with ease, and shook off a sleeper hold
from Windsor while bulldozing both into the corner. But then
she hit the turnbuckles shoulder-first and tumbled to the
floor, opening the door for the other challengers to go at
it.
A flurry of dives followed. Moné’s crossbody was caught,
Windsor dove onto both her and Bozilla, and Persephone added
a suicide dive of her own before dragging Mercedes back into
the ring. The champion went for the Moné Maker, but
Persephone blocked it, rolled through, and triggered a
rapid-fire exchange of pins: a schoolboy, a sunset flip, a
crucifix, all broken up in chaotic succession.
As the match broke down, Moné connected with a Meteora, but
couldn’t score the fall before being swarmed again. With
Persephone and Bozilla meeting Mercedes on the top rope and
Windsor holding onto all three while dangling on the bottom
turnbuckle, the crowd erupted for a massive Tower of Doom
that left all four women laid out in the center of the O2.
Recovering first, Moné trapped Windsor and Persephone,
wrenching back on both women until Windsor managed to break
free. Moments later, Windsor locked both of them in a double
Sharpshooter, but Bozilla reemerged and stomped on their
hands to prevent a tapout, then booted Windsor in the chest
to break the hold entirely.
Bozilla nearly sealed the deal with a top-rope moonsault
that flattened both Persephone and Windsor, but Mercedes
dove in at the last second to save her championship. The CEO
followed up with a poisonrana, but Bozilla still kicked out.
Windsor connected with a fisherman buster, Persephone landed
a crushing slam of her own, and still the match raged on.
Late in the bout, Windsor applied a tight Sharpshooter on
Persephone, but Mercedes broke it with knees to the face.
Persephone tried to fight back with her own submission
attempt, but Mercedes countered, rolling through into a
victory roll that pinned Persephone’s shoulders to the mat
for the three-count.
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr.
(c) def. Nigel McGuinness
In front of a sold-out hometown crowd and British wrestling
legends Johnny Saint and Marty Jones, Nigel McGuinness
returned to the ring for one the biggest matches of his
career, challenging Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World
Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. What followed
was a masterclass in technical wrestling, submission
counters, and grit, with the richest prize in New Japan Pro-
Wrestling on the line.
The match opened in pure mat-wrestling form. McGuinness took
Sabre down with a side headlock and blocked his trademark
headscissors escape, forcing the champion to shimmy out.
Zack returned the favor with a headlock takeover of his own,
but Nigel flipped out. A wristlock takedown from the
champion gave way to a series of tight reversals,
culminating in Sabre stomping the challenger’s arm to regain
control.
McGuinness responded by flipping Sabre the bird, baiting him
in before dropping a knee across his arm and rolling through
into a bridged submission that tortured the champion’s
shoulders. ZSJ fired back with a standing neck twist, a
bicep stomp, and a kick to the elbow, but McGuinness
weathered the storm and countered with a hammerlock. Both
men were visibly hurting early.
With Daniel Garcia watching from ringside, McGuinness laid
in wait and floored the champion with a lariat that earned a
close near-fall. He looked for the London Dungeon, but Sabre
grabbed the ropes, so Nigel stomped the arm instead. Sabre
regained control with a pump kick and looked to finish
things with a flying armbar, adding a toehold for good
measure, wrenching both limbs as Garcia tried desperately to
will Nigel to the ropes.
Trading uppercuts, both men staggered. Sabre, bleeding from
the nose, fell into the corner. McGuinness struck with a
pendulum lariat, then followed with a ripcord lariat, but
still, ZSJ kicked out. Nigel finally locked in the London
Dungeon deep in the center of the ring, but Sabre flipped
free, and McGuinness transitioned to a triangle choke,
snapping Sabre’s finger as Garcia once again got too close
to the ropes.
Sabre escaped to the apron, landed a headscissors in the
ropes, and got in Garcia’s face before climbing back in.
McGuinness caught him mid-step and dropped him with the
Tower of London, but Sabre got his foot on the bottom rope
just in time. A pendulum lariat fakeout set up a kneeling
pin attempt, which Sabre reversed into the European Clutch,
but McGuinness kicked out.
Down the stretch, the two men traded rapid-fire cradles and
reversals, until Sabre leaned back with a deep sunset flip,
anchoring McGuinness by the wrists and legs to trap him for
the three-count. After the bell, the champion shook his
challenger’s hand and embraced him before acknowledging the
legends in the front row. Garcia entered the ring and raised
McGuinness’ hand as the crowd roared their appreciation.
Moments later, Tony Schiavone announced an official
attendance of 18,992—the largest wrestling crowd in O2 Arena
history. We then see Thekla and Queen Aminata brawling
backstage, which spills out onto the arena floor ahead of
the next match.
AEW World Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Brodido
(Bandido and Brody King) def. Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley
and Shelton Benjamin) (c) & FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax
Harwood)
The AEW World Tag Team Championship hung in the balance as
three of the toughest teams on the roster collided at
Forbidden Door.
The match opened with FTR taking early control, grounding
Bandido before Bobby Lashley stormed in off a blind tag and
flattened both challengers with a double lariat. Lashley
muscled Dax Harwood into a delayed vertical suplex, staring
down Bandido as he dropped Harwood with authority. Shelton
Benjamin tagged in and flung Bandido into the barricade and
apron before launching him overhead with a pumphandle throw
back in the ring.
FTR wisely stayed out of the fray, allowing The Hurt
Syndicate to punish Bandido while Brody King remained
isolated on the apron. After landing a desperation tornillo
on Benjamin, Bandido made the hot tag and Brody King cleaned
house, flattening Cash Wheeler with a Bossman Slam, hitting
a chokeslam bomb on Harwood, and crushing both members of
FTR with a cannonball in the corner.
The arena erupted when King and Lashley squared off, trading
elbows before Lashley cracked him with a spinebuster, only
for Brody to pop back up and return the favor. Benjamin
followed with rolling German suplexes on the big man, but
Cash Wheeler hit the ring and helped spike Shelton with a
Shatter Machine.
The chaos spilled to the floor where Bandido hit a
breathtaking moonsault fallaway slam off the ropes, wiping
out everyone. The Hurt Syndicate looked ready to regroup,
but several masked men in NJPW tracksuits suddenly appeared,
attacking Benjamin and Lashley at ringside and brawling with
them to the back. Moments later, they were revealed to be
Ricochet and GOA.
Back in the ring, Stokely tried to assist FTR by handing Dax
a chair, but Bandido kicked it out of his hands. Brody
shrugged off a dropkick from Wheeler, but Harwood smashed
him in the face with the chair, but still no fall.
As chaos reigned, FTR set Brody King up top for a superplex,
but Bandido shoved Cash off the apron and climbed the
turnbuckles himself. Harwood hit the superplex, but Bandido
followed immediately with a frog splash, landing flush on
Dax. He then added Brodido’s signature assisted monkey flip
splash, lost the cover for a moment, but dove back onto
Harwood and held on for the three-count.
Brody King and Bandido are your new AEW World Tag Team
Champions!
AEW Women’s World Championship Match: “Timeless” Toni Storm
(c) def. ROH Women’s World Champion Athena
In a long-anticipated battle of dominant champions,
“Timeless” Toni Storm put her AEW Women’s World Championship
on the line against Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion
Athena at Forbidden Door. After twenty brutal minutes of
head trauma, steel steps, and interference, Storm managed to
survive, if only barely.
Toni came out hot with fists flying and a hip attack that
sent Athena crashing to the floor. Billie Starkz got in the
challenger’s face, so Storm planted her with a piledriver on
the floor. That distraction gave Athena an opening to
recover and she made the most of it, launching Storm head-
first into the LED barricade, shorting the screen out on
impact.
From there, Athena took over, smashing the champion’s face
into the turnbuckles and then the steel ring post
repeatedly. She targeted the neck with a cravate, punishing
knees, and even drove Storm into the mat with a butterfly
suplex, followed by a neckbreaker. On the floor, she added
insult to injury with a head-first slam into the steel
steps.
Storm fought back with a spinebuster and a suplex, but the
challenger responded with a hurricanrana, a Liger Bomb, and
finally locked in the Koji Clutch, forcing Storm to crawl
and barely get a boot to the bottom rope.
Back on the floor, Storm turned the tables with a face-first
slam into the steps, then tossed Athena into the barricade
and dragged her back inside. A headbutt and Storm Zero
followed, but Athena somehow kicked out.
Billie Starkz returned to the apron to run interference, but
before she could, Mina Shirakawa rushed down with a chair.
While the chaos unfolded, Athena nearly sealed the win with
an O-Face over the ropes, but Storm kicked out again. A
rolling uppercut stunned the champion, but when Athena tried
again, Storm dodged and locked in the TCM Chickenwing,
complete with hooks on the mat. With nowhere to go, Athena
tapped out.
AEW World Championship Match: “Hangman” Adam Page (c) def.
MJF
After weeks of manipulation and mind games,Maxwell Jacob
Friedman finally got what he wanted: a shot at the AEW World
Championship under his own rules. But despite the countout
and disqualification stipulations heavily stacked in his
favor, MJF still couldn’t stop “Hangman” Adam Page at
Forbidden Door.
MJF bailed to the floor the moment the bell rang, goading
Hangman into following him. Page chased him down, laying in
heavy punches and throwing him into the barricades multiple
times. When referee Bryce Remsburg reminded Hangman of the
match stipulations, the brief distraction gave MJF an
opening, shoving Page into the ring post to turn the tide.
Inside the ring, Friedman dished out a piledriver, raked the
eyes, and worked over the arm. Page fought back with a
fallaway slam, a kip-up, and a picture-perfect moonsault to
the floor, then followed with a Liger Bomb for a nearfall.
MJF survived and countered a Buckshot Lariat into the Salt
of the Earth armbar, but Page rolled through into a
crossface, then transitioned into a sleeper hold exchange.
Both men kept countering, each refusing to give an inch.
Outside the ring, the match escalated violently. Hangman
landed a devastating Tombstone piledriver on the floor after
catching MJF, then followed with a Deadeye off the apron and
through the timekeeper’s table. Back in the ring, he
covered, but MJF got a foot on the ropes. Later, Max drop-
toeholded Page into a steel chair and tried to take the
countout win, but rolled back out to continue his assault.
Both men were bleeding as they brawled in the center of the
ring. MJF hit an Ace Crusher, a hammerlock DDT, and a
running tombstone on the broken table remains, but Page kept
beating the count. Hangman mounted another comeback, hitting
another Deadeye and setting up for the Buckshot, but MJF
used Remsburg as a shield and landed a low blow, followed by
the Heatseeker. Page’s foot hit the ropes, but Remsburg
didn’t see it, as he collapsed from the damage he’d
suffered.
That’s when Mark Briscoe stormed the ring to alert the
referee. Bryce caught it in time and refused to count the
fall. MJF panicked, using his CMLL belt as a distraction to
land a clipboard shot, but it still wasn’t enough. He pulled
out the Dynamite Diamond Ring next, but Bryce caught him
red-handed and ripped it away.
Finally, Hangman grabbed the clipboard, cracked Friedman
with it, hit a third and final Deadeye, and followed with
the Buckshot Lariat for the three-count.
Post-match, Hangman dropped the open contract across MJF’s
chest, seemingly daring him to try again.
Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Darby Allin, Golden Lovers
(Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will
Ospreay def. Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Claudio
Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd & Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
The unsanctioned final match of Forbidden Door turned the O2
Arena into a warzone, as ten men stepped into a massive
steel cage for a Lights Out Steel Cage Match where anything
and everything was legal.
From the opening bell, violence was the name of the game.
Inside the cage, Darby handcuffed himself to Moxley, hitting
a wild attack on Claudio that snapped the cuffs in the
process. The Bucks unloaded ladders and even a bag of gummy
bears – the “dangerous weapon” they had requested earlier –
which Omega and Ibushi weaponized with a bulldog and
superkick before Claudio stomped Omega’s midsection to
target his diverticulitis injury.
From there, the violence only escalated. Moxley and
Castagnoli duct taped Darby to a chair while Mox gouged at
his ear with a fork, sawing until blood poured freely.
Claudio then suplexed him chair and all, leaving Darby
crimson and nearly unconscious. Elsewhere, the Young Bucks
and Gabe Kidd delivered a devastating string of combo
offense, only for Tanahashi to rally with neckbreakers
before eating a Neutralizer and a BTE Trigger. Ospreay
barely broke up the pin, covering Tanahashi with his own
body to save him.
Bodies flew everywhere. Omega hit stereo Dragon suplexes
with Ibushi, Tanahashi fought through blood loss to climb a
ladder as his allies begged him to reconsider, and Ospreay
brought the house down with a breathtaking moonsault off the
top of the cage onto the pile below. The carnage continued
until Darby scaled the structure, only to be low-blowed by
Gabe Kidd. Fighting at the top, Darby clawed at Kidd’s face
before delivering the night’s most death-defying moment, a
Coffin Drop off the top of the cage through a stack of
tables at ringside.
With Darby incapacitated, the Golden Lovers, Ospreay, and
Tanahashi regrouped inside. Omega blasted Moxley with back-
to-back V-Triggers, Ospreay landed a Storm Breaker on Gabe
Kidd, and the Lovers connected with the Golden Trigger on
Nick Jackson. The finish came when Ospreay leveled Matt
Jackson with a One Winged Angel-Hidden Blade combo
variation, and Tanahashi soared with one last High Fly Flow
in the United Kingdom, scoring the decisive pinfall.
It felt like all good vibes. But as Ospreay bid farewell to
UK fans and was serenaded by the hometown faithful, he was
ambushed. The Death Riders locked the cage and isolated
Ospreay, with Moxley hitting repeated Paradigm Shifts on his
injured neck before wrapping a chair around it, with Claudio
joining in the assault, and Moxley delivered a horrifying
stomp to the chair and Ospreay’s neck, leaving him
motionless on the mat.
Samoa Joe and The Opps stormed out, demanding the cage be
raised to chase the Death Riders and their allies off, as
medics scrambled to attend to Ospreay.
And that was where the show ended.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE live Wednesday at 8/7c on TBS and
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