AEW Forbidden Door - When the door is actually forbidden and we are just tempting fate

[Johnny Sorrow]

I absolutely loved that show. I'm so glad I decided, "Fuck it, I'm home with covid. Why not watch what at least will be a show with some good matches." Because it was way more than that. That was a great show with a hot crowd. I think I liked it more than the last couple of AEW PPV's to be honest.

[Timbo Slice]

I watched it on my phone so couldn’t comment here, but it says a lot that the NJPW stars came to play tonight, even if Okada “skating” in a 4-way still saw him hit his spots and have the fucking charisma that I’ve never seen him have before. Dude knew he was the guy in that match and wrestled as such. I came off extremely impressed.  
 

Also, you’re never going to hear this sentence again: “I really liked this four-man commentary booth.” They all complimented each other perfectly. Insanity. A truly over performing show across the board. And now am sad we didn’t see what could have been on the original card. But they now have the outline for a truly spectacular show next go around.  

[sek69]

Looks like Adam Cole might have been knocked loopy towards the end and that was why the finish came off weird.

[The Thread Killer]

1 hour ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

This show has overdelivered in a big, Bad, way.

I couldn’t agree with you more. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to watch this, but I had the chance and checked it out, and am I ever glad I did. I don’t watch NJPW and I didn’t know some of the guys but overall I enjoyed the hell out of that show. The only thing that really didn’t do it for me was the ridiculous comedy and overall nonsense in the YB match. Their whole act is beyond stale. But their lame comedy couldn’t ruin what was one hell of a show. And I am beyond stoked about Claudio showing up.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I loved the comedy in the Bucks match because every great show needs some light hearted and silly stuff to balance the tone. I thought that match was great. Dudes With Attitude! The dumbest name ever and they made it so much fun.OLD CRAZY STING! The Bucks can wear on my nerves often, and I'm not a huge fan of them but I thought they were great tonight. 

[Matt D]

11 hours ago, Childs said:

I'm not sure how well it will hold up to your careful analysis, but they are vibing big time with this action-hungry crowd.

Watching it back this morning, everything from, let's say the focus on Kingston's arm to the start of the women's match has been spot-spot-spot-spot-spot-spot with the multi-man format allowing for one guy to feed in after the next after the next after the next. There was a hate filled six man and a triple tag match and a fatal four way and a comedy six man but it was all spot-spot-spot-spot-spot-spot and past a brief respite where Clark Connors was getting beaten on and maybe the extended back rake spots on Darby, it was pretty exhausting. Like you said, it's what the crowd wanted and it's not like the spots weren't good, but I'm really glad that 2021-2022 AEW generally isn't JUST that in general.

EDIT: Made it through Cassidy vs Ospreay and they should have had that earlier in the night. That would have fixed a bunch of things. Crazy they had Rose/Storm, that, and then the ZSJ singles all in a row after the endless multiman barrage.

[KawadaSmile]

9 hours ago, sek69 said:

Looks like Adam Cole might have been knocked loopy towards the end and that was why the finish came off weird.

Why is he even working at all when we KNOW his body is being held together by Clay Doh? I get why you'd like to make that match a 4-way, but he has one good arm for like months now. Let the dude heal.

[Timbo Slice]

Because they need him to get to All Out where he can face Kenny in the 6-man of all 6-mans. Then they can get him off to heal to replace Kenny coming back. 

[El-P]

This is the story of AEW this year. Have an awesome PPV. Then people bitch about the build to the next one and how it's not looking special anymore/ Have an awesome PPV. Rince, repeat. Even with this one, with the worst timing and injury piling up and guys getting on the shelves, they delivered an off the chart PPV. The crowd was one of the hottest in forever from the beginning to the end to, and that's with lots of NJPW being involved, not just the key stars (I mean, chanting for YOSHI-HASHI, really now ?). The only reservations I have is FTR not beating the champs in the three-way, which is always a cheap way to protect the champs from doing the job, and the last segment, which felt not needed and took away from the main event celebration.

But apart from that, what a fucking great show. Ospreay and Orange just slayed the naysayers (I had no doubt it would be terrific, but it was even better, Ospreay really is on another planet now). I did not believe Claudio would show up so it was a terrific surprise, as was Shibata making a cameo. Jay White showed what a fucking pro he was in the main event protecting Cole too (poor guy, he really need some rest, the good thing is that if he can travel, he can still show up and keep himself over by just talking). I was so glad for PAC, if someone deserved that stupid belt it's him, he's been low-key one of the greatest worker since the start of the company. Storm vs Rosa was excellent, I never get tired of Storm killing someone with her hip attack (although it's maybe the scariest spot today honestly). Just a ridiculously great show which also demonstrate again that no, you don't need bathroom breaks matches and you can absolutely pile up great matches after great matches like NJPW used to do a few years back. The one thing also is that AEW has so much depth in term of in-ring talent (not talking about drawing cards here), even with so many key guys being out, it's like they do not bat an eye in term of putting out an awesome show. That's really impressive. Claudio is a great catch, pun intended. 

ROH PPV now ? Fuck TK, get some sleep already ! But, hey, I'll probably watch it. Still, things are probably gonna cool down after Blood & Guts with a slower build toward All Out to kickstart the really important fall period, hopefully with a bunch of big names coming back.

[The Thread Killer]

21 minutes ago, El-P said:

The one thing also is that AEW has so much depth in term of in-ring talent (not talking about drawing cards here), even with so many key guys being out, it's like they do not bat an eye in term of putting out an awesome show. That's really impressive. Claudio is a great catch, pun intended.  

That's the thing...normally if a Pro Wrestling organization had as many injuries on their roster as AEW do right now, it would definitely be a reason to panic. Or if not panic, to assume that the next few months were going to suck, while we waited for the top stars to return from injury.  But AEW has so much depth that it honestly doesn't matter.  They have so many guys who can easily be slotted into a top level program. Yes, it sucks that Cole, Danielson, Punk, Omega, MJF, and Samoa Joe are on the shelf for various reasons right now. (Well...in the interest of full disclosure, I don't really miss Omega, but I can see why a lot of people do.) That's at least five Main Event level guys who are out of action for various reasons and for various lengths of time. But they've got guys like Christian, Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston, Keith Lee, Malakai Black, Miro, Swerve, Ricky Starks, and Brian Pillman Jr. who are already very popular and are more than capable of stepping up and filling those spots. And now you can add Claudio to that equation.

And yes, you have midcard guys like Fish & O'Reilly, Bowens, Darius Martin and Jungle Boy who are also on the shelf, but they have so much depth there too.  It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Hell, they have perfectly capable lower and midcard guys who barely ever get on TV that can also step up with no problem.

I contrast that with WWE, where they lose a couple of guys to injury and have no choice but to go back to Reigns/Lesnar AGAIN because they haven't anybody who is popular enough to step up...all thanks to their own shitty promoting.  And on top of that, half the guys I just listed in AEW who are more than capable of stepping up to the next level and being major stars (or are already) are guys who WWE had under contract and let them go.  It's absolutely mind blowingly stupid.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

While the build was left stifled with injuries having plans changed all over, AEW delivered. On what they were working with, Forbidden Door produced a damn good show, not on the level of Revolution but good nonetheless. I hope the six-man will lead to a Bucks/Sting and Darby tag title match. Ospreay has cemented my vote for Most Outstanding Wrestler, and he is a future HOFer. The only complaint I have wishes TK had some guts and put the belt on Tanahashi. 

[sek69]

I'm sure all the New Japan guys were stoked to be able to work in front of a crowd that is allowed to cheer and boo, and then get a super hot crowd on top of it.

[Timbo Slice]

Okada loved it. Dude ate it all up. 

[Zoo Enthusiast]

God what a fun show to be in attendance for.  It wasn’t as incredible of an atmosphere as All Out was last year but it wasn’t far off.

Also had a total blast at the Warrior show earlier in the afternoon.

[Migs]

1 hour ago, Zoo Enthusiast said:

God what a fun show to be in attendance for.  It wasn’t as incredible of an atmosphere as All Out was last year but it wasn’t far off.

Also had a total blast at the Warrior show earlier in the afternoon.

Same! My friends and I are all in on Beast Man. And super fun to chat with Chris Hero about the 90 minute Punk match that was so influential.

[strobogo]

Sting is the best booked talent in pro wrestling, anywhere. Always put in the position where his strengths are highlighted, weaknesses are hidden, always has memorable spots. The legit no sell of the double superkick that pushed his face in was amazing. Also wonderful was him getting back in the ring yelling HEY at ELP just to repay the titty twister and kick him in the nuts. 

[Migs]

Went to the show and thought it was pretty good, although the sense of what could have been hanging over it was palpable. Everyone agreed we'd have killed for this lineup not very long ago, and we obviously all understand the injury issues, but it was a bit of a weird vibe after the show that didn't leave me as energized as some other AEW shows I've seen live. Part of it is just the increasing amount of history AEW has - it's easier for things to feel unique and special when they don't have a precedent. In some ways, this was why this show felt like it had such potential, because it was the first. And did it reach its hypothetical potential when I bought tickets and a flight and a hotel? Not quite. Was it still a really good show that was fun to be in the crowd for? Absolutely. Heck, All In ultimately wasn't much more than that (especially if you didn't love the Cody deal, which was a major highlight), but it got the benefit of being the first and such a totally unique and exciting experience.

[The Nicks]

The BCC continues to assert itself as my favorite thing in wrestling with this new addition.

I'm an Orange Cassidy sceptic most of the time, but i really like when he faces someone who works as a straight man to his wackiness. That sort of style clash makes me appreciate his gimmick a lot more.

Glad FTR won, i just can't stop rooting for those guys.

 

[strobogo]

For what seemed like such a cursed show, with such futzy build up, it was pretty awesome. 

 

Jericho/Sammy/MiSu vs Eddie/Shooter/Yuta was delightful

 

Three way tag was also delightful

 

All Atlantic match was real good. I have no idea how Miro was functioning after absolutely eating shit on the ring post.

 

Dudes with Atittudes vs Bullet Club was the most wonderful match of the night. Sting is the fucking man. Dude is 62, doing dives off entrance, legit no selling a double superkick that was brutally stiff, but also doing angry comedy spots. Sting and Shingo. What a timeline.

 

Storm/Rosa was fine, crowd starting losing steam around this point in the show. I can not believe Toni hasn't fucked someone up with the running ass. That looks brutal.

 

Ospreay vs OC was mostly fun, Ospreay seemed straight up cartoonish at a lot of points, though. Is OC the first person to kick out of the hidden blade? Shibata da gawd, what a surprise. 

 

Claudio's debut wasn't a surprise, as it was the immediate first thought when Bryan said he'd have a replacement that will leave no one let down. It was a cool moment, but the match itself felt pretty plodding and aimless most of the duration. 

 

IWGP started pretty slow and had that weird finish, but god damn Jay White is excellent at literally everything. Need them to run White-o vs Dax. I'm not sure how Cole got knocked loopy. The dropkick didn't seem like it hit him in the head, nor did Okada land on him weird, nor did he bump weird on it. As I said in the AEW thread, I am dubious that he has a torn labrum, because I don't believe he'd be able to even lift his arm over his head. There's no way a guy with a torn labrum could be bumping, posting, even running. 

 

Tana vs Mox wasn't good. They didn't seem to have much chemistry, but I can't tell if that's actually a lack of chemistry or Tana just being completely busted. I assume something happened in the crowd, which led to a lot of stalling and meandering, with Mox just kind of slowly walking around and Tana just staying on the mat doing nothing. No idea how Mox got busted open like that from a slingblade lmao

[MoS]

I watched the show not having seen a full AEW show since DoN, and I thought the show definitely overdelivered. My first thought coming off the show was that Eddie Kingston should absolutely get a run with the world title, even if it is brief. Everything he does is so compelling. Compare it to someone like Adam Cole, who looked like a fish out of water and a total generic midcarder in the four-way, although I get that someone had to be there to eat the pin. 

I also think that this is the best run of Sting's career. I never liked surfer Sting, thought he was goofy as fuck. Crow Sting was great as the opposing force to the nWo - and I think Hogan really carried the bulk of the TV in 96-97, with a lot of help from Savage and Luger - but he immediately crashed pretty much as soon as Starrcade 1997, and the later years were just bad. Never watched his TNA run. But Sting as the cool crazy badass dad in AEW has fit in like a hand in glove, just perfect. Part of it is his opponents making him look like a god and the booking being perfect, but everything has aligned perfectly. 

[akira maeda]

6 hours ago, MoS said:

 My first thought coming off the show was that Eddie Kingston should absolutely get a run with the world title, even if it is brief.  

 

Agreed 100%

[MoS]

Apparently between PPV buys and NJPW subs, Forbidden Door did 127,000, which, given the lack of AEW stars and the awful build, has to be considered a big success for them. Maybe they should start doing more PPVs generally.

[Migs]

2 hours ago, MoS said:

Apparently between PPV buys and NJPW subs, Forbidden Door did 127,000, which, given the lack of AEW stars and the awful build, has to be considered a big success for them. Maybe they should start doing more PPVs generally.

I feel like they could easily add Forbidden Door as a regular thing (maybe in early July instead of late June to give it a bit more breathing room with DON), and a January show between Full Gear and Revolution (always seems like they spin wheels for a while because of the length of time between those shows). 6 would still keep them special enough to avoid burnout, I think.

[Jmare007]

2 hours ago, MoS said:

Apparently between PPV buys and NJPW subs, Forbidden Door did 127,000, which, given the lack of AEW stars and the awful build, has to be considered a big success for them. Maybe they should start doing more PPVs generally.

That sounds like a great a number. What does "NJPW subs" mean though? people in the U.S with a NJ World sub? people that were watching through the NJ stream worldwide? or just new subscribers overall to that app?

[El-P]

They absolutely have to do another one next year, and this time hopefully it won't be snakebit by injuries. Plus, there is a precedent established of a great show now, which should help the perception, as would NJPW guys popping up from time to time on AEW TV, making them more familiar faces. Considering all the negativity leading up to it, pretty good result indeed.