Major steps made on road to Forbidden Door

AEW Dynamite from St.Louis MO this week was highlighted by a face to face standoff between Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi ahead of their Interim AEW World Championship main event at Forbidden Door on June 26. ‘Holy sh*t’ chants greeted the Ace and the Death Rider in ring before Moxley spoke. 

‘I’ve been chasing you for a long time and now here you are in all your glory. All the work I’ve done in New Japan has always been about you. There are a lot of championships in this business but only one man they call Ace, and that’s you. But not for long.’ 

Moxley went on to state that ‘a lot pretend, but I am truly the best professional wrestler on this planet,’ before saying that ‘everything is on the line in this main event.’ Moxley said that everything was also on the line for Tanahashi, saying ‘I play for keeps, and you are going to call me Ace’. Just as Tanahashi was about to rebut Mox, Chris Jericho hit the ring, resuming a long standing rivalry. 

Jericho reminded Tanahashi that he beat the Ace at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Though the Ace would provide Jericho with a pertinent instruction to ‘shut up’, he would be jumped by the Jericho Appreciation Society and, shockingly Lance Archer and El Desperado, joining Jericho on loan from Suzuki-Gun. Jericho would go on to state that at Forbidden Door, Jericho, Minoru Suzuki and Sammy Guevara would face Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino and Eddie Kingston. 

That prompted Kingston to take matters into his own hands, hitting the ring to take care of the Jericho Appreciation Society, while Tanahashi landed Slingblade on El Desperado. The Ace went face to face with Moxley as cameras cut to commercial, and anticipation continued to build for June 26.  

Hangman Page was also anticipating Forbidden Door. Reminding the crowd that he had challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Page said ‘the sentiment still has not changed, and the challenge remains,’ despite Okada having lost the title to Jay White. Page was soon interrupted by Adam Cole, who said that the best way to showcase Forbidden Door being about the Undispuited Elite vs BULLET CLUB would be Adam Cole versus Jay White. 

Cole would introduce Jay White, wo laid out Page with a Bladerunner before declaring that he would not be putting hsi title on the line against the Hangman. Just as Cole began to celebrate though, Jay would declare that ‘it won’t be against you either,’ before stating that he called the shots in the ‘Switchblade Era’, questions continuing to circle ahead of Forbidden Door. 

Also on Dynamite, as FTR’s issues with the United Empire continue to boil, Will Ospreay took on Dax Harwood in singles action. A taste of the dream match action at Forbidden Door, a hot St. Louis crowd saw a quick snap tijeras from Ospreay to take control, but that grasp on the match was seized right back by Harwood with some brutal corner chops. 

Dropping Dax knee first on the apron, and landing a shotgun dropkick to follow on the floor, Ospreay was able to pressure the ROH Tag Team Champion into the corner and follow with a Cobra Twist, but a handspring was caught and met with a barrage of German suplex from Harwood. The US Champion escaped a headbutt from the top though, and followed with a springboard 450 to get two; a series of impactful moves and pinfall counters would not end the match, but it seemed as if Dax was getting nearer to three than Ospreay until a plancha and springboard elbow slowed the FTR member.

Harwood still was determined to avoid falling to the OsCutter, instead unleashing a vicious slingshot powerbomb for a near two. Withstanding thunderous lariats, Ospreay found a sitout powerbomb to counter, before finally hitting the OsCutter for a nearfall, and then the Hidden Blade. 

Post match, Ospreay and United Empire were far from done, Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan hitting the ring together with Aussie Open. As Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta joined the fray to try for some getback from both Dynamite and Dominion, Orange Cassidy would even the odds for CHAOS and FTR, as United Empire backed off; it would later be announced that Cassidy would challenge Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship at Forbidden Door. 

Meanwhile Miro would defeat Ethan Page to advance to the Forbidden Door four way that will crown AEW’s first All Atlantic Champion. Tomohiro Ishii, Tomoaki Honma, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Clark Connors will compete in qualifiers for the four way next week in Korakuen Hall. 

Images courtesy of All Elite Wrestling/Lee South