AEW have announced Forbidden Door 2, with this year’s event set to take place in another country, but not Japan or America.
Forbidden Door 2 is set to take place on June 25th, 2023, being broadcast from the Scotiabank Centre in Toronto, Ontario , in Canada.
The event is part of a six-date tour in Canada for AEW, culminating in an incredible show featuring both AEW and NJPW talents. The Forbidden Door 2 match card looks to be the most exciting in wrestling for years, with many matches still yet to be announced.
The AEW x NJPW Super show entitled Forbidden Door was one of the best pay per views of 2022 and featured some of the most incredible match ups of all time.
Grossing over $6 million dollars from tickets and PPV sales, it is one of the most successful non-WWE pay per views of all time. Broadcast all over the world, including on NJPW’s New Japan World, it has drawn in fans new and old, some watching the AEW and NJPW stars for the first time ever.
The New Japan president has already confirmed wanting to hold Forbidden Door 2 in Japan, which would be a huge crossover show that could rival the first edition of the event.
While Forbidden Door 2 now confirmed to take place in Canada, we look ahead at some of the biggest matches the AEW vs NJPW crossover show can bring to the world of professional wrestling.
In this article, we will look at 5 of the biggest matches AEW and NJPW could book to make Forbidden Door 2023 even bigger and better than the first show, featuring some of the top stars of AEW and NJPW that may have missed out on the inaugural show.
If we missed out any of your favourite wrestlers, let us know in the comments and tell us which dream match you’d most like to see in Forbidden Door 2023.
Forbidden Door 2023
Kenny Omega vs Jay White
The tension between the Elite and the Bullet Club looks to be coming to a head in AEW.
With Cole and Omega seemingly likely to but heads, and the Young Bucks recently looking like a reunion with Adam Page, the stage is set for the two leaders of their factions to face off in a match no-one wants to miss.
Kenny Omega vs Jay White has happened before in NJPW and become one of Jay White’s best matches in 2018. However, Jay White has ascended into greatness since then and has become in the conversation for the best wrestler in the world.
Building on their history, Forbidden Door 2 could be the perfect place for the rematch of the decade in an battle for the richest prize in wrestling – the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Jay White has been said to have left NJPW in the past weeks, but it could well be a swerve. If he does remain in Japan then he would be a perfect opponent for Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door 2.
If not, the rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 17 between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay would be the perfect matchup.
Kazuchika Okada vs Bryan Danielson
A match between possibly the greatest American wrestler vs the greatest Japanese wrestler of all time could become a reality at Forbidden Door 2023, if Tony Khan and Gedo listen to the fans.
Bryan Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada is a dream match for fans, wrestlers and even Kazuchika Okada and Bryan Danielson themselves. Both men are in their prime inside the ring and have put on 5 star matches nightly without even breaking a sweat over the last few years.
While Okada failed to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door, he will hope to be more successful in the 2023 edition.
However if Forbidden Door 2 comes around next year, it won’t matter who wins the bout – the fans will be blessed just seeing the two men step into the ring together.
Will Ospreay vs PAC
Two of the finest wrestlers England has ever seen facing off would make Forbidden Door 2023 worth the price of admission straight away.
While Will Ospreay showed his metal in an incredible five star match agaisnt Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door, his biggest test would be against a fellow high flying Briton in the form of the man known as “The Bastard”.
Both men grew up in England and made their names in Japan – PAC in Dragon Gate and Ospreay in New Japan. They both gained fame with their incredible high-flying moves, but soon evolved into more than that.
Both are considered two of the best wrestlers in the world and a match between the two at Forbidden Door 2 would be a dream match for so many it seems impossible to miss out on.
CM Punk vs KENTA
While this match was heavily teased by KENTA going into the first Forbidden Door, it was not put together for the dream show. KENTA was not even present at the show, despite being one of the first New Japan stars to travel through the Forbidden Door all the way back in 2021.
CM Punk was meant to face Hiroshi Tanahashi at the show, but injury forced him to pull out of the show and miss it altogether. However, he will not want to miss out again and KENTA could be the man to take on Punk in the big show.
KENTA has teased a match with CM Punk numerous times (even outright challenging him) over the latter’s use of the Go to sleep – a move invented by KENTA. The feud rights itself and would be a dream match for fans on Indie wrestling in the mid 2000s.
With CM Punk’s injury and the whole “Brawl Out” controversy still casting a shadow over his AEW career, fans will hope that he sorts it out with The Elite before the Forbidden Door 2 show in Canada and gets his match with KENTA on the match card.
Adam Page vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
While Adam Page vs Kazuchika Okada was the dream match that wasn’t meant to be at the first Forbidden Door, his opponent for the next years edition will an equally legendary Japanese wrestler.
Adam Page should take on “The Ace” Hiroshi Tanahashi at Forbidden Door 2. It would be a match that pitted NJPW’s Ace to a man compared to the great Tanahashi, with some fans referring to Page as the “Ace of AEW”.
There is history with the two. They both previously wrestled in New Japan when Page was a part of the legendary Bullet Club stable. Tanahashi was vocal about wanting to take Page under his wing in NJPW, away from the “poison” of Bullet Club when Page was just the Young Lion to Kenny Omega in the group.
Now Adam Page has fulfilled his destiny and become a world champion after ditching the Elite, he has proven Tanhashi right. He can prove him right further when he takes him on at the AEW vs NJPW show in a match to prove his is the true Ace of AEW.
