AEW Forbidden Door 2025

AEW Forbidden Door 2025

London, England - August 2025

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the AEW World Heavyweight Champion was Adam Page, the TNT Champion was Kyle Fletcher, Mercedes Mone was the TBS Champion, the Women's World Champion was Toni Storm, the Continental Champion was Kazuchika Okada (who also held the International Championship, creating the Unified Championship), the Hurt Syndicate held the AEW World Tag Team Championships, and The Opps (Shibata, Hobbs, and Samoa Joe) were the AEW Trios Champions.

Forbidden Door 2025 opened up with Adam "Cope" Copeland and Christian reuniting against Kip Sabian and Killswitch (replacing Nick Wayne). The crowd was into this at the start but seemed a little bored at one point, no longer focused on the match and seemingly more interested in engaging in a sing-along. Nick Wayne not even being at ringside - and making no appearance at all during the match (when I think most would assume there'd be some sort of run-in) - may have been one of the reasons for this being a little low in the heat department as Sabian has really been a very minor character for almost all of his AEW run. I liked Christian not being 100% on-board with reconciling with Copeland, shirking away from a tag when they were in trouble and trying to avoid Killswitch. I was less into Killswitch blatantly setting up his own teammate for a Doomsday Device. I get that the story was that Sabian was disrespecting him, but that took things a bit too far for me. A decent opener. (2.5/5)

Kyle Fletcher defended his AEW TNT Championship against New Japan's Hiromu Takahashi. This was my first time seeing Takahashi and for all of Excalibur's selling on commentary, playing him up as NJPW's version of Darby Allin, I wasn't captivated by his presence or anything. This went a little long and it was fairly obvious that Takahashi was not known to most in attendance. The action was good, though, and Fletcher continues to impress me, as "surefire" as any young wrestler in the world right now but still a step or two away from being the complete package. Speaking of "Total Packages," I liked Danielson on commentary noting how good Fletcher's body slam is because it is very reminiscent of Luger's to me. (2.5/5)

The TBS Championship was defended in a four-way match as the champion, Mercedes Mone, took on Bozilla of NJPW, Penelope of CMLL, and Alex Windsor (representing AEW, but really the UK). Bozilla was the "star" of this match as even Mone seemed to take a backseat in terms of highlights and commentator focus. This is the first I'd seen of Bozilla, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the WWE try to sign her based on her presence and performance here (and the fact that she's just 21 years young). Loved Penelope's Razor's Edge on Bozilla, but didn't love the "double submission" moves. This was another "so-so" match that didn't really "wow" me or have my super invested because the finish was never in question and there wasn't a personal story driving it. (2.5/5)

Nigel McGuiness vs. Zach Sabre Jr. was the next match, a bout that was hyped as something of a "UK dream match" and was for the IWGP World Championship. Before the match, there was a fun video showing Nigel McGuinness playing chess against UK wrestling legend Johnny Saint. Daniel Garcia was at ringside to support Nigel. The 02 Arena was very into this match, which was unsurprising. The finish here wasn't really in question, but the appeal here was seeing two world-class wrestlers put on a mat classic. Very good catch-as-catch-can mat wrestling to start with Sabre showing off his tremendously smooth technique and joint manipulation skills. Nigel kept up with him until Sabre went to work on his shoulder and neck, targeting Nigel's vulnerabilities. I'd love to list some of the highlights, but so many of these moves and counters were brilliant, nasty arm wrenches and key locks and perfectly-placed stomps, which may sound like it got repetitive, but it was the opposite. This wasn't strike-heavy or a bomb-throwing contest or any kind of spotfest, but by not being any of those things, it stood out as very different than the usual AEW match. Now, that's not to say there wasn't the eventual uppercut duel or some big clotheslines - Sabre getting his nose busted up didn't come from a wristlock - but they weren't even close to the bulk of the match, which made them mean so much more. As the match got into its second half, Garcia's reason for being included in the match became clear as he and Sabre jawed on the outside, allowing Nigel to hit his Tower of London but eventually leading to a brilliant series of pinfalls and counters that cost him the match. Sabre showed Nigel a ton of respect as he exited the ring. Garcia raised his arm too, which had me thinking we were due for a heel turn. Thankfully, they let the 02 crowd just enjoy the moment and the fact that they'd just witnessed a very, very good match - easily the best on the show up to this point. (4/5)

After Tony Schiavone announced the night's attendance, nearly 19,000, we saw Thekla and Queen Aminata brawl their way from backstage down the aisle. Aminata got the upperhand but Julia Hart and Skye Blue ran down the aisle to help their stablemate. This then led to Jamie Hayter showing up to a huge pop and running the heels off. I really liked this segment as it was something we don't always get on an AEW show, which tend to just progress from match-to-match with no "filler" or "angles." 

Next up was the 3-way match for the AEW World Tag Team Championships - The Hurt Syndicate defending their titles against FTR and the relatively new team of Brodido (Brody King and Bandido). This was a 3-way match because the two challenging teams had a 30-minute draw on Dynamite a few days prior. The crowd loved doing the "We Hurt People" chant and also singing "Oh Fuck The Revival" to the tune of "Seven Nation Army." This was a wild fight at the start with all three teams brawling around ringside until Bandido and Dax got into it in the ring and the match took some shape. There was a lengthy stretch where Bandido worked as the face-in-peril after hitting a tope suicida on Benjamin. The Hurt Business tossing Bandido around like a bag of laundry at times and FTR refusing to tag in to save him was a highlight and led to the crowd chanting for Brody King. When King finally got the tag, he took out both members of FTR but couldn't put anyone away. They did a nice job building to the Brody/Bobby face-off, which had Danielson marking out on commentary and the crowd chanting "meat." This led to a great showcase sequence out of Shelton, who took everyone out (including King, with a trifecta of German suplexes). King and Cash delivered a Shatter Machine to take him out, though, in a great spot and the match continued as Danielson wondered who was even legal at this point (I doubt even the ref knew by this point). A big splash from Bandido to the outside led to the arrival of 3 masked men who attacked Lashley and Benjamin, taking them out of the match. Back in the ring, the babyfaces were able to score something of an unexpected upset win to end the match in disappointing fashion due to some mistimings and what appeared to be a "botched" sequence. Another reason why Brodido, for as fun as they might be, are maybe not 100% ready to be at the top of the division. I'm a bigger fan of Lashley and Benjamin than many so I'm not surprised that folks were disappointed they didn't really "put over" the new champions and that this was the unceremonious ending to their title reign. With a more solid finish, this would've left a stronger impression. (3/5)

Swerve Strickland challenged Kazuchika Okada for the AEW International Championship. As Danielson and Exaclibur noted on commentary, Okada is known to take his time, tiring out his opponent with cut-offs and counters and dropkicks and that was exactly what we got here. I really liked Okada's focus on Swerve's knee as the match went on and Strickland's selling throughout. There was lots to like here, but nothing I really I loved until Swerve's knee buckled on the top rope, which looked absolutely gnarly and was a great pay-off to a match that went close to (if not over?) 20 minutes. Okada attacked Strickland with a chair after the match and then Wardlow arrived to attack him too. It felt a little bit disjointed and unnecessary to me and I'm not sure what the point of adding Wardlow to the Don Callis Family is when Fletcher, Takeshita, and Okada are already there and each one of them is a better, more interesting worker than Wardlow has ever been. A good match, but not necessarily a great one. (3/5)

The AEW Women's World Championship was on the line next as Toni Storm defended her title against the Ring of Honor "Forever" Women's Champion, Athena. Athena controlled too much of this match to me. I like both wrestlers but seeing Toni narrowly avoid defeat - a similar set-up to the match she had with Megan Bayne several months ago - works better when her opponent is bigger, stronger, and more violent. Athena is really only the latter. This was hard-hitting, action-packed, and the performances were strong, but I didn't love the finish, which saw Billie Starks and Mina Shirakawa's fighting on the outside distract Athena and lead to her getting caught in Storm's chickenwing. Another good match that fell a little bit short of "must see" for me due to a bit of an out-of-nowhere finish. (3.5/5)

The AEW World Champion, "Hangman" Adam Page defended his title against MJF in the next match. The storyline and build-up to this match was a bit of a mess with MJF winning the right to challenge for the title but not actually using his open contract for this specific match, the title changing hands on a DQ/CO, and MJF being kicked out of the Hurt Syndicate and feuding with Mark Briscoe during the weeks that led to this match (as well as winning the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship). All this going on should've added more intrigue, but because Page has only been champion for a couple months, it was fairly clear that he was going to retain here. That being said, Page and MJF showed tremendous chemistry and delivered a very, very good Championship match that was easily the best or second best match on the show up till this point (their only competition for this distinction would be Sabre Jr./McGuinness). People might get nitpicky with whether Page or MJF deserved to be disqualified for their use of furniture outside the ring, but my only criticism would be that they didn't have the commentators explain that, in 2025, it has long been established that putting your opponent through a table or causing them to collide with a chair or barricade is not an automatic disqualification like it probably would've been in 1985. I liked the bulk of this match but felt like they dipped a bit too far into overbooking territory towards the end with lots of fuckery going on, including Mark Briscoe coming out, the ref initially "missing" a very obvious rope break, and then MJF and Page both using the clipboard as a weapon. Again, maybe in 1985 that would've been a legit way to knock someone out, but we've seen Adam Page go through much, much, much worse. (3.5/5) 

The main event followed - Will Ospreay teaming with Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Kenny Omega to take on the Jon Moxley, Claudio Castignoli, Gabe Kidd, and The Young Bucks in an Unsanctioned Cage match. Early highlights included Ospreay revving up the crowd and doing some high-flying, Darby hitting an awesome cannonball dive and The Golden Lovers and Young Bucks squaring off. The Bucks went to grab some tacks from under the ring but ended up dumping a whole bunch of gummi bears in the ring, which was maybe a bit cutesy for some but I dug it as it played into the continued "beef" between the ex-VPs and the production team. The Bucks then brought a ladder into the ring and took everyone out, even sending Allin into it with a powerbomb and then hitting him with one of their signature sentons while he was splayed across it. A very bloody Ospreay came in to try to help his teammate but got beaten down by the Bucks before essentially throwing his body into the ladder to take them out. Mox came in with a chair but Ospreay wrapped it around his neck. Gabe made the save with a devastating jumping piledriver that looked absolutely nasty. From here we got even more craziness with the heels hitting all sorts of ridiculous combo moves, the Bucks flying all over the place, and...Hiroshi Tanahashi basically invisible for minutes on end (which was arguably for the best considering how he's looked the past couple of matches I've seen him in). After Claudio tossed Darby out of the ring and into the cage, Tanahashi came in and got to look like a superhero before Mox put him down with a DDT. It was probably the best 10 seconds that one was going to get out of Tanahashi and earned Mox a bunch of heat. Darby came back in, bleeding from the side of his head, and got duct-taped to the chair and then stabbed in the ear by Mox with a fork! Holy Reservoir Dogs! It was an absolutely brutal spot. Claudio then lifted him (and the chair up) and body-slammed him to the mat in another great moment. Wow. The Bucks brought out a barbwire table while Marina Shafir stacked up a bunch of tables outside of the cage. Claudio attempted to carry Darby up a ladder, but he fought his way out. Back in the ring, Tanahashi nearly got sent into the barbwire table but, instead, it was Moxley who went fast-first into it (sorta...because Tanahashi was moving so slowly it looked more like Moxley just bent over and do it to himself). Tanahashi hit a series of sling blades, but then got Neutralized by Claudio and hit a BTE Trigger. Ospreay made the save on the pin attempt, covering up Tanahashi to protect him as the crowd sang his name. Mox pulled him by his neck, but Ospreay charged him through the barbwire table! In came Omega, who took out the Bucks and Kidd with a bunch of snapdragon suplexes. The Golden Lovers then hit stereo snapdragons on one of the Bucks and Mox to a huge pop. Omega hit the Terminator onto the heels on the outside, eliciting a loud "Kenny" chant from the crowd (which turned into them singing "Oh Kenny Omega" to the tune of "Seven Nation Army"). Tanahashi began to climb up a ladder but was prevented by his teammates in a funny moment and Ospreay climbed atop the entire structure instead, hitting a huge moonsault from the top of the cage onto all the heels on the floor. Totally contrived spot, sure, but undeniably a crowd-pleaser. In the ring, Kidd stared down Omega before they began trading blows with Omega rocking him with a few big knees before getting superkicked by the Bucks. This led to a sequence of individuals taking each other out in with kicks and slams and all sorts of offense, culminating with Ospreay hitting a Styles Clash on Kidd and then hitting a Hidden Blade/V-Trigger combo with Omega. Great stuff that reminded me of the spotfests of "early AEW," where matches were just overloaded with creative sequences and ridiculous moves and combos that nobody but the most well-versed wrestling fan had ever seen before. Mox climbed to the top of the cage, where Wheeler was waiting to help him. Darby chased him up and ended up sending Wheeler the announce table in a great spot (as contrived as it may have been). Darby dropped down to the floor and chased Mox with a kendo stick, wailing on him. Darby then put Mox between the stack of tables and climbed back on top of the cage. Shafir pulled Mox out from the tables while Gabe Kidd climbed a ladder up to the top of the cage. Kidd and Darby went crashing into the tables off the top of the cage as Kota and Claudio began to brawl in the middle of the ring. This led to the finishing sequence, which saw the babyfaces gain complete control and Tanahashi get the feel-good victory with a frog splash. Ospreay got to wave goodbye to the crowd before getting taken out by the Death Riders to close the show, getting a ton of heat in the process. I wasn't sure how this match would work as these sorts of multi-man cage matches are usually structured in a "War Games" fashion with countdowns and staggered entrances, but this was about as perfectly laid-out as it could be, managing to provide lots of high-flying, ultra-violence, and even some comedy while also managing to "hide" Tanahashi. (4/5)

While not as enjoyable overall as All In a few months back, Forbidden Door 2025 still brought the goods with the main event and Nigel/Sabre match being among my favorites of the year (though I do get the complaint that this year's version was rather light on inter-promotion dream matches). Some of the booking was questionable - the Hurt Syndicate not dropping their titles cleanly, the lackluster finish to the underwhelming Storm/Athena match, the most-likely-to-fail idea of putting Wardlow into an already-loaded Callis Family - but between the bells, most matches were good-to-great, once again demonstrating that AEW is a professional wrestling company for professional wrestling fans. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand