It’s time once again to open THE FORBIDDEN DOOR.
AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 goes down LIVE tonight at 7/6c from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
On tap for tonight’s “Zero Hour” pre-show kicking off at 7/6c is Athena vs. Billie Starkz in an Owen Hart Cup tournament bout, United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & TJP) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi), Stu Grayson vs. El Phantasmo and The Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) & El Desperado.
Also scheduled is MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the AEW title, Adam Cole vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Toni Storm (C) vs. Willow Nightingale for the AEW Women’s title, Orange Cassidy (C) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia for the AEW International title and CM Punk vs. Katsuyori Shibata in an Owen Hart Cup tournament match.
Additionally, we will see The Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) & Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. The Elite (“Hangman” Adam Page & The Young Bucks) & Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii, Sanada (C) vs. Jungle Boy for the IWGP World title, Kenny Omega (C) vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP U.S. title, as well as Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada.
Featured below are complete AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 results from Sunday, June 25, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 7p-12a on pay-per-view.
AEW & NJPW: THE FORBIDDEN DOOR 2 RESULTS
The Zero Hour pre-show for AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 kicks off with “Wrestle Aunts” Renee Paquette and RJ City welcoming us to the show from inside the jam-packed Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
We see the two in the ring as fans are filing in the arena behind them. They run down how you can order and watch The Forbidden Door 2 across the globe. We hear the two run down the lineup for tonight as the official match graphics flash across the screen.
CM Punk is loudly booed when he flashes up. Blackpool Combat Club and Kenny Omega also got clearly loud pops, as does the main event of Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. They wrap up and then send things down to Excalibur on commentary.
CHAOS & El Desperado vs. The Mogul Embassy
The Best Friends theme hits and out comes Chuck Taylor, Trent Baretta, Rocky Romero and El Desperado for our opening contest. CHAOS and El Desperado settle in the ring and then Excalibur welcomes Kevin Kelly and Chrs Charlton as his broadcast partners.
Justin Roberts and a Japanese man both handle the ring introductions for each competitor that makes their way to the ring. Out next is The Mogul Embassy gang consisting of Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona, Bishop Kaun and Brian Cage, with Prince Nana.
The bell sounds and we see Bishop Kaun and Rocky Romero kick things off for their respective teams. After some back-and-forth action, we see some wild spots from everyone, including a final one that sees Trent Baretta take out the whole pile of bodies on the floor.
After the action resumes in the ring, we see CHAOS fire up on offense and take over. They then give the people what they want — a Best Friends hug.
Moments later it looks like they have it wrapped up, but instead The Mogul Embassy takes over. Rocky Romero is down and out and then Swerve finishes this one off with a double stomp off the top for the win.
Winners: The Mogul Embassy
Owen Hart Cup
Billie Starkz vs. Athena
After the pre-show in-ring opener wraps up we head to a quick commercial break. When we return, we see a video package hyping the Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay showdown later tonight for the IWGP U.S. title.
When we return, Billie Starkz theme hits and she makes her way down to the ring for our second pre-show bout here on Zero Hour, which is the latest quarterfinal match in the ongoing women’s Owen Hart Cup.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena makes her way out next. “The Fallen Goddess” heads to the ring for this opening round bout in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one, where the winner moves on to face Willow Nightingale in the semifinals. Starkz lands a bunch of rapid-fire kicks coming out of the gate, but after that, Athena takes over and dominates for the next several minutes.
Starkz catches Athena coming off the top-rope with a big bomb to slow down her offensive momentum. Athena fights back into the lead and hits a big power bomb and follows up with a big kick. She goes for the cover and thinks she has it won, but Starkz kicks out.
We see the action continue and Starkz goes for a senton off the top but crashes and burns way down on the floor at ringside. Athena follows her out of the ring to deliver some additional punishment before bringing her back in the ring and connecting with her finisher for the win to advance.
Winner and ADVANCING in the Owen Hart Cup: Athena
El Phantasma vs. Stu Grayson
After a video package airs promoting the Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada main event of tonight’s AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 premium live event, we head back inside Scotiabank Arena for our third of four scheduled matches here on the Zero Hour pre-show.
With that said, El Phantasma’s theme hits and out comes the NJPW performer for our next match of the evening. He settles inside the ring and his music dies down as he awaits on the arrival of his opponent.
Now the theme for Stu Grayson hits and out comes the former member of The Dark Order, as the commentators talk about him turning on the faction. He settles in the ring and now it’s time to get this one started.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this singles bout. We see some back-and-forth action early on and then Grayson settles into a lengthy offensive lead as the commentators sing the praises of his Tae Kwan Do background.
El Phantasma starts to fire up on offense for the first time in the bout. He flattens Grayson and heads to the top-rope, where he connects with Thunderkiss ’86 for a close near fall. Grayson fights back and connects with a 450 splash off the top for a close pin attempt of his own.
Now we see Phantasma hit a wild flipping DDT and then a modified Pedigree type of move for the pin fall victory. Impressive performance by El Phantasma in another good match here on the Zero Hour pre-show.
Winner: El Phantasma
United Empire vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon
A MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi video package airs to promote the AEW Championship bout that will be up after this match as the opener for The Forbidden Door 2 main pay-per-view card.
From there, we settle back in the arena where the Los Ingobernales de Japon trio of Shingo Takagi, Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi make their way out to the ring to a decent pop from the Toronto fans.
Now their opponents theme hits and out comes the United Empire trio of Jeff Cobb, TJP and Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open. They settle inside the squared circle as well and now it’s time to get our final pre-show match of the night underway.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see bodies flying all over the place straight out of the gate in this match, which was placed perfectly on the card to get the crowd primed and ready for the main card coming up next.
After some back-and-forth action, we see a spot-fest sequence break out with everyone in the bout getting a few seconds each for shine spots. Finally we see Los Ingobernables de Japon finish this one off for the win. Another good match here.
Winners: Los Ingobernables de Japon
AEW Championship
MJF (C) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
The pre-show wraps up, the cold open video package plays and then we shoot inside the arena again where fireworks explode as Excalibur does the “It’s Sunday night, and you know what that means …” catchphrase. He is joined by Taz and Kevin Kelly and we head to the ring.
The theme for Hiroshi Tanahashi plays and out comes the Japanese legend for our opening contest here on the main pay-per-view card for AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2. “Ace” settles in the ring and his music dies down.
We hear the fans continuing to go nuts for him but then the familiar sounds of Maxwell Jacob Friedman’s theme hits and the fans start loudly booing as the reigning and defending AEW World Champion makes his way out.
“New Japan is an Indie” is the text written in bedazzled letters on the back of his robe. He heads to the ring as the boos grow louder. The bell sounds after Justin Roberts and the NJPW Japanese ring announcer handle the formal pre-match ring introductions for this title contest.
MJF comes out puffing his belly out to mock Tanahashi coming out of the gate. After a few quick exchanges we see MJF head out of the ring and decide to leave. He heads to the back as Tanahashi leads the fans in Scotiabank Arena in a “COWARD! COWARD!” chant.
This brings back a fired up MJF, who re-enters the ring. MJF loudly asks the fans if they think he’s a coward. He pretends to show a display of sportsmanship, extending his hand to Tanahashi. The two shake hands, MJF bows and then tries sneaking in a low kick, which Tanahashi swats away before blasting MJF.
Friedman gets an abdominal stretch on Tanahashi and grabs the ropes for leverage multiple times until the ref catches him. The ref starts counting and MJF loudly yells, “What are you gonna do, dip-sh*t?!” Bryce Remsberg then kicks his hands off the ropes and Tanahashi takes over.
As Tanahashi gets closer and closer to finishing MJF off, the commentators read a well-timed tweet that MJF scheduled to be posted right now, which boasted already beating Tanahashi by this point. They joke about how he was wrong in his prediction and we continue to watch as he barely hangs on.
Hiroshi hits a wild shoulder breaker on MJF over his knee for a close near fall, but after kicking out, we see MJF take over and shift the offensive momentum back in his favor. He blows his nose on Tanahashi and yells out that he’s “a joke.”
Tanahashi hits a dragon corkscrew and then a sling blade. He heads to the top-rope for his finisher, but MJF gets his knees up. The commentators point out that both men look hurt after that.
MJF rolls out to the floor and grabs his title. He heads back in the ring but the ref catches him and stops him. Tanahashi rolls him up from behind but MJF kicks out before the count of three. MJF sneaks in a shot with the Dynamite Diamond Ring and gets the win.
Winner and STILL AEW Champion: MJF
Owen Hart Cup
Satoshi Kojima vs. CM Punk
After a quick Draft Kings ad, we head back inside the arena where it’s time for our second match of the evening, which will be a men’s quarterfinal match-up in the ongoing Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
Satoshi Kojima’s theme hits and out comes the Japanese legend, who has vowed to kill his opponent here tonight. He’s in a place where that’s actually something that people might legitimately want to see.
Why?
Let the crowd reaction to the entrance of his opponent answer that for ya. Find footage of CM Punk making his way out next and listen to the guttural hatred. CM Punk famously told John Cena he had become the New York Yankees in WWE during his prime.
That might be what’s happening for “The Best in the World” at this point in his AEW career. Certainly that’s the case in Toronto. The boos are so loud I can’t even properly describe it. Punk settles in the ring and soaks up the hatred.
Punk is playing it perfectly, as the bell sounds to get this one started. Punk taunts the fans early on with his “GTS” sleepy hand gesture. He and Kojima mix it up and Punk plays the cowardly heel in the corner to let Kojima soak up a rock star reaction from the Toronto crowd.
From there, we see Punk take over and he even arrogantly pops his shoulders as he takes it to the Japanese legend. The action spills out to the floor where Punk chops the hell out of Kojima. Kojima blasts him with one that knocks him over the barricade and sends him crashing into the audience.
Back in the ring, CM starts to Punk-up and then he does the ear-hand-cup gesture ala “The Hulkster” and taps further into his inner Real American Hero by hitting Hulk Hogan’s famous leg drop before again taunting the fans in Toronto.
Punk gets Kojima in the corner and starts loudly yelling “LARIAT! LARIAT! LARIAT!” followed by “KOJIMA! KOJIMA! KOJIMA!” as he blasts Satoshi with repeated short-arm clotheslines with the Japanese legend pressed against the turnbuckles.
Kojima starts to fight back and sets the crowd absolutely on fire as he backs Punk in a corner and rapid-fire chops the living hell out of him. Punk shoves him and walks off holding his chest, but Kojima backs him in the opposing corner and does the same thing as the roof nearly explodes off the Scotiabank Arena.
As the action continues, Kojima heads to the top rope and leaps off, connecting with a flying elbow smash right on the jewels of “The Best in the World,” which we see via instant replay. Kevin Kelly points out nothing is a mistake when you’re a 31-year veteran like Kojima.
Punk fires back up and flattens Kojima. He leaps off the top rope and connects with a flying elbow smash. He goes for the cover but Kojima kicks out. Punk locks in his Anaconda Vice submission, but Kojima fights his way out of the hold. Punk hoists Kojima up for a GTS, but Kojima elbows his way free.
Kojima hits a Koji-Cutter that gets the crowd back on their feet. He stalks Punk and waits for him to get up, looking for a potential match-ending lariat. Punk counters with a neck-breaker for a close near fall.
Punk hoists Kojima up for a GTS again and arrogantly walks around the ring with him. He goes for it but Kojima avoids it and counters with a brainbuster for a close near fall. Kojima looks for his lariat but misses. Punk counters with a GTS and makes the cover for the win to advance in the Owen Hart Cup.
Winner and ADVANCING in the Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk
AEW International Championship
Orange Cassidy (C) vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Now we switch gears and get ready for our next match of the evening, which will be a four-way dance with the AEW International Championship on-the-line.
The theme for the “Freshly Squeezed” one hits and out comes the reigning and defending AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy for his latest title defense. He settles in the ring with his title in a back pack as the crowd goes wild.
Out next is the ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata, to a mild crowd reaction. He settles in the ring and his theme dies down. Now Daniel Garcia heads out and the only man without a title in this match settles in the squared circle as well.
Finally, the theme for NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. hits and the fans give the New Japan star a decent reaction coming out. He heads to the ring where Cassidy, Shibata and Garcia are shown waiting for him.
All four men are in the ring and now it’s time to get this one rocking and rolling. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our second championship contest here at AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2.
After some early back-and-forth action, we see Cassidy knocking people out of the ring left and right. ZSJ and Shibata start trading shots as the crowd goes wild. Garcia keeps trying to get into the mix, but they keep blasting him and returning focus to each other.
Eventually Garcia starts doing a cocky dance after each shot they hit him with, so they both turn their attention to him at the same time and club him with repeated blows that finally gets him out of the picture so they can resume duking it out among themselves.
We see ZSJ and Shibata get Garcia and Cassidy in abdominal stretches and while holding them, they start trading shots to each other again. With Cassidy and Garcia on Shibata and ZSJ’s backs with chokes, the two still, while fading, trade shots back-and-forth.
ZSJ rips and tears at the injured hand and fingers of Cassidy on the floor while in the ring, Garcia sneaks in a cheap shot with the belt that lays out Shibata. He goes for the cover after connecting with the belt shot, but Shibata hangs on.
Cassidy and Shibata end up in the ring alone together. They each sit cross-legged in the center of the ring in front of each other. They start trading shots up to their knees and then standing, as the crowd reacts to each shot that lands. Cassidy ends up landing an Orange Punch but hurts his own injured hand in the process.
Shibata and ZSJ end up in an awesome counter and reversal spot, with each attempting unique submissions and even more unique pin attempts until finally Garcia ends up back in the ring to break things up. Cassidy steals the win seconds later with a pin on Shibata to retain. Excellent match.
After the match, Cassidy poses in victory with his AEW International Championship. Zack Sabre Jr. comes in with his NJPW World TV Championship and says they aren’t done yet. Satoshi Kojima joins the mix with his ROH Pure Championship and we see all three title holders staring each other down. ZSJ leaves and Cassidy and Shibata shake hands.
Winner and STILL AEW International Champion: Orange Cassidy
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Sanada (C) vs. Jungle Boy
The video package airs for our next match of the evening, which is the first tonight to be contested under International World Grand Prix rules, as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada puts his title on-the-line against “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry.
Jungle Boy’s catchy-ass theme hits and out comes the former Jurassic Express tag-team member to the ring accompanied by FTW Champion HOOK. He settles inside as Justin Roberts and the NJPW ring announcer do his introduction.
The theme for Sanada plays and out comes the reigning and defending IWGP Champion as Taz is questioned on commentary about HOOK not being in Jungle Boy’s corner for the main event of AEW Rampage on Friday night. Taz says he doesn’t know.
Sanada settles in the ring to a decent pop from the Toronto crowd and now this one-on-one showdown here at The Forbidden Door 2 for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is about to get underway.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. After some back-and-forth action, we see Sanada start to hit some high spots. Jungle Boy hangs on and fights back, connecting with Sanada’s own submission finisher in a near-finish.
As Jungle Boy fights back, we see Sanada slow down his momentum and slap on a poison-rana. Moments later, Sanada connects with a picture-perfect moonsault press off the top-rope for the pin fall victory. With the win, Sanada retains his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Winner and STILL IWGP World Heavyweight Champion: Sanada
Jungle Boy Turns On HOOK
Once the match wraps up, we see a dejected Jungle Boy head back up the ramp with FTW Champion HOOK. HOOK goes to raise Jungle Boy’s hand and get the crowd to show him some love, but when he does, Jungle Boy blasts HOOK with a clothesline. Taz reacts by shouting, “Holy sh*t!” on commentary.
The fans boo as Jungle Boy heads to the back. The fans chant “You f*cked up!” and Taz reacts, “Ohhh you sure did! Scumbag!” Jungle Boy takes HOOK’s FTW title and heads to the back with it as HOOK is left laid out on the ramp.
He ends up dropping the belt and walking off. The fans chant Taz when the camera angle switches back to the commentators. Taz says they shouldn’t chant his name and points out that HOOK is a grown ass man who will handle this no problem.
Blackpool Combat Club & Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. The Elite & Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii
The video package airs to hype up our next match of the evening, which will see the Blackpool Combat Club and two partners joining forces to take on The Elite and two partners in a highly-anticipated ten-man tag-team bout.
After the package wraps up, we return live inside Scotiabank Arena where Taz is replaced by Tony Schiavone on the commentary team for the broadcast. The theme for The Elite hits and out comes “Hangman” Adam Page and The Young Bucks.
The Elite trio are joined by “The Mad King” Eddie Kingston and NJPW veteran Tomohiro Ishii. The five-man team settles in the ring and soaks up a ton of love from the Toronto crowd as they await the arrival of their opponents.\
Now the theme for Blackpool Combat Club airs and out through the crowd comes the team of Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta, as well as their partners, Konosuke Takeshita, accompanied by Don Callis, and Shota Umino.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli kick things off for their respective teams. Before anything happens, Claudio leans back and tags out.
Instead, in comes Shota Umino for the Blackpool Combat Club team and “Hangman” Adam Page for The Elite squad. The commentators point out we haven’t seen Umino since Chris Jericho blew a fireball on his face.
After some back-and-forth action, we see Moxley and Kingston tag in and the crowd comes unglued as they see friends turned enemies get ready to duke it out. And that’s exactly what they do, as they start viciously trading chops and strikes until finally other members of both teams enter the mix.
Jackson hits a big dive and splash onto the floor while Kingston and Mox continue to duke it out. Hangman hits a big moonsault to a pile of bodies on the floor as Mox and Kingston are still trading shots in the middle of the ring as the crowd goes bonkers.
Claudio comes in from behind and takes Kingston out as the fans loudly boo. Castagnoli is finally willing to tag in now and he takes advantage of an already beaten down “Mad King” as the boos from the fans grow even louder inside Scotiabank Arena.
Takeshita tags in and appears to violently knock out Ishii with a single shot that elicits a ton of heat from the crowd. Umino takes over and continues beating down an already beaten down Eddie Kingston.
Mox and Kingston go at it again when “The Mad King” fires up and tries getting his hands on Castagnoli, only for Mox to stop him. We see Hangman hit a wild shooting star press onto a pile of bodies on the floor. In the ring, Takeshita and Page duke it out.
Matt Jackson tags in and along with Nick Jackson, the two go to work on Takeshita with double team action. They go for a BTE Trigger but Takeshita avoids it. Kingston nearly costs his team the match as he puts their interests behind his own, which are to get his hands on Takeshita.
Kingston ends up taking a bit shot from Moxley. Back in the ring, we see Jackson beaten down by Takeshita and Yuta. Yuta goes for the pin but Hangman breaks it up. Castagnoli amps up and hits a giant swing on Jackson but the follow-up pin is broken up.
A “This is Awesome!” and “Fight Forever!” chant breaks out. Ishii is back to his feet and he tags in and hits a big lariat on Yuta in the corner. He takes him to the top-rope and connects with an insane super-plex for a close near fall. Kingston and Ishii sandwich Yuta with lariats and kicks.
Yuta recovers and goes for a pin but Jackson breaks it up. We see bodies all over the place in the ring, with each guy hitting finishers one after the other. Mox hits a big Cutter but walks into a super kick. The Young Bucks hit stereo super kicks on Yuta.
Hangman goes for the Buckshot Lariat on Yuta but Yuta counters it. Ishii hits a big lariat on Yuta. He goes for the vertical drop brainbuster and connects. He goes for the cover and gets the win. Great match.
Winners: The Elite & Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii
AEW Women’s Championship
Toni Storm (C) vs. Willow Nightingale
It’s time for our final AEW title match of the evening, as the women’s world championship is on-the-line in our next one-on-one bout here at AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2. The video package airs to hype the Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale title tilt — which is up next.
The package wraps up and we return inside Scotiabank Arena where the theme song plays to bring out the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion and current semifinalist in the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, Willow Nightingale.
Nightingale settles into the ring and her music dies down as she awaits the arrival of her opponent for this women’s singles showdown.
Now the theme for Toni Storm plays and out comes the reigning and defending AEW Women’s World Champion accompanied by fellow members of The Outcasts, Saraya and Ruby Soho.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Immediately we hear some commotion at ringside, where Saraya and Ruby Soho get in the face of the women’s commentator for the NJPW broadcast team.
In the ring, we see Nightingale get her hands on Storm and she begins manhandling her. She gets her down to the mat. Soho escapes and rolls out to the floor, re-grouping with The Outcasts before returning to the ring to try luck with Willow again.
Nightingale establishes the offensive lead in the ring with Storm and then heads out and bickers with Saraya and Soho on the floor at ringside. She ends up hitting a double noggin-knocker on the two Outcasts members.
Toni Storm takes advantage of Willow’s lapse in focus, blasting her with a hip attack off the ropes to shift the offensive momentum in her favor. On the floor, Storm adds to her offensive lead before bringing Nightingale back in the ring.
Behind the ref’s back, we see Saraya sneak in some cheap shots on multiple occasions. As the action continues, we see the referee finally get fed up with the interference at ringside and he ejects Ruby Soho and Saraya. The two head to the back.
Willow goes for a moonsault off the middle rope but Storm avoids it and follows up with a DDT. She hits a running hip attack on the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion in the corner for a close near fall. Tony Schiavone points out Storm is bleeding from the nose and/or mouth.
A close-up camera shot shows this. Excalibur speculates it might be a broken nose. Storm goes for another hip attack in the corner but Willow blasts her with a pounce that knocks Storm out to the floor. She heads out after her and rolls her back in the ring, where she connects with a lariat in the corner before unloading with a flurry of punches.
Nightingale pulls down the straps, ala Jerry Lawler in his King of Memphis Wrestling prime. Storm ends up gouging Willow in the eyes to temporarily blind her, before following up with her Storm Zero for the win. The Outcasts come back out to celebrate her win afterwards. We see Skye Blue and Dr. Britt Baker watching on from backstage.
Winner and STILL AEW Women’s Champion: Toni Storm
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega (C) vs. Will Ospreay
It’s time for our second match of the evening to be contested under International World Grand Prix rules, as the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship is on-the-line in our next bout between longtime rivals, current title-holder Kenny Omega and former champion Will Ospreay.
The elaborate video package airs to tell the story leading up to this highly-anticipated grudge match showdown. The package wraps up and then we return inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where the lights go out.
A video airs on the big screen with local news reports about crimes in the city. We see Will Ospreay looking at a ton of monitors and TV sets as the clips flip around, including shots of Kenny Omega in his Bullet Club prime in Japan.
Back in the arena, the music for the challenger begins playing and out comes decorated international pro wrestling mega-star Will Ospreay. The fans start to boo as the man who has made many anti-Canadian comments makes his way out accompanied by Don Callis and his promised security.
Ospreay settles inside the squared circle accompanied by Callis and his music dies down, but the boos from the fans continue. Now he awaits the arrival of his opponent and longtime rival.
With that said, the lights go down again and when they come back on, we hear the entrance theme music for “The Cleaner” himself. Out comes The Elite leader Kenny Omega, complete with fireworks and pyro exploding.
The reigning IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion has a look of all-business in his eyes as he makes his way down to the ring to an enormously positive reaction from his home-country crowd in Canada.
Now the bell finally sounds to get this match officially off-and-running. The crowd explodes once more as Ospreay and Omega intensely stare each other down from opposing sides of the ring. The two stop and let the crowd chants pick up some momentum, as they gaze out at the jam-packed crowd.
A “Holy sh*t!” chant breaks out before the two even touch. Finally they lock-up in the center of the ring and get this highly-anticipated title tilt underway. We see the two fire up and each go for their finishers, with Omega going for a One-Winged Angel but throwing Ospreay overhead where he lands on his feet.
The two stop and pose in front of each other as the crowd showers them with love. A huge anti-Don Callis chant breaks out after he appears on the camera. Another wicked back-and-forth from Omega and Ospreay elicits a “This is Wrestling!” chant from the fired up Toronto crowd.
Omega goes on a nice offensive run, including hitting a picture-perfect middle rope moonsault for a close near fall. Ospreay rolls out to the floor to re-group. Omega hits the ropes to build up a full head of steam before diving, but Callis grabs Omega’s legs from ringside.
We see Omega head out to get his hands on Callis, but his military grade security stops him. The ref heads out and sees what is going on and decides to eject Don Callis from ringside. Ospreay still takes advantage of the distraction, launching Omega knee-first into the steel steps and then biceps first into the steel ring post.
Ospreay hits some cool spots building up to an even cooler spot, as he drapes Omega off the ropes and climbs to the top-rope where he hits a wild shooting star press on “The Cleaner.” He hits another big spot with a leaping cutter off the ropes seconds later to expand on his already wild crowd pop.
Out at ringside, we see Ospreay grab Omega by his hair and with an evil look in his eyes, he proceeds to violently smash Omega face-first into the commentary desk until it starts breaking. The crowd loudly boos as Omega slumps over half-on and half-off the commentary table.
We see Ospreay grab the top panel of the commentary desk and lean it long ways against the ring apron. He grabs an already lifeless Omega and throws him face-first through it. Omega is badly bleeding now. The fans chant “Still a Wanker!” at Ospreay as the action resumes in the ring.
Will beats down Kenny some more and then mocks his hand gun gesture before blasting him with his own V-Trigger. He grabs a Canadian flag and ala Shawn Michaels in his anti-Bret Hart prime, he stuffs it up his nose.
He walks towards a busted up and bloody Omega like that, but Omega clotheslines him inside out, knocking the flag out of his snot-box in the process. Omega fires up at this point and beats Ospreay down. The action spills out to the floor where Omega holds the Canadian flag up high and proud before giving it to a young fan at ringside.
Omega calls for the V-Trigger and connects with it at ringside as Ospreay is laid up against the solid barricade. Now Omega returns the favor and grabs Ospreay by the hair and smashes his face repeatedly into the steel steps. Ospreay is badly, badly bleeding. We see a puddle of blood on the floor and his face is a bloody mess.
Now Omega turns the steel steps on their side so they are tall. He brings Ospreay up there and goes for a DDT. He connects. Ospreay is a gross, gross bloody mess. The referees run down and check on him but Omega pushes past them. He brings Ospreay in the ring and ground and pounds the hell out of his bloody mug.
Back in the ring, a bloody Omega and a bloody Ospreay each hit the other with German suplexes, only for the one who took the move to stand up like nothing happened and do the same to the other. Ospreay nearly finishes Omega off seconds later, but Omega hangs on.
We see a gross close-up camera shot of an incredibly, incredibly bloody Ospreay. He looks to put Omega in a Sharpshooter to further taunt the Canadian crowd. The fans boo loudly in response as Ospreay cranks back on the submission hold. Ospreay puts the Crippler Crossface on Omega and the fans chant “You sick f*ck!” at him.
Ospreay blasts Omega with some vicious kicks to the grill and then calls for the finish. He leaps for a cutter off the middle ropes, but Omega catches him flying backwards in his direction with a well-timed knee. He follows that up with a snap-dragon suplex. And another.
He goes for it again but Ospreay fights out of it and hits a poisonrana. Omega fights back and hits a snap dragon pile driver for a close near fall. Omega blasts Ospreay in the back of the head with a V-Trigger in the corner.
He brings him to the top-rope and looks for an avalanche dragon suplex. He stops and hoists Ospreay up on his shoulders while up there. Ospreay flips over and looks to scoop Omega for a power bomb, but lets go and blasts Ospreay with a thrust super kick that brings him off and down to the floor.
He climbs back up and connects with a sky twister press on the floor. Insanity. The fans react with a well-deserved “Holy sh*t!” chant. Back in the ring Ospreay hits a blind slide shot and then looks for a hidden blade to finish it off. Omega avoids it.
The two each go for kicks and then lariats at the same time. Ospreay counters an Omega move with a Liger Bomb into a pin attempt. Omega kicks out. The crowd cheers. Ospreay leaps from the middle rope to the top-rope and hits an Os-Cutter for a close near fall.
Ospreay and Omega each go for a move but they crash and burn and it looks scary for a moment. Now Don Callis comes out from the back as the ref checks on the two wrestlers in the ring. The fans loudly boo and chant “Piece of sh*t!” as Callis settles in at ringside after being ejected earlier in the bout.
“The Cleaner” starts repeatedly blasting Ospreay with knees to the face while he is already lifeless. He points at Callis and lands another big one. He plays to the crowd and waits for Ospreay to get up. Callis jumps on the ring apron and covers Ospreay. Omega hits it anyways.
Callis tries pulling Ospreay out of the ring to save him. The ref gets in the middle. While this is going on, he hands Ospreay a screwdriver. Omega goes for One Winged Angel but Ospreay blasts Omega in the eyes with a screwdriver when the ref couldn’t see it. Ospreay hits his Storm Breaker and covers him.
He goes for the pin but somehow Omega gets his foot on the ropes. The crowd goes absolutely, positively insane for that. Callis again hops on the ring apron as the fans loudly chant “Kenny! Kenny!” He whispers something to Ospreay and then Ospreay gets up and goes after a lifeless Omega.
Ospreay blasts Omega with a V-Trigger and then a One-Winged Angel. He goes for the cover and Omega kicks out at one. The crowd goes totally bonkers again. The two start trading shots in the middle of the ring as the fans loudly chant “Kenny! Kenny!”
Omega lands a V-Trigger and then a brainbuster. He hoists Ospreay up for the One Winged Angel but Ospreay fights out of it and Omega instead hits a German suplex into a bridge for a pin attempt. Ospreay kicks out. The fans chant “Fight Forever!”
Omega lands another V-Trigger. He hoists Ospreay up for the One Winged Angel but Ospreay counters and looks for a Storm Breaker. Omega counters but Ospreay hits a Rip Cord. Ospreay hits a Tiger Driver and goes for the cover but Omega kicks out. Ospreay hits another Storm Breaker and finally pins Omega. What an incredible match of the year candidate.
Winner and NEW IWGP U.S. Champion: Will Ospreay
Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
After Omega is helped out of the ring, we get ready for our next match of the evening. Out first comes Chris Jericho, as the fans sing along with his “Judas in my Mind” single. He settles in the ring with Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki. Le Suzuki Gods have arrived in Toronto.
Now the theme for their opponents plays, with first coming out is “The Icon” Sting, who is wearing his Joker Sting face-paint. He settles in the ring and then Darby Allin comes out. They are joined by their third partner for this Trios bout, Tetsuya Naito.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Naito kick things off for his team, taking it to Suzuki and then Guevara when he tags in moments later. Moments later we see things pick up.
Suzuki and Darby Allin each tag in. The two agree to a strike for strike trade it appears, as Darby gives Suzuki his face and Suzuki takes his time setting up and then laying in a shot that damn near knocked Allin unconscious. Allin fires up and spits on his hand for a big chop after eventually getting back up.
Jericho engages in some heelish antics to help shift the momentum back in his team’s favor. Sting and Chris Jericho end up alone in the ring together, where they start trading shots before breaking out into a bit of a hockey fight here inside the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Back in the ring, Le Suzuki Gods strike a three-way pose, with Guevara laid out, Chris Jericho leaning on top of him and Suzuki leaning on top of him for a funny spot that the crowd popped for. We see Darby fire up and hit a Code Red. Guevara fights back and hits a Spanish Fly for a close near fall attempt.
We see things build up to the finishing sequence after a big table spot on the floor. The finish in this one sees the baby face team of Sting, Darby Allin and Tetsuya Naito pick up the victory. After the match, Le Suzuki Gods try and continue the fight, but Sting and his iconic bat run them off.
Winners: Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
It’s time to find out who the best wrestler in the world is.
Are we going into the “f*cking desert” or are we going to see The Rainmaker do his thing?
Let’s find out!
The video package for our main event of the evening here at AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 airs to hype up the final match of the evening between “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada.
Europe’s “Final Countdown” plays after the package wraps up and out to the iconic song comes Blackpool Combat Club’s own Bryan Danielson. The fans in Toronto give him a big pop as he heads to the ring. He settles inside and looks all business.
His theme dies down and now the entrance tune for his opponent plays and out comes New Japan Pro Wrestling mega-star Kazuchika Okada. The Japanese star heads to the ring to a huge pop from the fans inside the Scotiabank Arena.
Excalibur, Kevin Kelly and Tony Schiavone each build up the battle for the best pro wrestler in the world in this main event, after, of course, Kevin Kelly seems to indicate that Excalibur was just handed a sandwich off-camera. Important stuff.
Tony Schiavone points out the “Holy Shiz-nit” chant from the crowd as the bell sounds to officially get this one off-and-running. The fans are already chanting things like “This is Awesome” before the two even touch.
The action spills out to the floor early on, where we see Okada run over Danielson with a big boot that sends him over the barricade and into the crowd. Danielson hits a leaping knee to Okada on the floor. He then starts to focus his offensive attack on the right shoulder of Okada before rolling him back into the ring.
Danielson hits the 12-to-6 elbow strikes to the collar and neck of Okada and then locks him in the Cattle Mutilation for a near submission attempt. Danielson keeps the pace slow as he continues to dominate Okada with mat-based offense and striking flurries.
Okada starts to no-sell Danielson after a few chops. Danielson mixes in some “Yes!” kicks and Okada still no-sells it. He starts forearming the hell out of Danielson, who answers back with some of his own.
We see Okada take over on offense after things spill out to the floor once again. After gaining the upper-hand, he brings things back in the ring. Okada slaps the Money Clip submission hold on Danielson, who eventually escapes.
“The American Dragon” starts fighting back and blasting Okada with stiff European uppercuts over and over again. The fans chant “O-Ka-da! O-ka-da!” to try and rally behind him. He starts to no-sell the big shots from Okada. Danielson looks to drag Okada down into a submission hold, but “The Rainmaker” avoids it.
Okada connects with a shotgun drop kick to slow down Danielson’s momentum. Okada goes to scoop Danielson up, but Danielson avoids it and counters with a German suplex, dumping Okada on his dome. He then follows that up with a running kick in the corner. And another. He goes for a third, but Okada catches him with a dropkick coming in.
Kazuchika heads to the top but Danielson catches him coming down and locks in an armbar. He switches it to a standing armbar on the rainmaker arm of Okada. He looks for a LeBelle Lock and he locks it in. On the floor, Okada looks for the Rainmaker but Danielson avoids it and drops him with a big kick.
We see Okada start to fight back and then he hits a big Tombstone pile driver on Danielson on the steel ramp. The fans chant “This is Awesome!” as they both recover. Kevin Kelly points out the blood from Ospreay still splattered all over the ring steps at ringside.
Back in the ring, we see Danielson laid out in the middle of the ring. Okada heads to the top rope and connects with a leaping elbow smash. He calls for the Rainmaker. He goes to pick a lifeless Danielson as he convulses in the ring. The ref stops him to have the doctor check on Danielson.
As this is going on, we see Danielson reveal he was luring him in, as he springs to life and blasts Okada with a near-finisher. Both guys are down and recovering now as the crowd comes to life once again. Okada starts to bludgeon Danielson with repeated forearms.
Danielson avoids a suplex from Okada and lands a running knee for a close near fall. Danielson starts hitting repeated “Yes!” kicks until Okada hits a Landslide to slow down his momentum. Okada finally connects with a Rainmaker for the first time in the match. He goes for the cover but Danielson kicks out.
We see Danielson look for his LeBelle Lock even though his right arm is completely useless at this point. With just his left arm, he applies the hold. He struggles to lock his fingers to finish the hold. The fans rally behind Okada with chants as he fights it.
Danielson eventually wraps his leg around Okada’s arm and squeezes down even harder on the submission. Okada forearms the hell out of Okada’s head with the other arm and then cranks back on the submission again as the crowd “ooh’s” and “ahh’s.” Okada eventually taps out. Danielson wins. Another incredible match.
Winner: Bryan Danielson
