On Sunday, June 30th, AEW held its third annual “Forbidden Door” event. The show came to us live from the greatest place in the world, Long Island, NY. Before you ask, yes, I’m biased because I was born and raised here. The show looked great on television, but speaking from someone there live, that atmosphere was electric.
The show was headlined by a first-time-ever match which saw Swerve Strickland put his AEW World Championship on the line against the AEW International Champion, Will Ospreay. We also saw a massive title-for-title match, a title vs. career match, and so much more. So, what were the top three moments of the show?
Top 3 Moments of AEW Forbidden Door 2024
3. Jack Perry wins the TNT Championship
In May at the Double or Nothing event, Adam Copeland put his TNT Championship on the line against Malakai Black in a “Steel Cage” match. This was a match which saw Copeland come out as the victor. However, unfortunately, when Copeland jumped from the top of the cage he broke his leg and was forced to vacate the TNT Championship.
This led to the six-man ladder match that we saw at Forbidden Door. Jack Perry, Lio Rush, El Phantasmo, Dante Martin, Konosuke Takeshita, and Mark Briscoe did battle to crown the new TNT Champion. This match was about as chaotic as it came. It was a spotfest in the best way possible.
Ultimately, the end saw Jack Perry get his first taste of AEW singles gold. Perry climbed the ladder and took down the TNT Championship, getting a nice pop from the crowd. This was a great move from the company’s standpoint. Perry has been a constant topic of conversation amongst AEW fans, and it’s fun to see him get a legitimate push.
2. Mercedes Mone takes all the gold, Britt Baker returns
In one of the more anticipated matches of the night, Mercedes Mone put her TBS Championship on the line against Stephanie Vaquer, who put her NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship on the line in a title-for-title match. Mone has been on quite the run in AEW, and the same can be said for Vaquer in NJPW, but something had to give.
The match itself didn’t disappoint. Although, a point can be made that Vaquer looked better than Mone did during the match. In the end, Mone forced Vaquer to tap out to the “bank statement.” The fans live turned on Mone during the match, using her love for Boston against her. Spoiler alert: this was a ton of fun.
However, the bigger story came after the match. Britt Baker made her long-awaited return to AEW. She stood atop the entranceway and had a staredown with Mone. It looks like we could see Baker go one-on-one with Mone at All In in Wembley. This was a great decision on AEW’s end, and hopefully, it will lead to Baker getting a TBS Championship run.
1. Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay
In the main event of AEW Forbidden Door 2024, we saw Swerve Strickland square off with Will Ospreay for the top prize in AEW. This was a dream match from the very onset of when it was announced. This match delivered from top-to-bottom and made just a “good” show, turn into a “great” show.
The match itself was amazing in every sense of the word. However, ultimately, Ospreay’s moral dilemma cost him the biggest win of his career. Callis tried to get Ospreay to use a screwdriver, to which he said no. Strickland capitalized on this and ended up retaining the AEW World Championship in an absolute banger of a main event.
This was the best match of the night and it wasn’t even close. The fans were firmly split between the two men, cheering in awe at all of the near falls. It was a nice touch seeing MJF and Daniel Garcia in the audience watching this match. The future of AEW is in good hands, even with one of their top stars, Bryan Danielson, more than likely hanging up the boots soon.
