Welcome to WrestlePurists coverage of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 on June 25 2023.
MJF (c) Defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi (AEW World Championship):
MJF gets the win after distracting the referee and hitting Tanahashi with his Diamond Ring. A nice tone setter for the show.
CM Punk Defeats Satoshi Kojima (Mens Owen Hart Tournament):
CM Punk making his second appearance in front of AEW’s Toronto fans in 2 days is again greeted by huge boos that drown out any cheers for him. Punk played into this again and it created a great atmosphere. Another good match.
Orange Cassidy (c) Defeats Daniel Garcia, Zacks Sabre Jr & Katsuyori Shibata (AEW International Championship)
Orange Cassidy pinned Daniel Garcia. 25 Successful defences for Cassidy.
SANADA (c) Defeats Jungle Boy Jack Perry (IWGP World Heavyweight Championship):
HOOK was in Jack Perry’s corner for the match. After the match was done, HOOK & Perry were walking up the ramp together, Perry stopped for a moment seemingly from being beat up/exhausted. HOOK raised Perry’s hand so the crowd would pop for him, but whilst he did this, Perry turned on him and nailed him with a lariat.
The Elite, Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii Defeats The Blackpool Combat Club & Konosuke Takeshita:
Ishii pinned Wheeler Yuta. Great match as expected, a lot of playing on the dynamic between Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley as former friends. After the match, The Elite and Kingston were arguing.
Toni Storm (c) Defeats Willow Nightingale (AEW Womens Championship):
Will Ospreay defeats Kenny Omega (c) (IWGP United States Championship):
A great match that was taken to another level when Will Ospreay turned up the heel work and the dynamic between heel and babyface was made blatant by the crowds investment and reactions. Kenny Omega a perfect babyface in his home country. This match had multiple peaks and so much to it, everything from brutal looking offence, to elite athleticism, heated interference, blood, dramatic kick outs, callbacks and much more in a 40 minute epic.
Tetsuya Naito, Sting & Darby Allin Defeat Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki:
Tetsuya Naito pinned Chris Jericho. After the match, Jericho attacked Naito with a baseball bat, but Sting grabbed the bat off him and got the shot back on him.
Bryan Danielson Defeats Kazuchika Okada:
To the delight to all of his fans, Bryan Danielson comes out to his old entrance music, “The Final Countdown” by Europe. A match worthy of the special occasion. This was extremely competitive with both men testing each other. This really felt like a moment in time seeing those two in the ring together. Bryan Danielson wins the match by tapping out Okada, a truly staggering conclusion. The first time Okada has tapped in years.
