AEW President Tony Khan has stated that the mystery opponent scheduled to face Zack Sabre Jr. at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view will be a “great moment.”

Khan recently hosted a media call ahead of the AEW and New Japan crossover show, which will be airing on Sunday June 26th. On the June 22nd edition of Dynamite, Bryan Danielson announced that he would not be competing at Forbidden Door. Instead, The American Dragon has found a suitable replacement for Zack Sabre Jr. but would not say who the mystery man would be on Dynamite.

When asked about the situation regarding the multiple injuries that have unfortunately caused multiple changes to the Forbidden Door card, Khan has said the following:

“Talk about the one-two punch of injuries, losing CM Punk and Bryan Danielson, two of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Bryan Danielson is so valuable to the company, backstage and of course on-screen. And most importantly on-screen, fans were so excited for Forbidden Door, him wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. I think the anticipation was there, we had been hoping that we could really start building it up and Bryan was really starting to feel well after ‘Anarchy in the Arena’. He didn’t have any doubts whatsoever, I just didn’t want to take a chance … So I shut him down, and I think it was the right thing to do.”

Tony Khan would then go on to say that while it is a perfect situation where all the stars will align with the mystery opponent, the AEW President does wish that the introduction of the star could have happened under different circumstances:

“It was one of those also perfect situations, because rarely do the stars align where you have a mystery opponent and a chance to build up a moment like this,” Khan said. “It’s very fitting to go back to the United Center, where we’ve only had one show, and it was a great moment, and I know for sure we’re going to have that great moment. I think there’s going to be a lot of great moments to expect on the show, but one thing I know is this great moment, when we introduce Zack Sabre Jr’s mystery opponent. I’m really excited about it and I wish it had happened under different circumstances. “I think there’s going to be a lot of great moments to expect on the show, but one thing I know is this great moment, when we introduce Zack Sabre Jr’s mystery opponent. I’m really excited about it and I wish it had happened under different circumstances.”

H/t to Wrestling Inc for the use of transcriptions.

The full AEW Forbidden Door media call can be found below, courtesy of Inside The Ropes.

Featured image: Wrestling Inc.