AEW Forbidden Door returns for the 3rd time.
Airing live from the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, AEW Forbidden Door has expanded event further as stars from CMLL and STARDOM will also be competing on the show. The top championships from AEW and NJPW will both be on the line as Swerve Strickland and Jon Moxley will each put their respective titles on the line against arguably their toughest opponents. Strickland will defend the title against International Champion Will Ospreay, giving The Ariel Assassin an opportunity to become a double champion in AEW. For Moxley, his opponent at Forbidden Door will be the man who he defeated to win the IWGP Championship back at Windy City Riot, Tetsuya Naito.
The Predictions For AEW Forbidden Door Are As Follows:
MJF vs. Hechicero
Having made his return at Double or Nothing, MJF will compete on PPV for the first time in 2024 as he faces off against CMLL’s Hechicero. Still riding the wave of momentum from his recent return, Maxwell Jacob Friedman will not be losing any time soon and is likely to continue his path to another World Championship opportunity at some point soon.
Winner: MJF
Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi – Owen Hart Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Danielson continues to have as many dream matches as possible before his full-time run comes to an end. With Danielson making it clear that he wants to go out strong at Wembley at All In, The American Dragon will likely advance in this match and will continue to progress in the tournament. Additionally, with Takagi being the NJPW star, it is unlikely that he will continue to compete on AEW TV for the rest of the tournament.
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy
Arguably one of the biggest clash of styles in AEW history, Cassidy vs. Sabre Jr. could be a sleeper hit for match of the night when all is said and done. Cassidy loses nothing with a loss here, much like his loss to Will Ospreay 2 years prior, and it will be interesting to see how Sabre Jr. handles the unpredictable nature of Cassidy.
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.
Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer – Winner Takes All Match For The TBS Championship & NJPW Strong Women’s Championship
Mercedes Mone continues to be featured as one of the top signings in AEW and is arguably at times presented as a bigger star than AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm. With Mone originally booked to win the Strong Women’s Championship prior to suffering her injury and extremely unlikely to lose any time soon, Mone will add another championship to her collection at Forbidden Door.
Winner: Mercedes Mone
Jon Moxley (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – Singles Match For The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
The 2022 and 2023 Forbidden Door has seen the reigning IWGP World Champion retain their title at the event. This run could come to an end in 2024 as Moxley faces his greatest challenger in his current run in New Japan. With Moxley an AEW talent his double-duty stint is limited and Naito would be a forbiddable foe to bring the historic run to an end.
Winner: Tetsuya Naito
Toni Storm (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa – Singles Match For The AEW Women’s Championship
Much like many matches before, Storm will once again retain the title as an outside talent winning an AEW title is extremely unlikely. While everything seems friendly on the surface, this match will quickly see the stars show their true colours and up the violence. With All In being the next pay-per-view, there is a small chance that England’s own Jamie Hayter may make her shock return at the event to build to the Wembley Stadium match.
Winner: Toni Storm
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jack Perry vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo – Ladder Match To Crown A New TNT Champion
With Adam Copeland vacating the championship due to injury, the new champion will be whoever gains possession of the title first in what is likely to be yet another high-paced AEW ladder match filled with a number of high-risk spots. With the rest of The Elite already champions, the logical choice would be for Jack Perry to be the one to become the new champion so that the entire group is draped in gold heading into Blood and Guts.
Winner: Jack Perry
Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe, Hook & Katsuyori Shibata
No matter your opinion on Chris Jericho as The Learning Tree, this persona will not be going away anytime soon. Continuing to play the delirious veteran who knows better than everyone else, Jerciho’s team will pick up the win here to continue the feud between the FTW Champion and Hook, potentially leading to the rematch at All In.
Winners: Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith
The Acclaimed & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. The Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada
Stepping back inside the same ring once more, Okada and Tanahashi facing off against each other will be a cool moment and one that the fans will pop for. With Perry a favourite to win the TNT Championship and The Acclaimed picking up a victory over The Young Bucks in the lead-up to the show, The Elite can afford to take a loss here and continue to build up The Acclaimed in advance of their upcoming title match against the Tag Team Champions.
Winners: The Acclaimed & Hiroshi Tanahashi
Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Will Ospreay – Singles Match For The AEW World Championship
While Ospreay becoming the new AEW World Champion looks to be an inevitability in 2024, many originally predicted that it would not take place in New York but in his home country of England in front of a packed stadium at All In. However, with Ospreay not in the Owen Hart Cup and Strickland unlikely to lose at Forbidden Door given that he is still in the infancy of his title reign, fans will have to wait a little bit longer.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Featured image: AEW
