On Sunday, June 25th AEW and NJPW will team up once again to host the inter-promotional pay-per-view Forbidden Door taking place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This is the second event of its kind that features stars from both promotions going head-to-head in a series of first-time-ever matchups and title bouts. When the first event was announced it was speculated that NJPW’s sister promotion STARDOM would be a part of the show, but unfortunately the likes of Giulia, Thekla, and Syuri were not involved.
When asked why this didn’t happen on the post-show media scrum, Tony Khan revealed he wanted to use said talent, but there was no way of working out the logistics:
“I was interested in using Stardom, obviously they have a close relationship with New Japan, and all the wrestlers from Stardom were pretty much booked and they didn’t have visas. It was a big obstacle. There is definitely potential there.”
Now, as the promotions gear up for the second event there is a strong possibility that NJPW’s sister promotion will be included. According to reports from Fightful Select the Joshi promotion and Khan have held talks about getting involved on the show.
The report states that despite both sides being willing to participate there are “some hurdles” surrounding just who will be available to perform as the Joshi promotion have a show that same weekend. However, there have been “discussions as to how to make it work” with Toni Storm “specifically” mentioned as the person for STARDOM talent to face.
Storm, a former World of STARDOM Champion, was a part of last year’s Forbidden Door event. The current women’s World Champion faced then-Women’s champion Thunder Rosa in the only women’s match of the night.
Several Dream Matches Have Already Been Announced For AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door
At the time of writing, there are only two matches announced for the PPV. However, they are two of the most highly-anticipated matches in recent memory. In the first dream match, Bryan Danielson takes on Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega faces Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship in a rematch of their Wrestle Kingdom 19 classic.