In April of 2022, AEW President Tony Khan announced that his company would be partnering with NJPW to put on a cross-promotional extravaganza called Forbidden Door, featuring top talent from both companies involved.
All Elite Wrestling had regularly featured performers from New Japan since beginning a partnership with them in 2021, with stars such as KENTA, Minoru Suzuki, and Rocky Romero appearing on AEW television.
Ahead of the event, multiple changes were made to the card as stars such as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Tomohiro Ishii suffered injuries ahead of the pay-per-view. Then-champion CM Punk had been on track to face Hiroshi Tanahashi, but instead, Jon Moxley defeated Tanahashi in the main event to be crowned Interim AEW World Champion.
The IWGP Championship was also defended on the show, with Jay White defeating ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, Adam Cole, and Kazuchika Okada in a fatal-four-way match to retain his title.
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 Will Take Place On June 25th
Now, in an announcement on their official social media, All Elite Wrestling have announced that Forbidden Door 2 will indeed take place as has been hinted at in recent weeks. The event is set for Sunday, June 25th, and will be held at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON.
#AEW & @njpwglobal will join forces once again to present #ForbiddenDoor LIVE on PPV at the @ScotiabankArena in Toronto, Ontario on Sunday, June 25!#AEWxNJPW
🎟️ Tickets go on sale Friday, 3/24 at 10am EThttps://t.co/rFcIFUPD6k | https://t.co/ODbXafJpNepic.twitter.com/xi0ZBVIQOL
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 15, 2023
During a February interview on In the Kliq, Tony Khan had this to say regarding All Elite Wrestling’s relationship with New Japan:
“We have a great partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, they’re doing more events in America and we’re working closely with them as good partners and of course we always build up this big event, AEW and New Japan coming together, Forbidden Door and I think Forbidden Door 1 was a big success. We’re looking forward to doing it together again.
“They send a lot of their top stars to AEW and to Ring of Honor and I love working with them. I think it’s been a great relationship and there’s a lot of trust between the parties.” (h/t POST Wrestling)