We are finally here for Forbidden Door weekend!
AEW and NJPW will finally present their first co-promoted event in front of a sold-out crowd at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
This long-awaited show has been pretty much three years in the making since the inception of All Elite Wrestling.
Through a number of stars who were able to perform for New Japan Pro Wrestling and then the formal partnership between the two promotions, there have been many notable matches between the two sides.
Ahead of this landmark event, here are the 10 must-watch AEW vs. NJPW matches ahead of Forbidden Door.
10. Minoru Suzuki vs. Samoa Joe for the ROH World Television Championship (AEW Dynamite 4/13/22)
Minoru Suzuki has been one of the top NJPW stars who has made frequent visits to AEW over the past year.
After winning the ROH World Television Championship at ROH Supercard of Honor on April 1, he was scheduled to defend his title against the man who debuted for AEW at the same show in Samoa Joe.
This was a dream match for many fans and immediately met expectations with a fiery start.
The two men beat the absolute hell out of each other, trading hard chops for the majority of this bout.
To end this hard hitting affair, the Samoan Submission Machine busted out his Muscle Buster to claim the gold in front of a vocal crowd in New Orleans on AEW Dynamite.
9. Kenny Omega & KENTA vs. Jon Moxley & Lance Archer in a No Disqualification Falls Count Anywhere Match (AEW Dynamite 2/10/21)
At AEW Dynamite: Beach Break 2021, the “Forbidden Door” was opened officially when KENTA arrived in All Elite Wrestling.
This helped to hype up his upcoming IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match with Jon Moxley.
To further promote this match, KENTA teamed up with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega to face Moxley and Lance Archer in a No Disqualification Falls Count Anywhere Match the very next week.
This was a bonkers display of violence that went all over Daily’s Place, even into the kitchen of the arena.
Seeing Moxley literally potato Omega was so much fun.
In the end, The Good Brothers assisted Omega in delivering the One Winged Angel to Archer to get the win on this evening.
8. Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2)
Now, we go back to when the term Forbidden Door originally was mentioned by none other than Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The Ace had a rivalry with the AEW World Champion Chris Jericho and wanted to beat him to not only settle the score, but also walk through the Forbidden Door to go to All Elite Wrestling.
At NJPW Wrestle Kingdon 14 Day 2, Jericho and Tanahashi had a terrific bout that could have gone either way.
Many fans believed The Ace could win to really open things up between the two promotions, but it wasn’t met to be.
Jericho pulled out the victory with the Walls of Jericho, making Tanahashi submit.
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson vs. Will Ospreay in a Fatal Four Way Match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (NJPW Capital Collision)
The last major event from New Japan Pro Wrestling in the United States took place in Washington, D.C. at Capital Collision.
In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Four Way Match against Jon Moxley, Juice Robinson and Will Ospreay.
This was anyone’s match to win and everyone came in hot to claim the gold.
The bout was an all out blitz of action that was non-stop and frenetic. Everyone played their roles perfectly.
The finishing sequence saw Tanahashi deliver the High Fly Flow off the top rope to Moxley through a table at ringside.
With those two stars out, Juice hit a spinning reverse Death Valley Bomb on Will for the cover, but Ospreay’s foot was under the ropes despite the referee counting the three.
Robinson walked out with the gold, while Ospreay had yet another complaint to make about NJPW officiating (more on that later).
6. Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka 2020)
The moment Jon Moxley went face-to-face with Minoru Suzuki at Wrestle Kingdom 14, the fans desired to see these men go at it.
They seemed like spiritual partners in violence that had finally came together.
At NJPW New Beginning in Osaka 2020, the time came for the two stars’ first meeting for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
The Osaka crowd witnessed an instant classic with Moxley and Suzuki using everything not pinned down to inflict punishment on one another.
After a gruelling, hard hitting clash, Moxley hit the Death Rider on Suzuki to retain the gold and set the stage for a rivalry that continues to this day.
5. Will Ospreay vs. Dax Harwood (AEW Dynamite: Road Rager 2022 6/15/22)
The most recent match on this list came on the June 15 episode of AEW Dynamite with their Road Rager special.
On this show, IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay faced ROH World Tag Team Champion Dax Harwood.
This was a brilliant blend of two conflicting styles with Harwood working more old school and psychology based, while Ospreay can pretty much do anything inside the squared circle.
The two men meshed their styles incredibly well and delivered a barnburner here.
The Commonwealth Kingpin just had too many dangerous weapons in his arsenal at his disposal, using the Hidden Blade to defeat one half of FTR.
4. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Eddie Kingston (NJPW Capital Collision)
Another very recent encounter was at NJPW Capital Collision on May 14 this year.
On this evening, NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii went one-on-one with AEW’s Eddie Kingston.
This was NJPW strong style vs. AJPW King’s Road in a modern setting.
The two stars came at each other like bulls and started delivering blistering chops that captivated the fans in Washington D.C.
The crowd was split and into every single strike exchanged.
After a fantastic war-of-attrition, Ishii hit the vertical drop brainbuster to finally put Kingston away for the win.
3. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki (AEW Rampage 10/15/21)
There is a certain formula that seems to work with these AEW vs. NJPW battles.
You just put two distinct in-ring workers in the ring and have them beat the hell out of each other in front of hot crowd.
On a night dubbed “The Friday Night War” by AEW President Tony Khan, he scheduled a dream match between Bryan Danielson and NJPW’s Minoru Suzuki for free on YouTube ahead of AEW Rampage.
The Miami crowd knew that they were in store for something special and witnessed everything that they could have expected.
The American Dragon brought his technical wrestling expertise and strike based offense to counteract everyone’s favorite Murder Grandpa’s sadist intensity.
At one point, Suzuki nearly knocked out Danielson with a vicious forearm.
The two stars traded chops, forearms and a variety of strikes that made this a deeply compelling clash.
In the end, Bryan nailed Suzuki with the busaiku knee for the win. Please schedule a rematch like tomorrow!
2. Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW Windy City Riot)
Another AEW vs. NJPW contest that deserves a rematch at Forbidden Door 2 would be Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay.
Ospreay had called out Moxley for a few months before the Purveyor of Violence finally accepted the challenge for NJPW Windy City Riot in Chicago.
In the main event of the show, the two stars had plenty of hype heading and delivered on it.
Ospreay split Mox open with a crimson mask that saw him lose a lot of blood.
Both men’s unique styles were met by the other and saw the fans get more immersed into the action as it went on.
Moxley even busted out a Curb Stomp in a honor of his former partner Seth Rollins during this one.
The finish saw Mox deliver a Paradigm Shift that Ospreay kicked out of, but he followed up with another. The referee counted three, but Ospreay got his shoulder up just before.
Moxley followed with the Bulldog Choke, but the referee had already called for the bell. This controversial finish opens the door for another meeting down the road for sure.
1. Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 6)
This is an AEW vs. NJPW list, so yes Jon Moxley is also at the top.
During his first tour of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Moxley just brought a different kind of energy to the promotion.
Coming off his electric debut for All Elite Wrestling at Double Or Nothing 2019, the former Dean Ambrose in WWE felt like the hottest star in the industry.
This made his entry into the G1 Climax 29 tournament so exciting for fans.
At the G1 Climax 29 Day 6 show, Moxley went one-on-one with Tomohiro Ishii.
This was an excellent encounter that was hard hitting and physically intense in a major way.
The bout was everything said about Moxley’s battle with Suzuki mixed with Ishii’s bout with Kingston and ramped up to 100.
There were chair jousting, strike exchanges and an enthusiastic crowd that wanted to see the two men beat the hell out of one another.
Moxley finally claimed the victory with the Death Rider on Ishii to go 3-0 in the G1 Climax 29.
This is not only Moxley’s best match of his career in many ways, but it is also the must-watch AEW vs. NJPW match ahead of Forbidden Door.
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