Forbidden Door 2023: Omega-Ospreay and Danielson-Okada Make the Crossover Feel Mythic

Tom Lawlor pinned Serpentico in a short dark match recorded before the televised Zero Hour lineup, with Royce Isaacs and Luther accompanying the respective wrestlers. That distinction is central to how the opening contest should be assessed: the win was part of the venue's event-day card but not one of the four pre-show bouts covered in AEW's published Zero Hour recap. Lawlor had also been booked against Adam Cole on the main pay-per-view, but that separate bout was canceled after Cole fell ill. Contemporaneous event-day results establish the opponent and dark-match outcome; the bout shouldn't be described as the opener of the televised pay-per-view. No championship was contested.

Swerve Strickland pinned Rocky Romero after the Swerve Stomp to win an eight-man pre-show match for the Mogul Embassy with Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun. Romero, Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta and El Desperado worked together on the opposing side despite their different faction ties. The finish followed a burst of tag exchanges: Desperado had a near fall on Swerve, Cage cut him off with a powerbomb, and Romero attacked Cage before Swerve found the winning dive onto Romero. Romero was the pinned wrestler, not Trent or El Desperado, and neither team was fighting for a championship. The eight-person lineup made the opening encounter a genuine AEW-NJPW crossover rather than a conventional tag-team title match.

Athena pinned Billie Starkz to advance in the women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinal, surviving a lively challenge from an opponent who was still establishing herself on AEW's national stage. Starkz caught Athena coming off the ropes with a thrust kick and followed with a Death Valley Bomb, while Athena answered with a powerbomb for a near fall. A missed senton opened the last exchange, and Athena drove Starkz to the mat to score the pin. Athena's ROH women's championship was not being defended here: the actual stakes were tournament advancement, with Starkz eliminated and the champion moving on.

El Phantasmo pinned Stu Grayson after a spiking DDT in a singles pre-show contest shaped by several convincing near falls. Grayson tried to wear his opponent down with heavy strikes and an apron senton, but Phantasmo answered with a tope that sent Grayson back-first into the guardrail. Phantasmo's lionsault earned a close count, and Grayson then survived a super hurricanrana and Thunder Kiss '86 before missing a chance to finish. The winning DDT was a distinct legal pinfall, not a submission or an outside assist from Grayson's ringside companions, the Righteous. The NJPW guest's offense helped give a relatively brief pre-show match its own identity.

Shingo Takagi pinned TJP after Made in Japan to win the six-man pre-show fight for Los Ingobernables de Japon alongside BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi against United Empire's Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher and TJP. Cobb's strength allowed United Empire to isolate BUSHI early, and Fletcher used a thrust kick and quick tags to keep the advantage. The momentum changed when Takagi landed a Death Valley Driver on TJP and found the opening for the final Made in Japan. It was TJP who absorbed the deciding pin, not Cobb or Fletcher. This was a cross-promotional six-man showcase rather than a title defense or a tournament final, with all six legal participants drawn from New Japan groups.

MJF retained the AEW World Championship by pinning Hiroshi Tanahashi after using the Dynamite Diamond Ring while referee Bryce Remsburg was distracted. Tanahashi forced the champion to work through a comeback, including a Sling Blade and a High Fly Flow attempt, but MJF avoided the decisive aerial attack. When Tanahashi later trapped the champion in a cradle, MJF grabbed the ropes to prevent a count before resorting to the hidden ring. The win protected the AEW title without presenting the cheating finish as a decisive clean wrestling victory. Tanahashi challenged as the NJPW veteran, not as the defender of a second championship, and the interference belonged to MJF's own tactics rather than a legal third competitor.

CM Punk advanced in the men's Owen Hart Cup by pinning Satoshi Kojima after the Go to Sleep. Kojima made the opening-round match competitive with heavy corner chops and a diving elbow, then escaped Punk's Anaconda Vice and found a near fall with a brainbuster after blocking an earlier GTS. Punk's neckbreaker counter to Kojima's lariat attempt turned the momentum, and the next roundhouse kick set up the successful knee strike and pin. This was a non-title tournament victory, not a championship defense, and Kojima's offense gave Punk a physical opening challenge rather than a quick showcase for the returning star.

Orange Cassidy pinned Daniel Garcia with a roll-up to retain the AEW International Championship in a four-way against Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr. and Katsuyori Shibata. The other champions brought different disciplines into the match: Sabre attacked Cassidy's damaged right hand, and Shibata traded strikes with Sabre while pursuing his own holds. Garcia briefly applied the Dragon Tamer to Cassidy and later struck Shibata with a championship belt for a near fall, but Cassidy reentered at the right instant to catch Garcia with the decisive cradle. Garcia, not Shibata or Sabre, took the fall. Neither the NJPW World Television nor ROH Pure Championship was being awarded here.

SANADA pinned Jack Perry after a moonsault press to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, ending a match in which Perry repeatedly challenged the champion's technical control. Perry used SANADA's own Skull End hold and landed a reverse hurricanrana, but the champion escaped and answered with a poison rana and Shining Wizard before hitting the decisive moonsault. DOUKI and HOOK were ringside seconds, not participants in the title decision. Perry then attacked HOOK with a lariat as they walked up the ramp and threw down the FTW Championship, transforming the loss into the start of a separate betrayal storyline. SANADA's pin stood; the postmatch turn did not alter it.

Tomohiro Ishii pinned Wheeler Yuta after a brainbuster to win the ten-man tag for his alliance with the Elite and Eddie Kingston against Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino. The decisive cover followed a late run of intertwined rivalries rather than an arbitrary tag finish. Kingston and Jon Moxley exchanged strikes despite their personal connection, and Kingston even shielded Moxley from the Young Bucks' superkicks to the frustration of his own partners. Hangman Page battled Takeshita while Claudio Castagnoli and Yuta tried to isolate Kingston; Ishii finally caught Yuta with a clothesline and brainbuster. Yuta was the wrestler pinned, not Moxley or Takeshita, and no title changed hands.

Toni Storm retained the AEW Women's World Championship by pinning Willow Nightingale after Storm Zero, finishing a hard-fought defense against the reigning NJPW STRONG women's champion. Nightingale took the fight to Storm with a Death Valley Driver on the apron and another in the ring, and later trapped her in an Indian Death Lock. Storm's Outcasts allies Ruby Soho and Saraya had interfered early, but the referee ejected them after spotting their spray-paint can. Storm avoided a moonsault, survived a late pounce and gouged Nightingale's eyes before landing the finishing move. The AEW championship stayed with Storm, while Nightingale's separate NJPW STRONG title was not on the line.

Will Ospreay pinned Kenny Omega after a Hidden Blade and Stormbreaker to regain the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship in the rematch to their Wrestle Kingdom meeting. Both men bled after dangerous ringside exchanges, while an ejected Don Callis returned to help Ospreay and passed him a screwdriver behind the referee's back. Even that intervention did not settle the match: Omega reached the rope after an earlier Stormbreaker, and later kicked out at one when Ospreay hit Omega with his own One-Winged Angel. Ospreay survived the last comeback, landed the Tiger Driver '91 and then used the Hidden Blade and Stormbreaker combination for the actual championship-changing pin. The historic rivalry and the interference both belong in an account of how the belt changed hands.

Tetsuya Naito pinned Minoru Suzuki after a sliding lariat with assistance from Sting, securing a non-title trios victory alongside Sting and Darby Allin over Suzuki, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. Earlier, Guevara landed a 630 splash from the top rope through a table onto Sting after Jericho demanded the risk. Darby and Guevara traded aerial counters while Sting faced Suzuki and later helped set up Naito's finishing cover. The winning wrestler was Naito and the man pinned was Suzuki; neither Jericho nor Guevara was the legal loser. The unusual mix of veterans and daredevils made the trios encounter a distinct crossover attraction without a championship stipulation.

Bryan Danielson submitted Kazuchika Okada with a modified LeBell Lock in their first singles meeting, producing a definitive result in the event's closing dream match. Okada landed the Rainmaker lariat and came close after a neckbreaker, while Danielson attacked the arms and repeatedly answered with kicks and a running knee. Danielson later trapped Okada in the LeBell Lock, added elbow strikes and tightened the hold until Okada tapped. That submission is crucial: the match did not end by pinfall, countout or referee disqualification, and Okada was forced to concede rather than losing through an outside distraction. The clean outcome elevated the historical importance of a pairing that had been anticipated across AEW and NJPW.