New Champions Define Forbidden Door–and Set Up the Summer for AEW

Mercedes Moné, Jack Perry, and Tetsuya Naito all claimed championship gold at the joint AEW-NJPW pay-per-view

Mercedes Moné and Jack Perry both added new pieces of gold at Forbidden Door / AEW

All roads point to Wembley Stadium.

The Forbidden Door pay-per-view closed out with an exceptional world title match, which saw Swerve Strickland retain his belt against Will Ospreay. The bout seemed to signal the end of Ospreay’s relationship with Don Callis, which is necessary if Ospreay intends to seize his popularity as a fan favorite, and it was a reminder of Swerve’s brilliance.

Swerve Strickland retained the world title in a phenomenal main event against Will Ospreay / AEW

Plenty of highlights shaped Forbidden Door, a card defined by its title changes.

Mercedes Moné is a champion in AEW and NJPW / AEW

TBS champion Mercedes Moné won a second belt in the NJPW Strong Championship, Jack Perry climbed the ladder to take the vacant TNT title, and Tetsuya Naito regaining the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

New TNT Champion Jack Perry / AEW

Other highlights included wrestling icons Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi sharing the ring together in a six-man tag, as well as a strong outing from MJF in the opening bout.

Kazuchika Okada pins Hiroshi Tanahashi / AEW

Here are the results from Forbidden Door:

• MJF defeated Hechichero

• Kazuchika Okada and The Young Bucks defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Acclaimed

• Bryan Danielson defeated Shingo Takagi to advance in the Owen Hart Cup Tournament

• AEW women’s champion Toni Storm defeated Mina Shirakawa

• Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Orange Cassidy

• Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Chris Jericho, Big Bill and Jeff Cobb in a trios match

• Jack Perry won the vacant TNT title in a ladder match

• TBS champion Mercedes Moné defeated Stephanie Vaquer to win the NJPW Strong Championship

• Tetsuya Naito defeated Jon Moxley to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship

• AEW world champion Swerve Strickland defeated Will Ospreay

AEW’s next pay-per-view, All In in August, takes place at Wembley Stadium in London. A point of emphasis during the Forbidden Door broadcast was Bryan Danielson overcoming a neck injury–one the broadcast team repeatedly mentioned was suffered at the hands of Will Ospreay in their match at Dynasty–to defeat Shingo Takagi and advance to the semi-finals in the Owen Hart Cup Tournament.

Bryan Danielson defeated Shingo Takagi at Forbidden Door / AEW

Since the winner of the Owen Cup receives a title shot at All In, Danielson’s journey to Wembley appears to have him on a direct collision course with the world title. But it appears a swerve will take place–one possibly even setting up a Swerve-Ospreay rematch.

There is an unannounced wild card entrant still left to enter the Owen Cup, and it would make sense for that to be Ospreay. If that is the case, Ospreay and Danielson could meet in the finals of the tournament–and Ospreay could also get a rematch for the world title against Swerve in front of his home crowd at Wembley.

The road map for AEW this summer has been laid out. Moné has a new rival in Dr. Britt Baker, The Elite became stronger, and Moxley is back full-time. And after Forbidden Door, Swerve and Ospreay are further cemented as the company’s lead stars.