Background in
London,
England.
Forbidden Door is an annual
professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event co-produced by the American promotion
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Japan-based
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Established in
2022, the event is held during the northern hemisphere summer and features direct competition between wrestlers from the two companies. Wrestlers from NJPW's sister promotion
World Wonder Ring Stardom and Mexico's
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) also became involved beginning with the
2024 event. The event takes its name from the same term often used by AEW when referring to working with other professional wrestling promotions. In August 2024, advertisements outside
Wembley Stadium in
London, England were shown days before AEW's
All In event, which was held at the venue on August 25, advertising that the 2025 Forbidden Door would emanate from London. On April 15, 2025, the venue was confirmed as
The O2 Arena with tickets going on sale on May 2. In addition, it was announced that a double taping of
Dynamite and
Collision would take place at the
OVO Hydro in
Glasgow, Scotland on August 20. Immediately following the August 23 episode of
Collision,
TNT and
HBO Max simulcast Countdown to Forbidden Door, a special preview of the event. On August 24, the pay-per-view aired at a special start time of 6:00 p.m.
British Summer Time (1:00 p.m.
Eastern Daylight Time), preceded by the
Zero Hour pre-show at 4:30 p.m. BST (11:30 a.m. EDT). Forbidden Door was available on
Prime Video in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It was also offered via traditional cable and satellite providers, as well as
PPV.com and
YouTube in the United States and Canada. Select international markets could access it through PPV.com,
Triller TV, and YouTube. In Australia, the event aired on
Main Event. The event was also shown at all
Dave & Buster's and Tom’s Watch Bar locations across the United States.
Storylines Forbidden Door featured 13
professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and
storylines. Storylines were produced on AEW's weekly television programs,
Dynamite and
Collision, as well as NJPW, Stardom, and CMLL events. On May 31, it was announced that
Hiroshi Tanahashi would wrestle at the event, in what would be his final match in the United Kingdom. On the August 13 episode of
Dynamite,
Jon Moxley and his
Death Riders stablemates (
Claudio Castagnoli,
Wheeler Yuta, and
Marina Shafir) attacked Moxley's opponent after his match, resulting in
Darby Allin (the Death Riders' nemesis who had been feuding with the stable since the
2024 WrestleDream) making the save. Allin would be outnumbered before a returning
Will Ospreay, who had his own issues with the Death Riders saved him. Ospreay would subsequently issue a challenge for a
Lights Out Steel Cage match at Forbidden Door between the Death Riders' team and his team. Later in the show, it was revealed that Tanahashi was added to Ospreay's team. As a result of Tanahashi's inclusion, Moxley would add
The Young Bucks (
Matt Jackson and
Nick Jackson), associates of the Death Riders, to his team. The full lineups would later be revealed, with it being Moxley, Castagnoli, The Young Bucks, and
Gabe Kidd, another associate of the Death Riders, against Allin, Ospreay, Tanahashi, and
Golden Lovers (
Kota Ibushi, and
Kenny Omega), with Omega having his own issues with both the Death Riders and The Young Bucks. During the July 23 episode of
Dynamite, it was announced that an eliminator tournament would be held to determine who would challenge
The Hurt Syndicate (
Bobby Lashley and
Shelton Benjamin) for the
AEW World Tag Team Championship at Forbidden Door. On August 4, AEW announced a four-way qualifying match for the
AEW TBS Championship between
Alex Windsor,
Billie Starkz,
Queen Aminata, and
Skye Blue for the August 6 episode of
Dynamite. Windsor won the match to represent AEW and challenge the champion,
Mercedes Moné, at Forbidden Door. The title match would also feature one representative each from
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and
World Wonder Ring Stardom. On August 13, during
CMLL Informa 587, it was announced that
Persephone would be the CMLL representative. On August 20,
Bozilla announced that she would be the Stardom representative. During the August 9 episode of
Collision, AEW announced a four-way match between
Daniel Garcia,
Hechicero,
Lee Moriarty, and
Nigel McGuinness for the August 16 episode of
Collision. McGuinness won the "Technical Spectacle" by submission earning the opportunity challenge
Zack Sabre Jr. for the
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. On the August 9 episode of Collision,
Kyle Fletcher defeated
Tomohiro Ishii to retain the
AEW TNT Championship. After the match, Fletcher challenged
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) to send their best to face him at Forbidden Door. On the August 13 episode of
Dynamite, NJPW's
Hiromu Takahashi made a surprise appearance as the mystery partner for Ishii's team in an
eight-man tag team match against Fletcher's team. Takahashi pinned Fletcher's
Don Callis Family stablemate
Josh Alexander, leading to the official announcement of a title match between Fletcher and Takahashi at Forbidden Door. At
Revolution in March,
"Hangman" Adam Page defeated
MJF. At All In: Texas, Page won the
AEW World Championship, while MJF won the men's Casino Gauntlet match to earn a contract for an AEW World Championship match at any time. On the August 13 episode of
Dynamite, Page goaded MJF into executing his championship match for Forbidden Door, and the title match between Page and MJF was made official. On the August 20 episode of
Dynamite, MJF, along with
Ricochet and
Gates of Agony (
Bishop Kaun and
Toa Liona) kidnapped
Mark Briscoe. MJF threatened Page that he would burn Briscoe unless their match stipulated that the title can change hands via countout or disqualification and that MJF's Casino Gauntlet contract would not be used. Page agreed to the stipulations for their match. After
The Patriarchy (
Christian Cage and
Nick Wayne) lost their AEW World Tag Team Championship match at All In: Texas, Nick turned on Cage, the team leader and his "father", and hit him with the Killswitch. He was then joined by stablemates
Kip Sabian and
Mother Wayne in the post-match beatdown. With help from FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood), they set up Cage for a con-chair-to, but just as Nick was about to hit him,
Adam Copeland made a surprise return and rescued his longtime friend-turned-
tag team partner-turned-enemy, Cage. After clearing the ring, Copeland told Cage to "go find yourself". Copeland would begin a feud with FTR, who turned on him at
Dynasty after they lost their
AEW World Trios Championship match. On the August 13 episode of
Dynamite, Copeland made his in-ring return facing FTR's manager
Stokely, with the stipulation that if FTR interfered in the match, their restraining order against Copeland would be lifted. Copeland won by
disqualification after Stokely threw powder in Copeland's face. As FTR and Stokely began a post-match assault soon to be joined by Sabian and Nick, Cage ran down and saved Copeland from the assault before embracing in the ring. Later in the show, it was announced that Copeland and Cage would be teaming up for the first time since 2011 to face Sabian and Nick at Forbidden Door. On the August 20 episode of
Dynamite, Nick revealed that he would not be able to compete due to a broken foot. He would be replaced by
Killswitch, who made a surprise return after being sidelined since 2024 due to pneumonia in both lungs.
Aftermath In the media scrum after that show, AEW president
Tony Khan announced that any future matches guaranteed by the Casino Gauntlet contract would require a one week of advance notice. == Results ==