Tossing Salt Presents:
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2025
Thoughts & Predictions
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

Sunday night, live from the 02 Arena in London, England, is the co-promoted AEW/NJPW event, Forbidden Door 2025. It’s available on Amazon Prime Video and all regular PPV providers. It’s a solid card that begins at 6:00 pm, UK time, which would be 1:00 pm Eastern time here in the United States. And of course, I have a few predictions. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

TBS Championship Four-Way Match:
Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla.

Did you hear? Mercedes won another title at an Indy event in Scotland, I believe, yesterday. So, she’s Ex-Sasha 9-belts. Does anyone think that any of these women has a chance against Mone? Can any of these women be identified in a police line-up by even the most diehard AEW fans? They’re just jobbers being brought in to do the job. Mercedes wins.

Winner and STILL TBS Champion: Mercedes Mone

AEW World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Elimination Match:
The Hurt Syndicate (c) vs. FTR vs. Brodido.

MVP has made it clear that they only want to put over new and fresh talent, so that eliminates FTR. And they’ve already beaten Bandido and Brody King. The domination by the Hurt Syndicate continues.

Winners and STILL AEW World Tag Team Champions: The Hurt Syndicate.

TNT Championship:
Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi.

I had already forgotten that Fletcher was the champion. He just won the title a few weeks ago, so he’s not losing it yet. It’s too soon.

Winner and STILL TNT Champion: Kyle Fletcher.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship:
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness.

Nigel is coming out of retirement and challenging for the IWGP Championship. It’d make for a great story if he defied the odds and won the belt. Unfortunately, no one believes in fairy tales anymore. Nigel will put in a great match and have a good fight, but Sabre isn’t losing that belt to an announcer.

Winner and STILL IWGP World Champion: Zack Sabre Jr.

AEW Women’s World Championship:
Toni Storm (c) vs. Athena.

This will be either really, really good or overproduced and unwatchable. We need to see at least one title switch at this event, and Storm is essentially Teflon right now. A loss to Athena, who has been the ROH Women’s Champion for nearly three years, wouldn’t hurt her in the slightest. I think we’re getting a new champion.

Winner and NEW AEW Women’s Champion: Athena.

AEW Unified Championship:
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Swerve Strickland.

From what I understand, Swerve is working through an injury right now, so having him defeat the current longest-running champion in AEW and win the gold makes little sense. We’ll probably see plenty of interference by the Callis family, and it won’t be clean, but Okada is keeping his title.

Winner and STILL AEW Unified Champion: Kazuchika Okada.

Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Killswitch & Kip Sabian.

Killswitch, aka Luchasaurus, is taking the place of ROH TV Champion Nick Wayne, who is currently out of action with a broken foot. It’s good to see Luchasaurus back in action after nearly a year away, but does anyone really think that Copeland and Cage, teaming together for the first time since 2011, are going to lose this match? Unless Christian pulls a swerve and turns on Copeland, to rejoin his ‘family’, this one is pretty cut and dry. For the benefit of those with flash photography, Cope and Cage are getting the win.

Winners: Adam Copeland and Christian Cage.

AEW World Championship:
“Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. MJF.

After threatening murder and breaking about a million laws on AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday, MJF got new stipulations for this match. He gets his contract back to cash in whenever he wants for a title shot, plus now, the belt can change hands via DQ or count-out. So, the deck is stacked against Page. My guess is, bear with me now, that Page scores an upset win to retain his title. And then, MJF’s allies, Ricochet and the Gates of Agony, get involved and give Page a major whooping. MJF cashes in, and we have a new champion. Confusing, but it works for me.

Winner by pinfall and STILL AEW World Champion: Adam Page.

MJF cashes in the Casino Gauntlet contract and pins Page.

Winner and NEW AEW World Champion: MJF.

Lights Out Steel Cage Match:
Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley, The Young Bucks, Claudio Castagnoli & Gabe Kidd.

Ospreay needs surgery and isn’t even medically cleared for this match. Omega isn’t 100%, and Darby has never been 100%. But AEW will want to send the fans home happy, so the babyfaces must win.

Winners: Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin & Hiroshi Tanahashi.

And there you go. AEW likes to add matches at the last minute, but for this event, they’re under a strict 10:30 pm curfew, so they’ll have to be extra careful with the time or risk heavy fines and violating local laws. Can they do it? We’ll have to wait and see. But based on what’s advertised now as I write this, Saturday morning, those are the matches advertised and scheduled.

Sometime during the late weekend hours, Tony Khan decided to add four more matches for Zero Hour at the Forbidden Door PPV, because of course he did. Why have only nine matches when it can be thirteen, right? So, update time with the four new matches for the pre-show Zero Hour.

Zero Hour: Paragon (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong), Yuya Uemura & El Desperado vs. CRU (Lio Rush & Action Andretti), Hechicero, & Josh Alexander.

I don’t even know who half of these guys are, but they’re here. I do know Lio Rush and Action Andretti, so let’s go with them for the victory.

Winners: CRU (Lio Rush & Action Andretti), Hechicero, & Josh Alexander.

Zero Hour: Triangle of Madness (Thekla, Julia Hart, & Skye Blue) & Megan Bayne vs. Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, Harley Cameron, & Queen Aminata.

Statlander has been getting attention from Moxley, so she’s at least semi-important. This match is just a cluster of nonsensical bookings. I’ve always liked Julia Hart, but the rest of that team? Oy vey! Statlander and Willow will have some issues, but their team will get the win. Maybe Harley and her puppet will do something.

Winners: Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, Harley Cameron, & Queen Aminata.

Zero Hour: JetSpeed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) & Michael Oku vs. Ricochet & Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona).

Ricochet and the GOA seem to have an alliance of sorts going with MJF, so they’re important. But after what they tried to do to Mark Briscoe on Wednesday, I think they’re due some payback. Look for Briscoe to get involved and the world’s most dangerous Twink, Mike Bailey, and his partners to get the upset win as a result.

Winners: JetSpeed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) & Michael Oku.

Zero Hour – AEW Trios Championships:
The Opps (Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, & Powerhouse Hobbs) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (Robbie X, Drilla Moloney, & Clark Connors).

Samoa Joe is back, and he’s not here to lose. This should be an okay match, but it’s essentially a squash and little more.

Winners: The Opps (Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, & Powerhouse Hobbs).

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. What are your thoughts and predictions? I want to know. And with that, I’m out of here for now. Take care and be well, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects, and I’ll see you at the matches. I’m Doug, and you’re not.

Ubuntu!