Is it time for AEW to rethink the Forbidden Door concept

I know that I’m not the biggest fan of AEW, and everybody who has read my columns pretty much knows why. However, I still follow what’s going on in AEW through websites, social media, and podcasts, as I’m still interested in keeping up with the company even though it’s not a show I will go out of my way to watch.

Having said that, I feel like over the last few years, AEW Forbidden Door has lost a lot of what made the event so special, and I think it’s AEW’s fault for making the event feel like just another show on the calendar.

When AEW started this event in 2022, it felt special because it was built around matches between AEW and NJPW to determine which promotion was the best. It felt like a monumental event because we weren’t seeing many NJPW wrestlers on AEW programming at the time, so having those talents appear on the show felt fresh and unique. This type of large-scale partnership hadn’t really happened since the 1990s with NJPW and WCW. It made the event feel special, and fans were curious to see how it would work with two bookers from different companies trying to protect their own talent.

Fast forward four years, and now it feels like just another pay-per-view on the schedule. Instead of featuring matches that feel like once-a-year attractions, it’s mostly a collection of AEW wrestlers and performers who also wrestle for other companies.

Yes, I agree that the card will probably be excellent and could very well be the best show of the weekend. Personally, I’ll likely try to watch Slammiversary and the NXT show as well. However, what makes Forbidden Door so special when many of these matches could easily take place on any other pay-per-view during the year?

So why is it called Forbidden Door if there’s nothing really forbidden about it anymore? AEW has partnerships with all of these promotions and regularly uses their talent on AEW television. It would be like WWE creating a similar PLE using talent from WWE, NXT, AAA, and TNA. It wouldn’t feel that special because all of those brands already appear on WWE programming, and aside from TNA, they are owned by WWE.

In the end, if you truly want to live up to the “Forbidden Door” moniker, it’s time to return to what made the event so special in the first place: bringing in talent from companies that you don’t have major partnerships with and giving fans dream matches they never thought they would see. It’s not like AEW lacks options for short-term partnerships.

I like the idea of Stardom partnering with AEW for the event, even though a few of its stars already work full-time for AEW, because it still feels fresh enough.

The NJPW and CMLL partnerships are another story because so many of their wrestlers appear regularly on AEW programming. Maybe AEW should look for new partnerships right here in North America or even in Europe to make the show feel special again. Perhaps having MLW work with AEW would be an interesting idea for a Forbidden Door event. Maybe featuring wrestlers from Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling would also be fun. I don’t know a lot about European promotions, but I’m sure at least one of them would be more than willing to partner with AEW for a special event.

Ultimately, Forbidden Door has gone from being a show where the best of AEW faced the best of NJPW in a once-in-a-lifetime event to a show featuring many AEW wrestlers and talent from partner companies who have already been appearing throughout the year on AEW and ROH television. So my question is: what exactly is forbidden about that?

While I don’t really understand what’s so “forbidden” about the show anymore and think AEW should reconsider the concept, I might be in the minority. For many AEW fans, it truly doesn’t matter. They enjoy the show as it is, and that’s perfectly fine with me.