The 2025 Forbidden Door is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and supershow co-produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and the Japan-based New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It will be the fourth annual Forbidden Door event and will take place on August 24, 2025, at The O2 Arena in London, England, coinciding with the United Kingdom's August Bank Holiday weekend, previously occupied by AEW's All In. This will be the first Forbidden Door to be held in August, as the first three events were all held in June, and it will also be the first held outside of North America.
The event's name was remarkable for the formation of a new term used in the professional wrestling vernacular to refer to the collaboration between professional wrestling promotions, where sometimes agreements between rival promotions are often involved.
Production[]
Background[]
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 summer and features direct competition between wrestlers from the two companies.[1][2] The 2024 event also featured some wrestlers from NJPW's sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom and Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).[3] The event takes its name from the same term often used by AEW when referring to working with other professional wrestling promotions.[4]
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.[5] During All In's Zero Hour pre-show, the 2025 Forbidden Door was confirmed to be held in London on August 24, 2025.[5] This will mark the first Forbidden Door event held outside of North America, and AEW's fifth event overall outside the continent. This also marks the first Forbidden Door held in August, as the prior three events were held in June, and in turn will be held during the United Kingdom's August Bank Holiday weekend, which was previously occupied by AEW's All In the prior two years.[6][5] On April 15, 2025, the venue was confirmed as The O2 Arena with tickets going on sale on May 2.[7]
Storylines[]
Forbidden Door featured professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.[8] Storylines are produced on AEW's weekly television programs, Dynamite and Collision, as well as NJPW, Stardom, and CMLL events.
On May 25, at AEW's Double or Nothing, Hiroshi Tanahashi made a surprise appearance in AEW, joining Brody King and Tomohiro Ishii.in making the save for Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O'Reilly following their loss and subsequent beatdown by The Don Callis Family.[9] On May 31, it was announced that Tanahashi would wrestle his final match in the United Kingdom at Forbidden Door, as part of his retirement tour.[10]
Matches[]
| # | Results | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. TBA | TBA match[11] | |
| |||
References[]
- ↑ Nason, Josh 2021-02-04. AEW, New Japan Pro Wrestling Established Working Relationship . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- ↑ Barrasso, Justin (April 20, 2022). "Tony Khan Announces First-Ever AEW, NJPW Joint Pay-Per View Event". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lee, Joseph 2024-05-08. Rocky Romero Confirms STARDOM Involvement in AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, CMLL 'Very Likely' . 411Mania.
- ↑ Lambert, Jeremy 2022-02-10. Tony Khan Admits He Butchered His 'Forbidden Door' Definition, Which Led To Securing Jay White . “The term "forbidden door" has always been used in reference to companies working together and not signing exclusively with one company.”
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Thomas, Jeremy 2024-08-25. AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 Confirmed For London .
- ↑ Currier, Joseph 2024-08-25. Date set for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 in London . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.
- ↑ Ucchino, Rick 2025-04-15. Tony Khan Announces AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door Date and Location . Sports Illustrated.
- ↑ Grabianowski, Ed 2006-01-13. How Pro Wrestling Works . HowStuffWorks, Inc.. Discovery Communications.
- ↑ 棚橋弘至、英国ラストマッチは“禁断の扉”で！AEW×NJPW合同興行が6月末に開催！ (in ja) (2025-05-31).
- ↑ Nason, Josh 2025-05-31. Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final UK match set for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door .
- ↑ Nason, Josh 2025-05-31. Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final UK match set for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door .