‘AEW: Forbidden Door 2025’ PPV Review
Welcome to this review of AEW: Forbidden Door 2025, the first to take place in the UK, emanating from the O2 in London, England. The show opened with [a packed] Zero Hour as usual, which saw the team of El Desperado, Paragon (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly), & Yuyu Uemura defeat CRU (Action Andretti & Lio Rush) & Don Callis Family (Hechicero & Josh Alexander); GOA (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) & Ricochet defeat JetSpeed (Kevin Knight & “Speedball” Mike Bailey) & Michael Oku; Megan Bayne & Triangle of Madness (Julia Hart, Skye Blue and Thekla) defeat Harley Cameron, Kris Statlander, Queen Aminata & Willow Nightingale; and The Opps (Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata and Powerhouse Hobbs) retain their trios title against Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney and Robbie X). With that let’s get into the main show…
Match #1: Adam Copeland & Christian Cage def. Killswitch & Kip Sabian
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Copeland and Sabian opened, with the Rated-R Superstar quickly grounding Kip before Cage tagged in to unleash right hands on his former protégé. Sabian scurried to his corner, bringing in Killswitch for a thunderous exchange with Copeland. The fight spilled outside, where Copeland drilled the dinosaur into the barricade with a dropkick, only for Mother Wayne to step in his path. In the confusion, Killswitch manhandled Sabian and hurled him at Copeland from a power-bomb position. The alliance between Sabian and Killswitch showed early strain. Aggressive blind tags and miscommunications piled up, with Killswitch throwing Kip at his opponents. Sabian, bloodied above the eye, barked orders at the monster while Cage was yanked off the apron by Mother Wayne to prevent a tag. In a moment of chaos, Killswitch hoisted Sabian onto his shoulders, allowing Copeland to connect with a spear that flattened Kip. Cage finally tagged in, lighting up Killswitch with chop after chop before sending him shoulder-first into the ring post. He even choked both of his former family members simultaneously across the ropes, regaining control for his side. The match reached its breaking point with a flurry of big shots: Copeland powerbombed Killswitch off the ropes, Cage followed with a diving headbutt, and together they spiked the monster with a double Impaler DDT, only for referee Bryce Remsburg to wave the pin off due to a blind tag by Sabian. Kip nearly stole the win with a schoolboy on Cage, but Cage reversed momentum. With Killswitch neutralized by a spear from Copeland off the apron, Cage caught Sabian and lifted him directly into the path of a mighty spear from Copeland, then made the cover himself.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2:TNT Championship – Kyle Fletcher def. Hiromu Takahashi
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The bout opened with Fletcher using his size and power to shoulder Takahashi down, while Hiromu responded with blistering chops. A misdirection stomp to the foot set up a corner lariat, but the champion cut him down with a massive boot. Fletcher followed with a kick to the spine, then delivered multiple emphatic body slams, each punctuated with covers that forced Takahashi to keep exerting energy. Takahashi found his rhythm with a barrage of strikes and a dropkick that earned him a near fall. He then twisted Fletcher into a dragon screw/arm drag combination, only for the Aussie powerhouse to snap off a brutal Dragon Suplex and a Michinoku Driver that left both men sprawled on the canvas. The challenger rallied, countering a brainbuster attempt into a DDT on the apron and following with a devastating sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. Back inside, Takahashi connected with an Axe Bomber lariat, a Northern Lights Bomb, and even after absorbing heavy elbows, he laughed off Fletcher’s strikes, defiantly standing toe-to-toe with the champion. Fletcher responded with an avalanche back suplex off the ropes and a thunderous Liger Bomb, but Takahashi refused to stay down. The Time Bomb even countered a Tombstone into a small package for a razor-close two-count. The crowd erupted as Takahashi seemed poised for the finish, but Fletcher dug deep. Dragging Hiromu back to center ring, Fletcher muscled him up and spiked him with a sheer-drop brainbuster, finally keeping the challenger down for the decisive three-count.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #3: TBS Championship 4-Way – Mercedes Moné def. Bozilla, Alex Windsor & Persephone
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The match kicked off with a brief alliance between challengers, all three turning their attention to Moné before Bozilla made her presence known in a big way. The German juggernaut tossed the champion like a ragdoll, slammed Persephone with ease, and shook off a sleeper hold from Windsor while bulldozing both into the corner. But then she hit the turnbuckles shoulder-first and tumbled to the floor, opening the door for the other challengers to go at it. A flurry of dives followed. Moné’s crossbody was caught, Windsor dove onto both her and Bozilla, and Persephone added a suicide dive of her own before dragging Mercedes back into the ring. The champion went for the Moné Maker, but Persephone blocked it, rolled through, and triggered a rapid-fire exchange of pins: a schoolboy, a sunset flip, a crucifix, all broken up in chaotic succession. As the match broke down, Moné connected with a Meteora, but couldn’t score the fall before being swarmed again. With Persephone and Bozilla meeting Mercedes on the top rope and Windsor holding onto all three while dangling on the bottom turnbuckle, the crowd erupted for a massive Tower of Doom that left all four women laid out in the center of the O2. Recovering first, Moné trapped Windsor and Persephone, wrenching back on both women until Windsor managed to break free. Moments later, Windsor locked both of them in a double Sharpshooter, but Bozilla reemerged and stomped on their hands to prevent a tapout, then booted Windsor in the chest to break the hold entirely. Bozilla nearly sealed the deal with a top-rope moonsault that flattened both Persephone and Windsor, but Mercedes dove in at the last second to save her championship. The CEO followed up with a poisonrana, but Bozilla still kicked out. Windsor connected with a fisherman buster, Persephone landed a crushing slam of her own, and still the match raged on. Late in the bout, Windsor applied a tight Sharpshooter on Persephone, but Mercedes broke it with knees to the face. Persephone tried to fight back with her own submission attempt, but Mercedes countered, rolling through into a victory roll that pinned Persephone’s shoulders to the mat for the three-count.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – Zack Sabre Jr. def. Nigel McGuinness
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
In front of a sold-out hometown crowd and British wrestling legends Johnny Saint and Marty Jones, Nigel McGuinness returned to the ring for one the biggest matches of his career, challenging Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. What followed was a masterclass in technical wrestling, submission counters, and grit, with the richest prize in New Japan Pro-Wrestling on the line. The match opened in pure mat-wrestling form. McGuinness took Sabre down with a side headlock and blocked his trademark headscissors escape, forcing the champion to shimmy out. Zack returned the favor with a headlock takeover of his own, but Nigel flipped out. A wristlock takedown from the champion gave way to a series of tight reversals, culminating in Sabre stomping the challenger’s arm to regain control. McGuinness responded by flipping Sabre the bird, baiting him in before dropping a knee across his arm and rolling through into a bridged submission that tortured the champion’s shoulders. ZSJ fired back with a standing neck twist, a bicep stomp, and a kick to the elbow, but McGuinness weathered the storm and countered with a hammerlock. Both men were visibly hurting early. With Daniel Garcia watching from ringside, McGuinness laid in wait and floored the champion with a lariat that earned a close near-fall. He looked for the London Dungeon, but Sabre grabbed the ropes, so Nigel stomped the arm instead. Sabre regained control with a pump kick and looked to finish things with a flying armbar, adding a toehold for good measure, wrenching both limbs as Garcia tried desperately to will Nigel to the ropes. Trading uppercuts, both men staggered. Sabre, bleeding from the nose, fell into the corner. McGuinness struck with a pendulum lariat, then followed with a ripcord lariat, but still, ZSJ kicked out. Nigel finally locked in the London Dungeon deep in the center of the ring, but Sabre flipped free, and McGuinness transitioned to a triangle choke, snapping Sabre’s finger as Garcia once again got too close to the ropes. Sabre escaped to the apron, landed a headscissors in the ropes, and got in Garcia’s face before climbing back in. McGuinness caught him mid-step and dropped him with the Tower of London, but Sabre got his foot on the bottom rope just in time. A pendulum lariat fakeout set up a kneeling pin attempt, which Sabre reversed into the European Clutch, but McGuinness kicked out. Down the stretch, the two men traded rapid-fire cradles and reversals, until Sabre leaned back with a deep sunset flip, anchoring McGuinness by the wrists and legs to trap him for the three-count.
My Score: 4.5 out of 5
Match #5: AEW World Tag Team Championship 3-Way – Brodido (Bandido and Brody King) def. Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) & FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
The match opened with FTR taking early control, grounding Bandido before Bobby Lashley stormed in off a blind tag and flattened both challengers with a double lariat. Lashley muscled Dax Harwood into a delayed vertical suplex, staring down Bandido as he dropped Harwood with authority. Shelton Benjamin tagged in and flung Bandido into the barricade and apron before launching him overhead with a pumphandle throw back in the ring. FTR wisely stayed out of the fray, allowing The Hurt Syndicate to punish Bandido while Brody King remained isolated on the apron. After landing a desperation tornillo on Benjamin, Bandido made the hot tag and Brody King cleaned house, flattening Cash Wheeler with a Bossman Slam, hitting a chokeslam bomb on Harwood, and crushing both members of FTR with a cannonball in the corner. The arena erupted when King and Lashley squared off, trading elbows before Lashley cracked him with a spinebuster, only for Brody to pop back up and return the favor. Benjamin followed with rolling German suplexes on the big man, but Cash Wheeler hit the ring and helped spike Shelton with a Shatter Machine. The chaos spilled to the floor where Bandido hit a breathtaking moonsault fallaway slam off the ropes, wiping out everyone. The Hurt Syndicate looked ready to regroup, but several masked men in NJPW tracksuits suddenly appeared, attacking Benjamin and Lashley at ringside and brawling with them to the back. Moments later, they were revealed to be Ricochet and GOA. Back in the ring, Stokely tried to assist FTR by handing Dax a chair, but Bandido kicked it out of his hands. Brody shrugged off a dropkick from Wheeler, but Harwood smashed him in the face with the chair, but still no fall. As chaos reigned, FTR set Brody King up top for a superplex, but Bandido shoved Cash off the apron and climbed the turnbuckles himself. Harwood hit the superplex, but Bandido followed immediately with a frog splash, landing flush on Dax. He then added Brodido’s signature assisted monkey flip splash, lost the cover for a moment, but dove back onto Harwood and held on for the three-count.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Match #6: AEW Unified Championship – Kazuchika Okada def. Swerve Strickland
The following is NOT courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Don’t know why this is missing from AEW’s rundown of the show, but here goes:
Swerve and Okada opened with fast counters, strikes, and athletic exchanges before taking the fight outside, where Swerve landed a big dive but began showing signs of a bad knee. Back inside, both men traded momentum. Swerve hit a series of neckbreakers, an avalanche slam, and a near fall, while Okada countered with a DDT on the steps, a Tombstone on the floor, and his signature elbow drop. The closing stretch saw Swerve nearly steal it with a powerbomb/powerslam combo and a top-rope stomp, but his knee gave out. Okada seized the weakness, punished the leg, and finally put Swerve down with the Rainmaker for the win.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #7: AEW Women’s World Championship – “Timeless” Toni Storm def. Athena
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Toni came out hot with fists flying and a hip attack that sent Athena crashing to the floor. Billie Starkz got in the challenger’s face, so Storm planted her with a piledriver on the floor. That distraction gave Athena an opening to recover and she made the most of it, launching Storm head-first into the LED barricade, shorting the screen out on impact. From there, Athena took over, smashing the champion’s face into the turnbuckles and then the steel ring post repeatedly. She targeted the neck with a cravate, punishing knees, and even drove Storm into the mat with a butterfly suplex, followed by a neckbreaker. On the floor, she added insult to injury with a head-first slam into the steel steps. Storm fought back with a spinebuster and a suplex, but the challenger responded with a hurricanrana, a Liger Bomb, and finally locked in the Koji Clutch, forcing Storm to crawl and barely get a boot to the bottom rope. Back on the floor, Storm turned the tables with a face-first slam into the steps, then tossed Athena into the barricade and dragged her back inside. A headbutt and Storm Zero followed, but Athena somehow kicked out. Billie Starkz returned to the apron to run interference, but before she could, Mina Shirakawa rushed down with a chair. While the chaos unfolded, Athena nearly sealed the win with an O-Face over the ropes, but Storm kicked out again. A rolling uppercut stunned the champion, but when Athena tried again, Storm dodged and locked in the TCM Chickenwing, complete with hooks on the mat. With nowhere to go, Athena tapped out.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #8: AEW World Championship – “Hangman” Adam Page def. MJF
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
MJF bailed to the floor the moment the bell rang, goading Hangman into following him. Page chased him down, laying in heavy punches and throwing him into the barricades multiple times. When referee Bryce Remsburg reminded Hangman of the match stipulations, the brief distraction gave MJF an opening, shoving Page into the ring post to turn the tide. Inside the ring, Friedman dished out a piledriver, raked the eyes, and worked over the arm. Page fought back with a fallaway slam, a kip-up, and a picture-perfect moonsault to the floor, then followed with a Liger Bomb for a nearfall. MJF survived and countered a Buckshot Lariat into the Salt of the Earth armbar, but Page rolled through into a crossface, then transitioned into a sleeper hold exchange. Both men kept countering, each refusing to give an inch. Outside the ring, the match escalated violently. Hangman landed a devastating Tombstone piledriver on the floor after catching MJF, then followed with a Deadeye off the apron and through the timekeeper’s table. Back in the ring, he covered, but MJF got a foot on the ropes. Later, Max drop-toeholded Page into a steel chair and tried to take the countout win, but rolled back out to continue his assault. Both men were bleeding as they brawled in the center of the ring. MJF hit an Ace Crusher, a hammerlock DDT, and a running tombstone on the broken table remains, but Page kept beating the count. Hangman mounted another comeback, hitting another Deadeye and setting up for the Buckshot, but MJF used Remsburg as a shield and landed a low blow, followed by the Heatseeker. Page’s foot hit the ropes, but Remsburg didn’t see it, as he collapsed from the damage he’d suffered. That’s when Mark Briscoe stormed the ring to alert the referee. Bryce caught it in time and refused to count the fall. MJF panicked, using his CMLL belt as a distraction to land a clipboard shot, but it still wasn’t enough. He pulled out the Dynamite Diamond Ring next, but Bryce caught him red-handed and ripped it away. Finally, Hangman grabbed the clipboard, cracked Friedman with it, hit a third and final Deadeye, and followed with the Buckshot Lariat for the three-count.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #9: Lights Out Steel Cage Match – Darby Allin, Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi), Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay def. Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd & Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
From the opening bell, violence was the name of the game. Inside the cage, Darby handcuffed himself to Moxley, hitting a wild attack on Claudio that snapped the cuffs in the process. The Bucks unloaded ladders and even a bag of gummy bears – the “dangerous weapon” they had requested earlier – which Omega and Ibushi weaponized with a bulldog and superkick before Claudio stomped Omega’s midsection to target his diverticulitis injury. From there, the violence only escalated. Moxley and Castagnoli duct taped Darby to a chair while Mox gouged at his ear with a fork, sawing until blood poured freely. Claudio then suplexed him chair and all, leaving Darby crimson and nearly unconscious. Elsewhere, the Young Bucks and Gabe Kidd delivered a devastating string of combo offense, only for Tanahashi to rally with neckbreakers before eating a Neutralizer and a BTE Trigger. Ospreay barely broke up the pin, covering Tanahashi with his own body to save him. Bodies flew everywhere. Omega hit stereo Dragon suplexes with Ibushi, Tanahashi fought through blood loss to climb a ladder as his allies begged him to reconsider, and Ospreay brought the house down with a breathtaking moonsault off the top of the cage onto the pile below. The carnage continued until Darby scaled the structure, only to be low-blowed by Gabe Kidd. Fighting at the top, Darby clawed at Kidd’s face before delivering the night’s most death-defying moment, a Coffin Drop off the top of the cage through a stack of tables at ringside. With Darby incapacitated, the Golden Lovers, Ospreay, and Tanahashi regrouped inside. Omega blasted Moxley with back-to-back V-Triggers, Ospreay landed a Storm Breaker on Gabe Kidd, and the Lovers connected with the Golden Trigger on Nick Jackson. The finish came when Ospreay leveled Matt Jackson with a One Winged Angel-Hidden Blade combo variation, and Tanahashi soared with one last High Fly Flow in the United Kingdom, scoring the decisive pinfall.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 4/5
AEW and NJPW delivered a landmark Forbidden Door in London, mixing spectacle, emotion, and high drama. The Lights Out Steel Cage Match stole the show with chaos, blood, and Tanahashi’s farewell moment, capped by Ospreay’s shocking assault. Hangman Page’s victory over MJF was classic storytelling, giving the night its defining championship triumph. Elsewhere, Okada retained against Swerve, Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné stood tall, and Brodido shocked with a tag title win. While the event leaned heavily toward AEW stars, the record crowd and sheer energy made it a standout supershow. Forbidden Door 2025 balanced brutality, nostalgia, and big-time stakes, proving AEW can deliver truly global spectacles.
