MJF Tops Hiroshi Tanahashi, Retains AEW World Title at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023

MJF defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday to retain the AEW World Championship.

For the second year in a row, Tanahashi challenged for the AEW world title at Forbidden Door, although he faced entirely different opponents on each occasion.

Last year, Tanahashi and Jon Moxley each earned the right to compete for the interim AEW World Championship when CM Punk was out due to injury, and Mox beat Tana in the main event of Forbidden Door 2022 for the interim title.

This time around, Tanahashi laid down the challenge to MJF, who beat Moxley for the title last year and held it for over 200 days entering Forbidden Door.

Initially, MJF cast some doubt on whether he would face Tanahashi at Forbidden Door, as he trashed NJPW and threatened to not show up at the event.

Prior to Forbidden Door, MJF had only defended the AEW world title on three occasions with only two of those defenses occurring on pay-per-view.

MJF earned his wins, though, beating Bryan Danielson in a 60-minute Iron Man match and then Darby Allin, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Sammy Guevara in a four-way match.

It can be argued that Tanahashi represented MJF's toughest challenge yet since he is one of the most decorated performers in the history of Japanese wrestling.

The 46-year-old Tanahashi has held the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship a remarkable eight times, plus he is a three-time IWGP United States heavyweight champion and a two-time IWGP intercontinental champion.

By comparison, MJF is just 27 years old and the AEW world title was his first major championship, so the experience gap was wide.

Even so, MJF retained over his legendary opponent at Forbidden Door, adding another huge accolade to his growing resume.

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