AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2026 Winners, Grades and Reaction

All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, in conjunction with Stardom and CMLL, returned to pay-per-view with Forbidden Door.

Headlined by a 12-man tag team match featuring teams led by AEW world champion MJF and top contender Mark Briscoe, as well as interpromotional showdowns, the event helped to set the stage for the rest of the summer.

What went down, how did it grade out, and why?

Find out with this recap of the show, live from SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Lineup

Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Announced in advance of Sunday's show were:

• 12-Man Tag Team Steel Cage Match: Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Kyle O'Reilly, Konosuke Takeshita, and Darby Allin vs. MJF, Kyle Fletcher, Kevin Knight, Jake Doyle, Kazuchika Okada, and Andrade El Idolo
• Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament Final: Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland
• Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament Final: Mercedes Mone vs. Maya World
• AEW Women's World Championship Match: Thekla (c) vs. Starlight Kid
• AEW Continental Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Bandido
• Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match: Shota Umino (c) vs. PAC
• AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. The Dogs (David Finlay and Clark Connors)
• Three-Way Non-Title Match: The Young Bucks vs. Mascara Dorada and Mistico vs. Shingo Takagi and Titane

The Buy-In

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Drilla Moloney defeated Daniel Garcia (B-)

One of the hardest-hitting stars in New Japan Pro-Wrestling dealt The Death Riders' technical genius a devastating loss to kick off the preshow festivities. A good, solid match, it perfectly set the tone for the rest of the broadcast, and Moloney had the fans in the stands early invested.

Maika defeated Skye Blue (B-)

Maika cashed her ticket to the tournament to crown the new TBS champion with a hard-fought victory over a game Skye Blue. A performer who has steadily improved her in-ring game, Blue is long overdue for some victories.

Divine Dominion defeated Thunder Rosa and Olympia (B)

Megan Bayne and Lena Kross faced their toughest test to date, defeating the tandem of Thunder Rosa and Olympia in a strong, hard-hitting, high-impact match to wrap up the Buy-In. Divine Dominion is rapidly becoming one of the best parts of the AEW women's division.

The Young Bucks vs. Mistico and Mascara Dorada vs. Shingo Takagi and Titane

All Elite Wrestling

AEW wasted little time delivering its trademark "party" tag match, kicking off this year's show with a three-way dance with nonstop action, a series of creative reversals and counters, copious high-flying, and a Young Bucks win.

Matt and Nick Jackson bested Mistico and Dorada, and Takagi and Titane, in the opening contest, which had fans popping with every high spot.

If you are a fan who enjoys the frenetic action and constant movement that is not weighed down with storytelling or overbooking, this was for you.

The right team went over, given their significance to AEW, and the West Coast crowd ate this up.

Result

The Young Bucks defeated Mistico and Dorada, and Takagi and Titane

Grade

B

Top Takeaways

• Dorada is excellent. Mistico is the bigger star, but Dorada stood out more. Ditto Titane on the New Japan side. He was fantastic, despite the presence of the more celebrated Takagi.
• The Bucks could have this match in their sleep. That is not a knock on them by any stretch, but this is their specialty and they looked incredibly comfortable here.

Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

All Elite Wrestling

In their first match since 2018, Kenny Omega and Zack Sabre Jr. proved why they are among each other's finest opponents, wrestling a brilliant match in front of a red-hot audience in San Jose.

A hard-hitting, unflinchingly physical match, they battered each other with strikes. Sabre utilized joint manipulation and unrivaled technique to attempt to neutralize Omega, while the Best Bout Machine relied on snapdragon suplexes, V-Triggers, and ultimately, the One-Winged Angel to finally defeat the best technician in the business.

A long, competitive match that highlighted both men's strengths, it is destined to rank among the night's best contests, regardless of what follows it.

The best Omega bout we have seen in two years.

Result

Omega defeated Sabre Jr.

Grade

A

Top Takeaways

• Omega is not as good as he once was, but his timing remains impeccable and he can deliver in these occasional, high-profile, hugely hyped matches. His best days as a full time worker are behind him, but when the lights are brightest, he is still an elite performer, pun intended.
• Sabre Jr. does not get nearly enough credit for being as great a worker as he is. People celebrate him, but he is otherworldly when it comes to the mat game. He is a wrestler who belongs in the conversation with William Regal and Bryan Danielson when discussing the best pure professional grapplers of the last two decades.

AEW International Championship Match: Bandido vs. Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley had an AEW pay-per-view match. Someone bled.

That is not remarkably surprising to anyone at this point, nor should it be. In this case, however, Moxley's bloodying of Bandido following a piledriver on the steel ring steps served a purpose in that it protected the reigning Ring of Honor world champion and gave him an out.

Claiming that the leader of the Death Riders could not dim his fighting spirit, the luchador put up a great fight, surviving everything Moxley threw at him, including a Death Rider. Bandido delivered Moonsault and Battery for a near-fall, but the champion recovered, trapped him in the bulldog choke, and ultimately scored the win via referee decision.

A good match that put over the relentlessness of the champion and the resilience of the babyface, who never gave up. It was not as good as its predecessor, but it did a great job of highlighting the characters and protecting the Ring of Honor titleholder.

Result

Moxley defeated Bandido via referee stoppage

Grade

B+

Top Takeaways

• Bandido bled heavily here, to the point that it was painting Moxley's face and body by the time the match was over. It added to the narrative that he was beaten down and battered, but still hellbent on fighting until he no longer could.
• Moxley wins. A lot. This one made sense, though and actually made his opponent a bigger Babyface as a result.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match: Shota Umino vs. Pac

All Elite Wrestling

The original Death Rider, New Japan's Shota Umino, battled a current one in "The Bastard" Pac, with the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship on the line.

Another strong match in a string of them tonight, Umino vs. Pac employed a slower build than others on the show, but when it hit its stride and the action intensified, it picked up exponentially.

Pac put Umino through hell, throwing everything he had at him. He tossed him from the ring and through a table on the arena floor, then locked him in the Brutalizer.

Umino fought through all of it, proved his toughness and resiliency, and ultimately pulled off the victory.

A tense staredown with Jon Moxley after the match gave way to a surprise appearance by Hiroshi Tanahashi, who joined Umino in the ring and put the belt around his waist in a show of respect and adulation.

Result

Umino defeated Pac

Grade

B

Top Takeaways

• It will never not be weird to see Pac in that singlet.
• This felt like a concentrated effort to establish Umino on an international stage. It was about as good as it could be, with him overcoming a punishing opponent, beating him, refusing to back down in the face of Moxley, and benefiting from the nod of approval from Tanhashi.

AEW Women's World Championship Match: Starlight Kid vs. Thekla

All Elite Wrestling

Starlight Kid entered Sunday's match with two previous wins against Thekla and no sign of fear as the Toxic Spider entered the squared circle for their high-stakes championship clash.

Kid caught Thekla off-guard early, starting hot. The champion halted that momentum, though, cutting her off during a dive attempt and seizing control. A confrontation with Stardom president Taro Okada nearly cost her the advantage, but Thekla refocused and continued her attack.

At times, she allowed her hubris to get the best of her, including after a Spider Suplex, when Kid bounced right up and kicked her off the top rope. Then, she saw a spear attempt countered, then ate the Black Tiger Divine Punishment on the ring apron.

The challenger tortured the champion, stretching her in a modified stretch muffler submission. Thekla fought to the ropes to force the break. Finding an opening and delivering her trademark spear, Thekla strung together offense and delivered consecutive stomps to score the win.

A great match that told the story of Thekla's overconfidence, which nearly cost her, only to lean on it to get the win. Never out of the match because of how good she is, and how much she knows it, Thekla seized the opening and earned the win.

Even after Kid nearly knocked her off on several occasions and had her reeling late.

After the match, Thekla cut off Kid's mask, spat in it, then attacked Okada with it, one last insult to her former boss and the Stardom promotion.

Result

Thekla defeated Kid

Grade

B+

Top Takeaways

• Thekla has some extraordinary facial expressions and body language. The audience never has to guess what she is feeling because she emotes so well. She is also super vocal in the ring, which aids in getting the story across.
• Those unfamiliar with Kid before this were greeted with a great performance in her first opportunity to make an impact on American audiences on a stage this big.

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. The Dogs

All Elite Wrestling

"Switchblade" Jay White is back.

The former IWGP Heavyweight champion made his long-awaited return in the closing moments of the world tag title match, aiding Copeland and Cage in defeating David Finlay and Clark Connors and retaining their gold.

The shocking twist occurred at the end of a fantastic tag team match in which The Dogs had the champions reeling, proving themselves capable of hanging with an all-time great tandem.

At points in the contest, they successfully isolated their opponents and appeared to have a legitimate chance of capturing gold. Even more so after the official took a spill and Finlay obtained his family's trademark shillelagh.

The return of the Bang Bang Gang, and the long-awaited comeback of White, put an exclamation point on the match and set in motion events that should lead to a battle between former Bullet Club leaders.

Result

Cope and Cage defeated The Dogs to retain

Grade

B+

Top Takeaways

• Give us more of this. The match, for the most part, was a straight tag team match that did not rely on abundant weapon use and overbooking. What occurred late made sense and was years in the making.
• Finlay and Connors passed a big test here, living up to the hype. It bodes well for them early in their AEW run.

Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament Final: Maya World vs. Mercedes Mone

All Elite Wrestling

A star was born Sunday night in the form of Maya World, who rolled into San Jose and proceeded to deliver the match of a lifetime against Mercedes Mone in the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament.

Mone made history, becoming the first athlete to win two Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament finals, but it was World who stole the headlines from the CEO.

The 23-year-old paid off an incredible journey to Forbidden Door with a defining performance in which she pushed Mone to the brink of defeat on more than one occasion, nearly winning the tournament by trapping the heel in her own submission move.

Ultimately, it was she who would tap out to Mone, but not before announcing to the world that she was the face of women's wrestling's future in AEW.

Not bad for a young woman who only began training in 2022 and credits Mone for inspiring her to become a wrestler.

Result

Mone defeated World

Grade

B+

Biggest Takeaways

• This was an extraordinary match and Mone deserves plenty of the credit for it. She made World look like a million bucks and at different points, had fans biting on the possibility that she might lose. That is the sign of a great performer.
• World shook off early nerves that easily could have derailed her. They certainly would have lesser talented individuals. Her performance Sunday was that of a more mature performer than her relative inexperience would suggest.

12-Man Tag Team Steel Cage Match: Team Mark Briscoe vs. Team MJF

All Elite Wrestling

Team Briscoe: Briscoe, Konosuke Takeshita, Darby Allin, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Orange Cassidy

Team MJF: MJF, Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada, Kevin Knight, Jake Doyle, and Andrade El Idolo

Debuting a new circular steel cage that engulfed the ring, AEW presented a wild and chaotic battle in the night's penultimate showdown.

Chaos ensued, as one would expect from a match of this type, with weapons galore. In a fun spot, the in-fighting between MJF and Andrade reared its head, with El Idolo getting the upper hand and louder reaction from the crowd.

When the heels regained the upper hand, Cassidy produced orange slices from Willow Nightingale for a mid-match hydration break. They then used the juice in Fletcher's open wound.

Later in the match, Lio Rush appeared, terrifying the heels and taking them out one by one. Doing his best Gollum, he expressed his desire to have MJF's Dynamite Diamond Ring, but ate a Rainmaker from Okada for his troubles. The heels bagged him up, chained the duffle shut, and slid him back under the ring.

A devastating Blue Thunder Bomb from Takeshita to Fletcher gave way to a big bump by Knight through a table from the top of the cage and a Coffin Drop from Allin to the rest of the field. In the ring, Briscoe delivered a Jay Driller to MJF, but Doyle broke up the fall.

The most important spot of the match saw Andrade lay out MJF and reiterate his desire for a title match. A low blow to Doyle set him up for a Jay Driller of his own as Briscoe won the war for his team.

Result

Team Briscoe defeated Team MJF

Grade

A

Top Takeaways

• This was phenomenal. The manner in which the match was laid out to weave as many stories as it did throughout, including the big Andrade turn, elevated it well beyond a typical multi-man gimmick match. This was superb storytelling, that gave fans a taste of Knight vs. Allin, Takeshita vs. Fletcher, Briscoe vs. MJF, and eventually, Andrade vs. MJF. Great stuff from a company that sometimes overbooks and loses its focus. That was not the case here.
• Andrade is hot enough to beat MJF for the title. That is not a sentence that would have been written two months ago.
• The Knight bump was scary as he only went through one layer of stacked tables.
• Briscoe revealed after the match that he wants his title match against MJF Wednesday night on Dynamite.

Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament Final: Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland

All Elite Wrestling

Bloodied and battered, his neck the target of his opponent throughout the main event, but Will Ospreay weathered the storm and will now challenge for the AEW World Championship at All In on Sunday, August 30, from Wembley Stadium in London after defeating Swerve Strickland.

The Aerial Assassin overcame a bloodied forehead and a neck that was constantly under attack from Strickland before utilizing the relentlessness and aggression taught to him by The Death Riders.

He busted Strickland open, unforgivingly unloaded with kicks and a rolling elbow to the back of the head, but could not put him away. In return, he ate a vicious Swerve Stomp to the back of the head.

Both exhausted, they emptied the proverbial chamber on each other, but were unable to put the other down for the three-count. The Death Riders surrounded the ring from there, showing solidarity and support for Ospreay.

Fired up, the bloodied Brit responded with a Paradigm Shift, then a Death Rider, and, finally, the Tiger Driver 98 for the win in a legitimate Match of the Year contender between two of the elite stars in AEW.

The victor shared a moment with Strickland after the match and celebrated to close out the show.

Result

Ospreay defeated Strickland

Grade

A+

Top Takeaways

• It is for the best that this headlined the show because nothing else was touching it. Ospreay and Strickland left it all in the ring, seeking the win that would catapult them to the top of the rankings and earn them a shot in the main event of All In: London. This was pro wrestling excellence.
• Ospreay vs. MJF is going to be one of the most important matches in AEW history.
• Strickland was excellent and, hopefully, does not fade into the background coming out of Forbidden Door. He remains a valuable main event attraction for the company, even if he finds himself on the outside looking in at the title picture.

MVP and Overall Grade

All Elite Wrestling

MVP: Maya World

There were plenty of standout performances across the lengthy run time of Sunday's show, but none jumped off the screen quite like World's. Still early in her career, she seized the opportunity to be in the Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament, scored big upsets to get to Sunday's match, then came within seconds of knocking off her inspiration, Mercedes Mone. 

All while never looking out of place or like she did not belong.

On a night where plenty was riding on her ability to deliver a great performance and wrap up the Owen tournament on a high note, she showed up and showed out, proving she has the tools to be one of the top stars of the future for the company that discovered her and gave her a spot on their shows.

Overall Grade: A

AEW on pay-per-view is a sure thing at this point. No promotion in professional wrestling makes their big shows feel more important, with stars delivering their finest performances and a surprise or two elevating the significance of the event.

That did not change with Forbidden Door.

While there were several matches with little to no bearing on AEW TV for the foreseeable future, the quality was undeniable and the final three matches would have been the best on nearly any other show. Ospreay vs. Strickland is an instant classic and one of the best in AEW history.

Was it the slam dunk that the last few have been? No. Was it still a largely great show? Absolutely, as AEW remains the standard-bearer in pro wrestling pay-per-view events.