The SmarK Rant for AEW Forbidden Door 2025 – 08.24.25

The SmarK Rant for AEW Forbidden Door 2025 – 08.24.25

Originally written 08.25.25. Ordered on Prime again but it’s the best deal.

Live from London! I hear that they have a bridge that might be falling down, so drive carefully.

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Bryan Danielson

COPE & Christian v. Killswitch & Kip Sabian

After the disappointingly subdued Scotland crowd I’m glad to hear this one is JACKED. And do you need to ask England to sing someone’s song? No you do not. Also Christian’s new video is awesome. I was hoping we’d go back to Luchasaurus but at least Killswitch is easier to type. Sabian slugs away on COPE to start, but he gets into a chase with Copeland on the floor and gets caught in a double-team slam from C&C. Cage slugs away in the corner and it’s over to the dinosaur. Which reminds me: BIG BROTHER UPDATE! Rylie the creepy cowboy stalker was voted out before jury on the last episode, probably thanks to interference from production. I’m fine with that, he was gaslighting Katherine right into a lawsuit from her family. Killswitch sends Copeland to the floor and powerbombs Sabian onto him with help from Mother Wayne, and chokslams Cope onto the apron, THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING. Back in the ring, Kip tags himself in as we should take a moment to appreciate how beautiful his hair has become. He’s getting into 1996 Hunter territory there. Back to Killswitch as the heels double-team Adam and Kip cannonballs into him for two. Killswitch with the chinlock with a neck vice as this crowd has been remarkably charitable to what has been a pretty terrible match so far. Killswitch with a sideslam on Copeland and Kip demands another tag, so Killswitch smacks him and Kip is somehow busted open around his eye. Mother Wayne prevents a tag to Christian with some well deserved trash talk. Killswitch somehow ends up with Sabian on his shoulders while Kip tries a superplex on Cope, and Copeland turns that into a Doomsday Device on the heels for a double down. Well that was a dumb spot. Hot tag Christian and he runs Killswitch into the post and chokes him out on the ropes, doing all his heel stuff but getting a face pop for it. Killswitch bails to the floor and Christian dives onto him while the crowd sings some songs. Back in the ring, Cope powerbombs Killswitch into a diving headbutt from Cage for one. So they give him a double impaler, but Killswitch isn’t the legal lizard man and Kip rolls up Christian for two. Cope spears Killswitch to the floor to get rid of him and then spears Kip in the ring, and Christian pins him at 13:49. It’s a good thing they had the super hot crowd because this was AWFUL and Killswitch looked completely cooked out there. *1/4. Again, we all know where this is leading and they’re just trying to get there as soon as possible.

TNT title: Kyle Fletcher v. Hiromu Takahashi

They trade chops to start while we get the 360 camera move around the ring, which looks MUCH better in a giant arena than the little Chicago theater. Fletcher hits him with a big boot to put him down as they announce the return to Australia in February. HOPE THEY BRING A RING WITH THEM THIS TIME, AM I RIGHT? High five! Anyone? Takahashi comes back with chops in the corner, but runs into a back elbow and Kyle gets two off that. Fletcher with a FULL BODY LIFT AND SLAM for two, impressing Danielson. Fletcher goes to a chinlock and Hiromu fights out and trades chops with him before hitting a rana to come back. And then he takes Kyle to the floor with a poison rana that nearly breaks his neck on a bump to the apron and even Excalibur is gasping at that one. But they keep going and Hiromu gets two in the ring. Hiromu takes him down with a dragon screw, but Kyle hits him with a Michinoku Driver for two as all 17 announcers call the same move. That desk is seriously turning into the Naked Gun meme. Kyle goes to the top and Hiromu chops him down, but Fletcher bearhugs him and brings him down with a back suplex for two. Powerbomb gets two. The crowd actually splits for them, which is surprising given how unlikeable Kyle is now. Kyle beats on him with kicks and that gets two. They fight to the apron and Hiromu reverses a suplex into a DDT on the apron, and then flips him into a powerbomb on the floor. Back in the ring, Hiromu with the lariat for two and impressive sell from Fletcher. They slug it out and Fletcher tries another powerbomb, but Hiromu reverses to a destroyer for two in an incredible spot. Hiromu with his own powerbomb for two. Fletcher tries a tombstone and Hiromu reverses, but Fletcher goes back to his own for two. Kyle with a running kick in the corner, but Hiromu reverses a brainbuster into a cradle for two. But Kyle hangs onto the neck, rolls into another brainbuster, and that gets the pin at 15:35. Felt like it needed a bigger finish but this was high level stuff all the way. ****1/4. Also Walker Stewart from New Japan was GREAT on commentary and hopefully talked himself into a job.

TBS title: Mercedes Mone v. Alex Windsor v. Persephone v. Bozilla

Bozilla overpowers everyone to start and dumps Mercedes onto the pile outside, and then slams everyone back in the ring. But then she gets dumped to the floor by Mercedes and we get a showdown between Persephone & Windsor for a bit. Bozilla suplexes them both, but she gets dragged to the floor and then Persephone tries a dive and gets caught up in the ropes. Yikes. Back in the ring, she backslides Mercedes for two and they trade cradles for two. Bozilla tosses Persephone around to get herself over with the crowd, and she fights off all three women again. Mone with a meteora to finally put her down for two. Everyone stacks up in the corner for a wacky Tower of Doom spot and everyone is down off that. Mercedes rolls Windsor and Persephone into a double Bank statement, but Windsor escapes and clotheslines them both to set up a double Sharpshooter. Always gets over. But then Bozilla calmly walks in and breaks it up, and then chokeslams Persephone and moonsaults both her and Windsor for two. She tries a powerbomb on Mercedes, but Mone turns it into a poison rana for two. Looked like Bozilla forgot to kick out there. Bozilla comes back again with a german suplex (or as she calls it, “Just a suplex”) and beats on Windsor in the corner after clearing the ring, but Persephone hits her with a Razor’s Edge. Windsor hits Persephone with something off camera for two and gets the Sharpshooter, but Mercedes breaks it up and then cradles Persephone for the pin at 15:36. Bozilla had an impressive performance but this was pretty rough overall. They never were able to get anything going and weren’t really on the same page at all. **. I can see, how shall we put this, a specific segment of the male fanbase who are going to be REALLY REALLY into Bozilla’s vibe, though.

IWGP World title: Zack Sabre Jr. v. Nigel McGuinness

Nigel gets some chess lessons from Johnny Saint before the match, which hopefully translates to wrestling. I kind of thought that Nigel losing that match to Danielson meant that he was done for good but I guess not. They trade snapmares and Nigel takes him down with a headlock as they fight to a stalemate. Zack works the arm with some SMALL JOINT MANIPULATION, but Nigel reverses him into a double armbar, using that chess knowledge to give up a hold to get a hold, but Zack stomps the shoulder to break free. Nigel with a running forearm in the corner, but Zack charges him and Nigel catches him in a lariat for two. Nigel works the arm and Zack makes the ropes, as Nigel reminds us that he HAS UNTIL FIVE, REFEREE. Zack escapes the Tower of London and takes Nigel down with an armbar and grabs a toehold at the same time, but Nigel makes the ropes. They slug it out with forearms and Zack sweeps the leg into a cradle for two. Nigel with a backslide for two and he fires back with a lariat for two. And then he winds up with another one for two. Nigel PROCURES THE CHICKENWING and Zack tries to flip out of it, but Nigel turns it into a triangle and snaps the fingers behind the ref’s back. Zack tries to go to the top, but Nigel brings him down with the Tower of London for two. They trade cradles for two, but Zack gets the fatal cradle for the pin to retain at 17:00. Really good mat based battle here. ***1/2

Meanwhile, Queen Aminata is still fighting with Thekla in the back, and they fight into the arena where Skye and Julia join in. But then Jamie Hayter returns from injury again to make the save.

AEW World tag team title: The Hurt Syndicate v. Bro-dido v. FTR

They all fight on the floor right away and FTR takes out Lashley with the stairs. Into the ring and Bandido backslides Dax for two, but Lashley comes in and bowls everyone over. Dax tries throwing chops on Shelton and gets suplexed as a result, but Bandido sends Shelton to the floor and follows with a tope. Back in, Lashley cuts him off with a Yakisoba cutter for two. Shelton with a throw on Bandido for two. They work Bandido over in the corner and FTR walks away from a tag so the Hurts can continue that punishment. Bandido fights off Bobby, but still can’t get the tag as Shelton cuts him off again. But finally Brodys get the hot tag and runs wild, powerbombing Dax for two. Cannonball for both FTR in the corner and he tries the same on Shelton, but Bobby prevents that and it’s MEAT time. Lashley slams him and Brody pops up and puts Lashley down in turn, then clotheslines him to the floor. Shelton suplexes everyone, but Brody takes out FTR and they all head to the floor, where Bandido takes Dax off the top rope with a fallaway slam, to the floor, onto the other four guys. Well that was crazy. Back in the ring, the Hurts double-team Brody and Lashley spears him, but two guys in tracksuits hit the ring and brawl with the Hurts to distract them. So FTR double-teams Brody and Dax hits him with a chair for two as we learn that it’s Ricochet and his pals under the hoods. FTR with the Powerplex attempt, but Bandido splashes Dax and they hit the alley oop 450 after a botched first attempt and win the titles at 16:20. They had a couple of crazy spots but the match didn’t really go anywhere and the finish was terrible. **1/4. And, SHOCKER, the Hurt Syndicate loses the titles and not only don’t have to do the job, but they were probably already back in the dressing room showering by the time the match ended. Good riddance to their shitty tag team title reign. Also good luck to Bro-Dido, who are certainly getting murdered by the first “real” tag team that comes along and gets a shot at them.

AEW Unified Inter-Continental title: Kazuchika Okada v. Swerve Strickland

Love the Mr. Terrific gear on Swerve. They slug it out to start and fight for a suplex before Swerve gets a dropkick. To the floor, Swerve boots him from the apron and follows with a Fosbury flop that tweaks his knee injury. Back in the ring, Swerve with a pair of neckbreakers and the elbow off the middle rope while Callis declares Nana to be a “classic nepotism hire” on commentary. Okada catapults Swerve over the top and Swerve hurts his knee again, which allows Okada to go to work on him. They fight on the floor and Swerve slams him on the apron while limping it off, but Okada hits him with a DDT on the stairs. Back in the ring, Okada takes over and they trade forearms, but Swerve hits the flatliner into a suplex. To the top, and Swerve brings him down with a back suplex for two. To the floor again, but Okada piledrives him out there, and back in for the flying elbow. Swerve blocks the Rainmaker with a backslide, but Okada maintains wrist control, so Swerve hits him with the House Call kick for the double down. Okada with the dropkick and tries another Rainmaker, but Swerve reverses him into the powerslam this time and goes up with the Swerve Stomp for two. Okada bails to the apron and they fight out there, but Swerve goes up and Okada brings him down with a kneebreaker on the top turnbuckle. Okada with another dropkick, but Swerve rebounds into another House Call before walking into the Rainmaker and getting pinned at 16:38. Another half-speed Okada match, but Swerve’s knee was probably limiting things anyway. Crowd really only woke up for Swerve’s hope spots. ***. Afterwards, while Swerve is recovering, Wardlow makes his return and destroys Prince Nana, setting up our next feud for Swerve.

AEW Women’s World title: Timeless Toni Storm v. Athena

OK, so thankfully they clarify that Athena is actually cashing in her contract to get this match, so that gets rid of one of the magic briefcases. They immediately hit the floor and Toni takes out Billie with a Storm Zero, but Athena dropkicks her into the barricade. Back in the ring, that gets two. I should point out that the Amazon Prime “Shop the Show” thing is a really neat idea, but it only works in the US because you can’t buy AEW merch in Canada. There’s some figures on there from third parties but otherwise nothing. Usual story. Athena swings Toni into the post and rams her head into it a few times to take over. She tries a hip attack and Toni fights her off with a fisherman’s suplex for two. Man we’re four hours into this show with the pre-game and this crowd is getting TIRED. Athena with a butterfly suplex, but Toni powerbombs her for two. Toni tries to roll into Storm Zero, but Athena counters with a neckbreaker. Toni with a DDT and Tiger Driver for two. Toni comes back with the Mongolian chops, but Athena slugs her down for two. Powerbomb gets two and Athena goes into a submission hold on the mat, but Toni reverses to a chicken wing attempt and Athena sends her to the floor and follows with a tope. But then Toni runs her into the barricade, which turns it back on again in a cute spot. Back in the ring, Storm Zero gets two. To the apron, where Billie uses the apron to trip up Toni, allowing Athena to hit the O-Face on the apron. But then Mina Shirakawa chases off Billie and Toni gets the BIG PACKAGE on Athena for two. Toni PROCURES THE CHICKEN WING and Athena taps at 15:00 to get rid of the contract until next year. This was fine, although Athena didn’t feel like a serious PPV challenger after the confused buildup and it didn’t have a lot of heat. ***

This has been the weakest AEW PPV in a very long time and I don’t exactly know what’s going on tonight.

AEW World title: Hangman Page v. MJF

They immediately brawl to the floor and Hangman clotheslines him into the crowd and grabs a chair, but of course that would get him DQ’d and he’d lose the title. So MJF is able to run Page into the post while he’s distracted and takes over in the ring. They slug it out and MJF goes to the eyes and gets a sunset flip for two before hitting a piledriver for two. Hangman runs him into the corner but misses a charge, allowing MJF to stomp the arm. They fight to the top and trade bites, before Hangman brings him down and clotheslines him to the floor. Page with the moonsault and back in for a powerbomb that gets two. MJF with the armbar, but Page makes the ropes and rolls him into a crossface.

Page sets up the buckshot and MJF blocks it with a knee strike and then catches him in a cutter and hammerlock DDT for two. Next up, MJF grabs the timekeeper’s table and sets that up outside, which is weird because usually there’s 8 million tables in the magic ether under the ring anyway. He tries a flying elbow onto Page out there, but Hangman escapes and moonsaults into a tombstone on the floor. Deadeye off the apron and through the table, but that gets two and MJF wisely bails to the floor again to escape. Page unwisely charges him and MJF takes him down with a drop toehold onto a chair. “Just like [Bryan Danielson] he fucking sucks!” notes Maxwell while Hangman bleeds on the floor. I don’t think that’s an accurate assessment of anyone’s talent level, to be honest. And then MJF hits him with a tombstone on the remains of the table for fun. That table was clearly only rigged to break once, in the middle.

Page beats the count JUST at 9 to avoid losing the title. Next up, MJF exposes a steel turnbuckle and then goes into it facefirst and he’s busted open. Note to Excalibur: It’s HOIST by your own petard, not hoisted. I’ve got a kid who’s a Shakespeare nerd, trust me. So they slug it out and they both go down off an elbow. They trade tombstones and it turns into a cradle battle for two that ends in a Deadeye from Page for two. Good, make Bryce Remsberg earn his money! MJF pulls out the diamond ring and literally invites Hangman to use it and get DQ’d, but Hangman spits on him instead and tosses it away. Buckshot follows, but MJF shoves the ref into the way and he’s out, allowing MJF to go low and hit the Heatseeker for an apparent pin despite the foot being on the ropes. But the ref is still out and can’t call for the bell after counting the pin, so Mark Briscoe comes out to protest and MJF is unable to pull the foot off the ropes in time for him to hide the evidence. So Hangman hits him with a lariat, but MJF goes low again and cradles for two. Next up, he distracts the ref with the belt and uses the contract to knock Hangman out for two. And he finds the diamond ring AGAIN, but this time the ref catches him and confiscates it, allowing Page to hit him with the contract and finish with the Deadeye and Buckshot Lariat at 31:34. But of course, that Contract of Damocles is still hanging over our heads. They always work well together and all the gaga at the end with MJF finally getting his comeuppance from Page was very well earned. The angle on Dynamite added nothing to the match, however, and it would have been just fine with the one from two weeks ago. ****1/2. However, that foot on the ropes spot made NO sense, as the ref clearly counted three and MJF should be World champion if you’re going by the rules of wrestling.

Lights Out Cage match: The Death Riders & The Young Bucks v. Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin & Hiroshi Tanahashi

We get a very nice video with voiceover from Alex Windsor as they’re really building this up as Will’s farewell for a long while, so hopefully he doesn’t die out there tonight. Speaking of dying out there, the Young Bucks demanded the return of their old music, so they get MMMBOP as they just keep piling the humiliation on. So it’s an open cage surrounding the entire ringside area, which gives them lots of room to brawl and no ceiling. Tanahashi has to fight off three heels in the ring by himself, but Gabe Kidd takes him out. Ospreay and Kidd trade chops and Will sends him to the floor for the SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP. Darby cleans house on the Death Riders and hits them with a dive outside, and then we get a showdown with the Bucks and Golden Lovers in the ring! Kota and Kenny with stereo ranas to put the Bucks on the floor for the Golden Triangle moonsaults. Meanwhile Darby handcuffs himself to Moxley, which gives us a clever spot with Darby hitting a Code Red on Claudio and forcing Mox to bump at the same time. Kenny with You Can’t Escape on Gabe, but Gabe counters out and the Bucks double-team Ibushi. So Matt goes for the thumbtack bag, but it’s been switched out for Gummi Bears and they do a wacky spot where Nick has to take a bump into those instead. I hope he’s not diabetic!

The Bucks send Will into the cage with a faceful of ladder and then hit Kota right in his BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL FACE, the monsters. Darby takes a powerbomb onto the ladder, as you’d expect, and Nick hits him with a senton onto the ladder while Ospreay gigs on the floor. Back in, Will ducks the ladder and kicks it back in the Bucks’ face before cleaning house with a chair. Gabe with a piledriver on Ospreay and the Bucks hit the double-team powerbomb on Kenny, into the Giant Swing from Claudio. That gets two. Bucks with the superkicks on Ibushi and that sets up the TK Driver, which gets two. So then Claudio presses Darby and hurls him out of the ring and into the cage in a bump that no human being should be taking, and that leaves Tanahashi alone. Moxley hits him with a DDT after Tanahashi fights off a couple of guys, and they duct tape Darby to a chair because if you can’t fix it, duck it, as a wise man once said. So Moxley does the wacky, or sorry, I mean ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING, fork to the ear spot as I have Reservoir Dogs flashbacks. I know Michael Madsen died recently but I didn’t need that tribute. Even the British crowd is horrified by this disgusting display, and I’ve seen what they consider to be breakfast food so that’s saying something! So next it’s the barbed wire as shit gets real, but Tanahashi fights some guys off, and it’s the return of the BTE Trigger for two! Glad to see they finally figured it out. Ospreay saves and tries to protect Tanahashi with his own body, and then Moxley tries to DDT him and he runs Mox into the barbed wire table. Kenny makes the comeback and suplexes everyone, putting all the heels on the floor for a Terminator Dive.

Tana tries to climb a ladder while everyone talks him out of it and brings him down, and then Ospreay goes to the top of the cage instead and moonsaults everyone, nearly missing the pile on the way down. In the ring, we get Gabe Kidd v Kenny Omega Part 2, and they slug it out before everyone trades the big moves and everyone is down. Ospreay with the Ozcutter on Nick Jackson outside, and Darby hits Claudio with a coffin drop, leaving us with Kenny v. Moxley for a slugfest. Kenny with the V-Trigger and One Winged Angel, but it only gets two as everyone saves. Moxley helps Yuta climb from the floor to the top of the cage, but Darby sends him crashing into the announce table while Moxley ties to escape the cage. So Darby puts him between two tables and goes to the top of the cage again, but Marina saves her man, and Gabe Kidd sends Darby flying through the pair of tables while the crowd chants “Please don’t die”. Look, Gummi Bears are one thing, but this was too far. So in the ring, Claudio slugs it out with Ibushi, but Ospreay hits Claudio with the Stormbreaker. Golden Trigger for Nick and Matt takes the Hidden Blade, and the One Winged Angel kills Matt dead. And that leaves Tanahashi to hit the High Fly Flow to finish at 32:25. This was of course, all over the map between wacky spots and violent nonsense and crazy bumps and you pretty much know what you’re getting into by this point, I would hope. I thought it was good but ran too long overall. ****

And then Will does the big celebration while the copyright notice plays, but the Death Riders storm the cage and Moxley hits him with DDT after DDT to send Will out on his shield.

Overall, a good show with a pair of main events that really saved things, but as always they ran too long and would have had a much stronger 3.5 hour show by cutting out a couple of matches that could have been done on TV. But overall I’d call this the weakest AEW PPV offering since that first World’s End show, really a thumbs in the middle overall.