Minimum Wage Nerd

AEW Forbidden Door 2026 is in the history books as the promotion begins, in earnest, the summer-long march to All In at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The cross-promotional event, spearheaded by AEW, sat in an interesting part of the company’s 2026 pay-per-view calendar. It was following Double or Nothing 2026, which was hailed by many fans and critics as possibly the best pay-per-view AEW has ever put on, but was still far enough away from All In that fans could tell the promotion wasn’t really stepping on the gas when it came to the overall build to Wembley.

It was also one of the lightest years when it comes to major cross-promotional matches for the show, though this was due in part to some untimely, but thankfully not major, injuries and a swath of visa issues and renewals keeping wrestlers out of the U.S. for the time being. That said, there were still some high-profile contests for this show, especially on the women’s side as three of the four matches across the show were cross-promotional bouts.

Despite a lackluster build, fans were treated to what may have been one of AEW’s best in-ring pay-per-views, ever.

The Buy-In

As with any AEW pay-per-view, things got started on The Buy-In hosted by Renee Paquette and Jeff Jarrett. The pre-show featured three matches, anchored by two women’s matches with pretty significant stakes.

The opening bout pit Daniel Garcia, representing the Death Riders, taking on Drilla Moloney of New Japan’s Unbound Co. and as some fans may have suspected, it was a physical ten minutes. Moloney and Garcia traded bombs for most of the bout until Moloney was able to catch Garcia during a roll-over attempt and hit the Drilla Killa to score the win.

Maika vs. Skye Blue was next with the sixth and final spot in Wednesday’s TBS Championship Survival of the Fittest match. Like the opener, Maika and Blue didn’t hold back when it came to big strike and big moves to earn a shot at the vacant TBS title, with Maika ultimately scoring the win with a Hammerlock Michinoku Driver after around nine minutes.

Rounding out the pre-show was the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion, Megan Bayne and Lena Kross, putting their title’s on the ling against AEW’s Thunder Rosa and CMLL’s Olympia. The four women weren’t light with their offense, all of them putting their mix of strength and athleticism on display for fans over the roughly ten minute match.

BUY-IN RATING – 3.75/5

Another good pre-show in a string of fairly strong pay-per-view pre-shows from AEW in 2026. The Forbidden Door Buy-In was another Buy-In this year to feature one or more fairly important matches to actually incentivize people to tune in and maybe even buy the pay-per-view last minute.

Main Card

Young Bucks vs. El Sky Team vs. Unbound Co.

Kicking off the pay-per-view was a special cross-promotional tag team match pitting AEW’s Young Bucks against El Sky Team of Mistico and Mascara Dorada from CMLL and the team of Shingo Takagi and Titan representing Unbound Co. and New Japan. Given the talent involved, it was an athletic showcase were five of the wrestlers got to demonstrate their impressive athleticism. Four of them would then run directly into the living brick-wall named Shingo Takagi waiting with a punch and lariat in hand to swat them down. After almost 18 minutes, the Bucks would get the win after a Meltzer-Driver to Titan so the brothers could continue their march back to the AEW World Tag Team Titles.

MATCH RATING – 3.75/5

As good of a tag team opener as fans have come to expect when the Bucks get to kick off a pay-per-view. That said, the match isn’t perfect, with the six wrestlers having some slight missteps early before they finally settled in.

Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

There was no slowing down as second on the card was Kenny Omega taking on Zack Sabre Jr. in a match both men wanted to use to springboard back to their respective company’s world title scene. In the first epic of the night, Sabre and Omega would put on an incredible display of pro wrestling that was able to spotlight both wrestlers’ abilities. Sabre was once again able to show why he is considered the best technical wrestler in the world today while Omega got to remind Sabre, fans, and the AEW locker room that while he may be a little older and a bit beat up, he is still the “Best Bout Machine” when it counts. The two would keep up a fairly steady pace for roughly 26 minutes before Omega was able to catch Sabre and hit the One-Winged Angel to score the win.

MATCH RATING – 5/5

As mentioned, this was the first of three epics that took place over the course of the show. Sabre and Omega, who commonly speak on the artistic side of pro wrestling, got to be the artists they pride themselves on being inside a wrestling ring. In the process, they put on one of the best matches of the year as of July 1, 2026.

AEW Continental Championship – Jon Moxley (c) vs. Bandido

The hits kept on coming as Jon Moxley once again put his AEW Continental Title on the line, this time against the reigning Ring of Honor Men’s World Champion, Bandido. They had the unenviable task of having to follow Sabre vs. Omega, but were more than up to the challenge as the ever-physical and aggressive Moxley took it to the valiant Bandido from the start. For 18 minutes, Moxley would lay into Bandido, even tearing a massive hole in the luchador’s mask, only for Bandido to fight back time and time again. However, Bandido’s fight would only keep him in it for so long as he was eventually caught by Moxley in a rear-choke that’s ended plenty of matches in the past. Bandido would make one last effort to escape before passing out, forcing the referee to end the match.

MATCH RATING – 4.5/5

Moxley has been considered the Ace of AEW for years, and for good reason, but the star of this match was Bandido. The luchador is one of several names, including his tag team partner Brody King, to have a breakout 2026 and this continued at Forbidden Door with another standout performance.

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship – Shota Umino (c) vs. Pac

The Death Riders didn’t get a break as next was Pac challenging New Japan’s and Moxley’s old protege Shota Umino for the IWGP Global Heavyweight title. This is barely two weeks after Umino was attacked by Gabe Kidd at NJPW Dominion on behalf of Moxley and the Death Riders in what many fans believed to be Moxley severing his last ties with Umino. This was also the first match to suffer from a tired crowd after the blitz the first three matches were and, as a result, they were quieter for the opening minutes of the match. Pac and Umino were able to get them back into the action by the second-half of the match as the intensity ramped up, climaxing with Umino hitting a Fisherman’s Buster to retain his freshly-won Global Championship.

MATCH RATING – 4/5

Despite a tired, quieter crowd for the first half of the match, Pac and Umino had them hooked for the closing stretch of the 18 minute match that was one of the last matches announced barely a week before Forbidden Door. The post match hinted that things may not be done between Umino and Moxley, either.

AEW Women’s World Championship – Thekla (c) vs. Starlight Kid

Thekla, the Toxic Spider of AEW, put her Women’s World Title on the line against Stardom’s Sky Tiger, Starlight Kid, in the biggest inter-promotional match on the card. This is due to Thekla’s history in Stardom, where she was known as the Idol Killer and found herself at odds with Stardom President Taro Okada before he eventually fired her, fueling Thekla as she issued a challenge for Stardom’s best to step to her. Starlight Kid would answer the challenge, already holding two victories over Thekla dating back to Thekla’s Stardom days. The Sky Tiger continued to be a challenge for Thekla, though she was keen to show Starlight Kid she was even more dangerous since being fired from Stardom. Thekla and Starlight Kid managed to keep up a brisk pace for the third straight 18 minute match of the evening before Thekla was able to score the pinfall after a spear and two curb stomps to retain the title.

MATCH RATING – 4/5

Yet another brisk, well-paced match that showcased why Thekla was the current AEW Women’s World Champion and why Starlight Kid was one of the top names in Stardom. It appeared hostilities between Thekla and Taro Okada will continue after Thekla ripped Starlight Kid’s mask off before spitting in it and hitting Okada with it. Only time will tell when Stardom takes another run at defeating the Toxic Spider.

AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championship – Cope and Cage (c) vs. The Dogs

The final match before the advertised “triple-main event” pit the tag team champions Adam Copeland and Christian Cage against David Finlay and Clark Connors of The Dogs. This comes after weeks of mockery by the Dogs and brawls between the two teams, all so The Dogs could get their shot at the Men’s World Tag Team titles. The Dogs would spend most of the match targeting Christian Cage due, in part, to Cage still nursing an arm injury, though the veterans would get plenty of chances to remind The Dogs why Cope and Cage are among the best tag teams in history. However, The Dogs would get the upper-hand after the referee was taken out, allowing Finlay to hit Cage with his shillelagh. The lights would then turn off as he took aim at Copeland, only for the Bang Bang Gang to appear at the top of the ramp to herald the long-awaited return of ‘Switchblade’ Jay White after 15 months away due to injury and help Copeland retain the tag titles for himself and Cage.

MATCH RATING – 3.5/5

When this can be considered the “worst match on the card,” it reflects just how good the in-ring product was for the entire show. It was still a very good match, overall, that gave The Dogs another chance to shine on pay-per-view and set up an easy feud to carry The Dogs and Bang Bang Gang until the end of Summer, at least, thanks to White being usurped by Finlay as Bullet Club’s leader and forcing ‘King Switch’ out of New Japan.

Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Finals – Mercedes Mone vs. Maya World

The first of the advertised “triple main event” was the finals of the women’s Owen Hart Cup that saw Mercedes Mone attempting to be the first woman to win back-to-back Owen Hart Cups while Maya World hoped to take her Cinderella Story to Wembley. It has to be said that World suffered a wardrobe malfunction early in the match, resulting in an uneven first few minutes as they tried to get World’s gear problems resolved. She wouldn’t be able to, however, so World and Mone proceeded to just put on what may be AEW’s best women’s match of 2026 so far. Mone’s reputation as one of the best in the world precedes her while, on the other side, World has be heralded as a future star by anyone who has watched her in her three short years as a full-time wrestler. The women left everything in the ring over the course of almost 25 minutes, with World, especially, coming close to scoring her third straight shock win and punch her ticket to Wembley. Unfortunately for her, the veteran Mone would be able to weather the storm and catch the young breakout in a straight-jacket Statement Maker in the middle of the ring for the tapout win.

MATCH RATING – 5/5

In recent years, no “big name” professional wrestler has had such a positive impact on the careers of multiple women around the world. World is the latest to join that list of names, but more than held her own and proved she belonged at the top of the card despite only signing with AEW in December 2025 and could find herself challenging for the Ring of Honor Women’s World Title before long.

Death’s Door Cage Match – Team DCMJF (MJF, Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada, Jake Doyle, Kevin Knight, Andrade) vs. Team Briscoe (Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, Darby Allin, Konosuke Takeshita)

Second was the 12-man steel cage match between Team DCMJF and Team Briscoe, with Mark Briscoe receiving an AEW Men’s World Title shot if his team win. With both teams locked into a specially designed circular cage, it would be a chaotic match with plenty of weapons and plunder put to use over the course of half an hour. Along with tables and whatever other weapons were under the ring, Team Briscoe came armed with backpacks loaded with different weapons to make use of. ‘Blackheart’ Lio Rush would even get in on the action when Okada opened a hockey equipment bag Team Briscoe had pulled out from under the ring. Despite MJF’s team coming out ahead near the end of the match, tensions between the AEW Men’s World Champion and Andrade boiled over after MJF forced Andrade to hold up a limp Briscoe so MJF could punch him with his Dynamite Diamond Ring. Andrade would, instead, push Briscoe to the side and nail MJF with a back elbow, followed by low-blowing Jake Doyle and revealing a shirt tell MJF and Don Callis to “F**k off.” Briscoe would finally hit a Jay Driller on Doyle to get the pin and it was announced shortly after the match that MJF will be defending the AEW Men’s World Title against Briscoe on the next episode of Dynamite.

MATCH RATING – 4.25/5

Helping to break up the two Owen Hart tournament finals, the 12-man steel cage match certainly lived up to expectations. All 12 wrestlers got to show off their athleticism, toughness, and even comedy chops during the 30 minutes of insanity that overtook Forbidden Door 2026 until the mat

Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Finals – Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland

Closing out the evening was Will Ospreay trying to punch his ticket to Wembley in the Owen Hart Men’s Tournament Finals, but standing in his way was his old friend and rival, Swerve Strickland. And at 35:30, it was the longest match on Forbidden Door, but not a minute was wasted by these two professional wrestlers. The match reflected how the two had changed from this time last year heading into All In Texas, leading the charge against the Death Riders and the then-EVP Young Bucks. Since then, Strickland has tapped back into the dangerous side of him that brought him to the AEW Men’s World Title, friendships be damned, while Ospreay has received aid from the very group he fought to defeat at All In last year on his quest to challenging for the World Title at Wembley. Both would leave everything, from sweat to actual pools of blood, in the ring as it seemed like the two were throwing haymakers all match to try and keep the other down. The rest of the Death Riders would eventually come to ringside to cheer on Ospreay, reminding him this was what all the training he has done with the group has been for and no one, not even Strickland, would keep Ospreay from Wembley as the ‘Aerial Assassin’ put his old friend down with the Tiger Driver ’93 to win the match and the Owen.

MATCH RATING – 5/5

In what may go down as one of the greatest main events in AEW history, Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay once again proved why they are now the measuring sticks of AEW alongside the likes of Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, MJF, and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page at the top of the card. Ospreay and Strickland have had career years, respectively, in 2026 for the sheer quality of their matches, so it was no surprise these two produced magic when put back in the ring for their first singles match since Ospreay challenged Strickland for the AEW Men’s World Title at Forbidden Door 2024 and lost. Now, Ospreay has earned his shot at Wembley and looks to be an even more dangerous wrestler this time around thanks to his training with the Death Riders.

OVERALL SHOW RATING – 4.75/5

Despite a weaker build compared to some of their other pay-per-views in 2026, Forbidden Door continued AEW’s hot streak of shows going thanks to one of the strongest in-ring cards the promotion has ever produced. Every match was some degree of good to near-perfection, whether it was the opening “party match” or one of the three potential Match of the Year candidates produced.