FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 is less than a week away, and it has been a wild road getting there! CM Punk returned to the fold for the premiere of AEW COLLISION last Saturday night with plenty to say, and plenty of fight in his main event trios victory alongside FTR. On top of that Buddy Matthews and Andrade El Idolo had a tremendous physical fight that took the measure of both men, but left Andrade in a heap at The House of Black's feet despite being victorious. Luchasaurus was crowned new TNT Champion, Miro made a tremendous return crushing Tony Nese, and Skye Blue picked up the pin on Ruby Soho to claim victory for her team.
That brings us to this Wednesday night at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL for the final DYNAMITE before Sunday's pay-per-view extravaganza, and what a stacked night it will be in the Windy City! The TBS Championship will be at stake, the AEW International Champion and ROH Pure Champion will unite to battle the NJPW World TV Champion and a former ROH Pure Champion, plus Minoru Suzuki will be on-hand to team with Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara in trios action! And that's not all, Mark Briscoe and Jeff Jarrett will have a Concession Stand Brawl of their own in honor of the legendary Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl that went down in 1979 and The Gunns will battle The Hardys in a fight of brother tag teams!
The fights begin at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, and you must visit the official AEW YouTube channel beforehand to catch-up with highlights from last week's episodes DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as this week's editions of ROAD TO, THE CONTROL CENTER, and more!
TBS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
Kris Statlander(c) vs. Taya Valkyrie
At DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, Taya Valkyrie was on the cusp of being the one to knock Jade Cargill off her perch as TBS Champion, as well as end her 60-match unbeaten streak, but somehow the defending champion found a way to escape that fight with championship intact.
Then it all unraveled; “Smart” Mark Sterling had to run his mouth about Cargill taking on any challengers, even in that moment right after the bout with Taya, only to have Kris Statlander make a triumphant return to action to not only be the one to hand Jade her first “L”, but to also become the 2nd ever TBS Champion!
It was a wonderful night for Statlander who, after suffering through a grueling recovery from injury, achieved a moment that made all the hard work, the mental toll, and the physical rehab worth the struggle. But of course, given the nature of the moment and how it came right after Taya's failed bid, some began to question the validity of Kris' victory, Valkyrie herself primarily among those doubters.
It doesn't matter to Taya that Statlander jumped straight into the fire as a defending champion, putting the belt on the line against Nyla Rose just a few days after DON '23, subsequently defending it on both nights of the HOUSE RULES tour in Huntsville and Tupelo, and then again on DYNAMITE against Anna Jay A.S., all Valkyrie saw was Statlander overshadowing a moment that should've been hers. It is somewhat understandable, after all Taya failed twice in trying to dethrone Jade, while Statlander did it on her first shot, but Taya just sees it as a moment stolen from her.
So being the kind of champion she's rapidly proven to be, Kris Statlander is game to give Taya the opportunity to take another stab at becoming TBS Champion this Wednesday night in Chicago at the Wintrust Arena! The last time Statlander fought inside this building was REVOLUTION 2020 when, while struggling with a nasty flu, she unsuccessfully challenged Nyla Rose for the AEW Women's World Title. Will Taya Valkyrie be able to make it 0-2 in the Wintrust for Statlander, or will the defending champion make it five successful defenses in 25 days?
TAG TEAM BOUT...
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. & Daniel Garcia
With FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 just four days away, there are four men right here all potentially engaged in the pay-per-view fracas! Last year, Orange Cassidy failed in his challenge against Will Ospreay over the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, which in turn brought Katsuyori Shibata out to the ring in the aftermath. Last year Zack Sabre Jr., originally slated to battle Bryan Danielson, was the man who ended up welcoming Claudio Castagnoli but ultimately fell to the Swiss Superman. Daniel Garcia did not compete on the show, and was still a few months shy of claiming the ROH Pure championship, and finally, last year's event also marked the birth of the AEW International Champion, or rather its predecessor in the All-Atlantic Championship, when PAC defeated Malakai Black, Miro, and Clark Connors to become the inaugural champ.
Fast forward one year, Zack Sabre Jr. is the one in possession of a brand-new championship that only came into existence earlier this year, while Orange Cassidy is now the AEW International Champion, and for that matter, with 24 defenses the most successful active champion in All Elite Wrestling, as well as the longest reigning recognized active title holder. Katsuyori Shibata is now the reigning ROH Pure Champion after dethroning Wheeler Yuta, the man who ended Garcia's run with the belt, and Garcia is now in pursuit of reclaiming the ROH Pure Title and being the one to end Cassidy's run after failing back in Detroit a month ago.
Take all that, throw it into a blender, and we've got this wild tag team match coming to the fans this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE! Shibata and Cassidy unite to take on Garcia and ZSJ with all sides looking to get an advantage prior to FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 on Sunday night. We already know that ZSJ has challenged Cassidy to an AEW International Championship match on Sunday, will Garcia get the shot at Shibata he craves that night as well? And given his overall physical condition, is it wise of OC to get into the ring with Zack Sabre Jr., or Garcia for that matter, so close to his 25th championship defense?
THE BEST BROTHERS...
The Hardys (Jeff & Matt)vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten)
As former AEW World Tag Team Champions, it can be argued The Gunns at least earned some of the ego they carry around All Elite Wrestling. They share that accolade with teams like The Young Bucks, FTR, SCU, and The Acclaimed, and thus its a bit of rarified air, but the sheer level of arrogance that oozes out of Austin and Colten goes far beyond that claim to fame. They've got to be sure to poke the bear with everyone, be it oddly helping Jay White against Ricky Starks, or picking on The Hardys, initially at the behest of “All Ego” Ethan Page, and now claiming they are the best brother tag team in AEW.
Well now Austin and Colten have an opportunity to prove their claims to be the best when they take on Matt and Jeff in a tag team tussle on DYNAMITE! The Hardys are just getting back into the swing of things as a tag team, but they've got decades of experience on the Gunn boys and plenty of lessons to teach these kids. But one thing The Hardys might want to keep in mind: if The Gunns did a favor for BULLET CLUB GOLD, is there potentially one owed in return?
CONCESSION STAND BRAWL...
Mark Briscoe vs. Jeff Jarrett
It's been 44 years, June 15, 1979 to be exact, since Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee faced The Blonde Bombers of Jerry Latham and Wayne Ferris in a match that would come to be known as the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl after it got carried away into the concession area, and has lived on in the annals of pro wrestling history ever since. As Jeff Jarrett stated in the ROAD TO... edition for this Wednesday, it may have been the first, but it wasn't the last, and Jarrett experienced one himself earlier in his career.
And it looks like he aims to bring it back to the forefront this Wednesday night at Chicago's Wintrust Arena at the expense of Mark Briscoe! Clearly Jay Lethal and his contingent are accepting no responsibility for the woes that have befallen them as of late, choosing instead to place all the blame on the head of Mark Briscoe, and stating their desire to sever that metaphorical chicken head!
Jarrett apparently thinks the way to accomplish that feat is to dip back into the history of pro wrestling, and pull Mark Briscoe along with him, right into a Concession Stand Brawl! Jeff, being the cagey veteran of nearly 40 years, may think he's got the upper hand on Mark in this (or any) wrestling situation, but clearly he hasn't seen enough tape of what Mark has been through in his pro wrestling career. He's been wrapped in barbed wire, nearly broken his own neck doing a Shooting Star Press to the floor, Cage Matches, Dog Collar Matches, wild Street Fights, and even had his teeth knocked out by his own brother Jay with a chair! There isn't anything Jeff can throw at Mark that he hasn't seen before, but with the additions of Sonjay, Satnam, and Lethal, there is a whole lot for Chicken to have to contend with in this wild scenario.
And with any veil of friendship effectively torn up by Lethal, there's no reason for Jay to hesitate in helping his man Jeff do whatever it takes to defeat Mark Briscoe. Can Mark make it through this Concession Stand Brawl intact knowing that the odds are not in his favor, or will Double J dip deep into that bag of tricks to get one up on Chicken?
TRIOS MATCH...
Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki, & Sammy Guevara vs. Action Andretti, AR Fox, & Darius Martin
At last year's FORBIDDEN DOOR event, Chris Jericho teamed up with Minoru Suzuki and Sammy Guevera to take defeat Eddie Kingston, Shota Umino, and Wheeler Yuta in trios action, and it looks like history is repeating itself to some degree! With the 2023 event just a few days away, Jericho and Guevara will unite with Minoru Suzuki once more for some trios competition, only this time on DYNAMITE, and with the relationship between Jericho and Guevara likely a bit strained after last week's incident with Sting and Darby Allin.
As for their foes this week, Action Andretti, AR Fox, and Darius Martin are fresh off losing to The Mogul Embassy for the ROH World Six-Man Championship on Honor Club (www.watchroh.com), and are hoping to rebound in a big way with an upset victory here. It wouldn't be the first time Action Andretti pulled one of those on Jericho, so we could see history repeat itself in that way too!
With everything Darby said to Sammy Guevara looming overhead, can Le Sex Gods maintain cohesion between the two of them, much less with a third party? Or will their high-flying foes take advantage of that dissension to score a victory?
A DRAW...
Adam Cole took the measure of MJF last Wednesday night in their AEW World Championship Eliminator match, and found the champion wanting. For the first time in either man's AEW career, they went to a draw with neither able to beat the other after thirty minutes, and although he did go 60 with Bryan Danielson just a few months ago at REVOLUTION 2023, MJF chose to take the draw rather than go any longer with Adam Cole.
What that meant was that while MJF didn't beat Adam Cole, neither did Cole beat Max, so no AEW World Championship would be in the future of the 2022 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winner. So with that in mind, we will hear from Adam Cole this Wednesday night in Chicago, his first comments since failing to earn the title shot in Washington D.C!
THE MAD KING HAS RETURNED!
This Wednesday AEW returns to the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL with less than a week to go before AEW and NJPW present FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 live on pay-per-view! We've got a Concession Stand brawl, a TBS Championship bout, Minoru Suzuki, Shibata & Orange Cassidy teaming up, a Blind Eliminator Tournament for an AEW World Tag Title match, and so much more! The night kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so make a point to visit the official AEW YouTube channel prior to showtime to catch DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and now COLLISION highlights, as well as this week's editions of ROAD TO, THE CONTROL CENTER, and much more!