AEW Forbidden Door 2025: Stacked Card… But Is the Concept Broken? | Full Look Ahead - video Dailymotion

Peter Klein

AEW Forbidden Door 2025 is here — and while the match card looks incredible with bouts like MJF vs Hangman Adam Page, Zack Sabre Jr. vs Nigel McGuinness, and Kyle Fletcher vs Hiromu Takahashi, the big question remains: has the Forbidden Door concept run its course?  In this video, Peter Klein, an MMA/WWE analyst with a 15-year track record takes a smart look at AEW’s latest Forbidden Door PPV, breaking down the strengths of the lineup and why, despite some dream matches, the timing and execution of the concept feel off in 2025. From New Japan’s struggles, to the lack of true “special attraction” crossover matches, to how AEW could fix Forbidden Door going forward, this is a thoughtful dive into one of wrestling’s most unique shows.  If you enjoy smart wrestling talk without hot takes, subscribe for more AEW, WWE, NJPW, and pro wrestling analysis here on Couch Potato Diary — plus wrestling-only content on Living Room Lariat.  📌 Follow for more wrestling content: 🎧 Living Room Lariat (Podcast): Available on Spotify & Apple 📺 Couch Potato Diary: Pro Wrestling, NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA & more  #AEW #ForbiddenDoor #AEWForbiddenDoor #AEW2025 #MJF #HangmanAdamPage #ZackSabreJr #NigelMcGuinness #HiromuTakahashi #KyleFletcher #ProWrestling #njpw   🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q  💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk  | Kick.com/primetimepk  🔗 Support the Show:   - Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)   - Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!

Transcript

00:00And once again, we have a counter-programmed weekend in pro wrestling because we get to deal

00:08with a counter-program at WWE with a show that's a little lame against AEW with a concept that

00:17feels like it's kind of dying. So let's talk about a bit of an underwhelming weekend, but still

00:23a head-to-head battle nonetheless. We will start with the AEW side as they go through the forbidden

00:28door once again this weekend.

00:41So we have another fun-filled weekend in professional wrestling as NXT, the mid card, goes up against

00:50AEW with a concept that when it started was groundbreaking and now just kind of feels like

00:55it's hit the ground. Let's take a look at AEW's forbidden door. When you look at it, this card

01:02is cool. Like this is a good card, right? Like you have Hangman against MJF, Blood Feud for the title

01:10at the top, love that. Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGuinness, dream match, love it. But you go on

01:18through, the build for this has felt like just an AEW show, right? Like the timing of it is weird

01:27because it's coming off of the G1. So just by definition, all of the big guys in New Japan

01:34have just wrapped up the most rigorous part of their schedule with the G1 tournament. And now a

01:41week later, we're going to be going to a pay-per-view. So you're not like, A, you can't even do the taped

01:46whatever and have whoever saying, all right, I'm coming for you, whatever. Because you don't want

01:52to give away anything that's happening in the G1. And so if Wrestler X is all of a sudden challenging

01:58for this thing, then maybe that gives away a position or two. And they're focusing right now,

02:02focusing all their attention onto the G1 and trying to mix and match that incredibly difficult math

02:08piece together. So the timing of it is very weird. And you are also doing it at a time where New

02:14Japan's popularity is about as low as it's been in a really long time. And I know that there are some

02:20very hardened New Japan supporters out there. And again, the message of this show has always been

02:26support what you like. And I love staying up at two in the morning watching Japanese wrestling.

02:32There are a lot of talented performers on those shows that I like, but creatively,

02:36it's not an awesome spot right now. There isn't a whole lot of buzz going on at this particular

02:41time. So like, it's just, it has, it's weird timing. And then to Conrad's point, the other

02:46aspect of it, one of the reasons New Japan is in a bit of a load right now is because AEW keeps taking

02:51all the guys. Like at first, this was a really interesting concept because what was it? It was

02:57Okada coming to the States. It was Will Ospreay getting on television in North America for a

03:04pay-per-view cycle. It was those guys getting these opportunities. Now, Okada's on TV calling

03:10someone a bitch every week. Will Ospreay is here every week doing his thing until he's hurt and

03:18then not. But you know what I mean? Like he, these are regular contributors now. So there isn't that

03:23like, oh my gosh, sort of a thing at the top of the, the card right now. And like G1, the winners

03:31from AEW. So there isn't that like a New Japan guy that's like, okay, he, here, here we go. You got

03:38this one. I do like that. They've got creative with it a little bit with a couple of dream matches,

03:44not necessarily of the like, oh my gosh, this is, we're getting Okada Omega because these two

03:50companies can now put the matches together. It's Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGinnis,

03:55just a combination you never thought you'd get for the IWGP world title. I love the utilization of

04:00Hiromu here against Kyle Fletcher for the TNT championship. I think that's a lot of fun. And I

04:07think Hiromu is criminally underutilized right now. I, for the life of me, don't understand how Hiromu

04:14and El Desperado are not just in the heavyweight division now and letting younger stars, um, get

04:20their thing going in the junior heavyweight ranks and breathe some desperately needed life into the

04:28heavyweight division right now in New Japan. So you have that. Um, and then like, honestly,

04:34coming off of the show in Mexico city, I think of the forbidden doors that you can cross into

04:42the CMLL one is the more interesting one right now. Um, you have MJF going over there. He took

04:48Mystico's mask again, um, and just put the American flag over top of him. You have a lot of intriguing

04:54luchadors who were involved in that show grand slam in Mexico city. That's, that's the dream match

05:01thing that I'm more interested in. And the story is being built that I'm more interested in than this

05:06that is happening where Tanahashi is coming over to be in a tag team match. Like that, it's just,

05:13I, I feel like it was awesome at first. It was an awesome concept at first. And as we have gone on,

05:20like this, sorry, uh, someone at New Japan trying to cut me off. Um, this feels just like a, an AEW show

05:30featuring a couple cameos from New Japan people, right? So like, I just, I don't,

05:37the, the concept doesn't do anything for me at this point. And I think if AEW is committed to this,

05:42we've talked about it before. There's a way to do this. There is a way to have, um,

05:48CMLL and New Japan all come together in this whole thing and have this actually feel special,

05:56but it kind of involves AEW being a better teammate than they've been, quite frankly,

06:01instead of just, okay, and we will take you and we will take you and we will take you. And by the

06:05way, our guy's going to go over there and win the G1. Um, I love that he got the opportunity to go over

06:09there and do that. And I love that he is doing it. I want them to feature it heavily on AEW

06:14television now and have him be like this guy who almost like an NWO thing where he is going to come

06:21in and try to just kill New Japan and all of this, although they already have a, you know,

06:25house of torture and all those things, but like to turn this into an actual thing and try to elevate

06:29anyone on the, the New Japan side to any kind of a main event status. And I think if you were to do

06:37that and have had Takeshita just be this monster, like Conrad is saying, and be this dominant

06:42character, have Yodosuji, who I understand got hurt. Um, Shota Umino, uh, maybe not the time right

06:49now, but still like have one of those young guys be, you know what? I'm standing up for the heart and

06:54soul of New Japan. And I'm going to be the one to take that from you. I get you're the,

06:58the, the G1, uh, winner, but you are not taking the IWGP world heavyweight championship with you.

07:03You just, we are keeping that here. That is ours. The days of you AEW stealing from us are over. Um,

07:10I think there's a way to do that still and have it be very effective, but like there are so many

07:15talents in AEW that are underutilized right now. I would love for a couple of them to go to,

07:20uh, to, to New Japan for a cycle, a couple go to CMLL for a cycle, a couple CMLL come here. Like

07:26you just, you can bounce around and keep everything fresh, but right now it is very AEW heavy and it

07:33doesn't bet like it, it kind of benefits AEW because having, um, Takeshita win is kind of neat, but

07:39then you do, you, you still do things like this and it's not like, this is an AEW pay-per-view and

07:46it's cool that Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGinnis is happening. I, I, I have zero doubts

07:52of how that match is going to go. Same thing with Kyle Fletcher against, um, Hiromu. I don't,

07:57I don't think that they built up Kyle Fletcher and had him stab a screwdriver through the leg of

08:03Dustin Rhodes to have him lose to Hiromu in England. So I, I just, the concept to me, I think has kind of

08:10run its course a little bit, unless you are going to do it dramatically differently going

08:16forward. Uh, Conrad in the chat, is ELP on the card? He is not, uh, to the best of my knowledge

08:20right now, um, El Phantasmo not featured on the card. This is what we have so far according to

08:24Wikipedia. Uh, Golden Lovers, Darby Allen, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Will Ospreay against Claudio Mox and

08:30Gabe Kidd of the Deathriders and, uh, the Young Bucks. You have the Hurt Syndicate against the

08:35Eliminator Tournament winners. Um, Okada against Swerve for the frustratingly named Unified title.

08:43Um, you have Toni Storm against Athena for the Women's World Championship. Mercedes Monet against

08:48Alex Windsor against, uh, Persephone from CMLL and against a stardom rep to be determined, I suppose,

08:55um, for the TNT Championship. Cope and Cage against Kip Sabian and Nick Wayne in just a tag match.

09:01And then, the aforementioned, Kyle Fletcher against Hiromu Takahashi for the AEW TNT Championship.

09:07Um, Zack Sabre Jr. against Nigel McGinnis for the IWGP World Heavyweight title. And Hangman Adam

09:11Page against MJF for the AEW World Championship. So, we'll talk about this one throughout the week.

09:18Match-wise, like, this is gonna be great, still. Right? Like, this is gonna be a good card. And,

09:22honestly, like, I feel bad shitting on it, because it's just, it's, again, a guy who talks about WWE

09:26also shitting on AEW. Um, but, it's been a pretty well-built card. It's just the concept that I think

09:35has kind of frustrated me, uh, a little bit now, going forward. But we're gonna have a lot more

09:39Forbidden Door coverage throughout the week here on Couch Potato Diary, and on, uh, it's come up a

09:45couple of times, uh, Living Room Lariat, the new wrestling podcast from Couch Potato Diary. If you come

09:50here just for the wrestling, um, that is where all the wrestling content lives. It's still pieced in

09:56on Couch Potato Diary, of course, but if you don't want to sit through the football and the UFC and all

10:01that other stuff, and you just want the wrestling, Living Room Lariat is where it is at. Uh, again,

10:06you can subscribe to this one on Spotify, as well as on Apple Podcasts. Um, not only is there the stuff

10:13from Couch Potato just over there, uh, there's also gonna be original stuff that doesn't make it onto

10:17the flagship podcast, uh, that we will still do here on the live streams. So, uh, check that out

10:22over, uh, wherever you get your podcasts.

AEW Forbidden Door 2025: Stacked Card… But Is the Concept Broken? | Full Look Ahead

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