AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 is right around the corner and features top stars from both promotions going head-to-head, but All Elite Wrestling World Champion, MJF has declared he is going to be one of them.
The June 14th edition of Dynamite, fans saw two huge matches added to the already highly-anticipated event. Heading into the episode only two matches were officially announced for the PPV on Sunday, June 25th – Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay for the IWGP US title and the never-seen-before bout between Kazuchika Okada and Bryan Danielson.
Now is there another major outing confirmed for the show, but one of the participants has stated he’s not interested and may not even turn up.
During AEW’s flagship Wednesday show, The Ace of NJPW Hiroshi Tanahashi appeared via video and laid down a title challenge to the Devil. The 8-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion stated that he came close to claiming All Elite gold last year, and wants another shot.
MJF as long as your the champion that belt won’t shine like it should. Last year at Forbidden Door I came close to beating Jon Moxley for the AEW title. So, this year at Forbidden Door, MJF, face me one-on-one.
MJF Scoffed At Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Challenge And Threatened To No-Show The Event
However, the message was not received well by the champion. Following the video, Renee Paquette revealed to the champ that the match was now official to which he calmly replied:
Yeah. I’m gonna say no to that one acutally.
Yeah, I don’t feel like giving a title shot to some rando from a some rinky-dink indoe promotion in Japan and as far as Tony Khan “booking” me for match-up, er, it wouldn’t be the first time I no-showed somebody booked me for.
So, Tanahashi, no can do bud.
#NJPW's Master of the Century @tanahashi1_100 has challenged #AEW World Heavyweight Champion @The_MJF at #ForbiddenDoor!!! Will #MJF accept?#ForbiddenDoor on Sunday, June 25th LIVE on PPV! #AEWxNJPW@njpwglobalpic.twitter.com/gilKCbCR5p
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 15, 2023
Yet, despite Friedman’s threat of not appearing the match is scheduled to take place. The episode of Dynamite also saw another huge match added to the event. At the time of writing the card is as follows:
- MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – World Championship
- Sanada (c) vs. Jungle Boy Jack Perry – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
- Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay – IWGP United States Championship
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
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