Tony Khan promised yet another huge announcement for Dynamite and now a new report has shed light on what it’s likely to be.
AEW Dynamite emanates from Pittsburgh, PA, and will see CM Punk take on Dustin Rhodes, Wardlow get his chance to take his rage out on The Butcher, and hometown hero Dr. Britt Baker DMD compete to take her place in the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
But once again, many wrestling fans are concerned with yet another in a long line of huge announcements promised by Tony Khan.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has reported that Khan’s announcement is likely to be the revelation that AEW is to run a supershow with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The event – potentially dubbed Forbidden Door – is seemingly slated to take place on Sunday, 26th of June, and will take place in the United Center, Chicago – the same building that saw CM Punk make his unforgettable AEW debut.
AEW NJPW Forbidden Door, June 26 at the United Center in Chicago is the hot rumor we mentioned on Reckless Speculation today on https://t.co/jy8u4a7WDa.
I haven't been able to get AEW to confirm as of yet. @thesuperjcast first mentioned the likelihood of an AEW/NJPW show. pic.twitter.com/XD9LJ2Yuas
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 20, 2022
Following the launch of AEW in 2019, a co-promoted event between the Tony Khan-helmed promotion and New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been long-awaited by fans of both companies. A working relationship between the two promotions was established in February 2021, as KENTA made his surprise AEW debut during their Beach Break Dynamite special.
Since then, a multitude of New Japan-signed talent has made their way to All Elite Wrestling, including Tomohiro Ishii, Minoru Suzuki, and Yuji Nagata. In addition, the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship has been defended – and changed hands – on AEW programming, with Lance Archer dethroning Jon Moxley of the title in July 2021.
It was recently revealed that AEW’s primary weekly content – Dynamite and Rampage – will soon be coming to NJPW World in Japan, a deal that New Japan commentator Chris Charlton has confirmed will be exclusive to Japanese users. This will come at no extra cost to current NJPW World subscribers.