Forbidden Door 2026
Back to back
Well gang, I just finished the Night Of Champions pitches and I am rolling right into this one. Let’s start with a bonus pitch - maybe don’t have this PPV go until 1am. Like damn man, it’s Sunday. I get that the event is in California and I am on the west coast and maybe the world doesn’t revolve around me… but damn man, put it on Saturday if you are going to go so late. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Alright anyways, let’s get to it!
Thekla vs Starlight Kid
(For the AEW Women’s World Championship)
I picked Starlight Kid as the winner for my predictions Instagram post - and I am doubling down on it with this pitch. The build to this match has been the story of Thekla being relentlessly disrespectful towards Stardom, examples being spitting on the Stardom logo and bragging via graphic t-shirts that she has been banned from all of Japan (yeah, okay Logan). I think Thekla Paul needs to pay! So the pitch is Starlight Kid wins the AEW Women’s World Championship. This could be the biggest shock of the night and looking at the card, it’s really the only match that could pull it off. I think PAC beating Shota Umino would be awesome, but I wouldn’t find it necessarily shocking.
From here, Thekla becomes desperate to get her championship back - except she literally can’t. Starlight Kid brings the championship to Japan - where Thekla is BANNED! Going from bragging about it, to it becoming her personal hurdle is interesting karma. I would have The Sister of Sins go to Stardom in attempts to get it back but both fail. Ultimately leading to Thekla finally making a shock invasion in the promotion to attack Starlight Kidd. Or if Stardom wanted to run a show in the United States, Thekla vs Starlight Kidd II would be a great selling point for the American audience.
Will Ospreay vs Swerve Strickland
(Men’s Owen Hart Finals)
Ospreay vs Strickland is a perfect match up. The styles, the energy, the characters - they both blend so well to create such a dynamic rivalry. But for this battle in their many wars, I pitch for Ospreay to win. And he wins in brutal fashion, showing the lessons he has learned from his time with the Deathriders. The commentary team really put over the fact that Ospreay has gone full ‘Deathrider’ with this victory. The fallout of this win creates a few dynamics for later pitches (more on that later!), but for now - Ospreay announces that he is cashing in his earned title opportunity not at AEW Redemption, but for the main event of All In in London.
As for Swerve Strickland, he becomes a “bounty hunter” type character, similar to vignettes against Bandido when he returned a few months back. Those cowboyesque vignettes of Strickland holding a wanted poster of Bandido made for great imagery, and I find it to be an interesting direction for his character to explore. I would also love to see Strickland get his own stable, even if its just two guys. Having some newer faces alongside Strickland would be beneficial to the younger talent to learn, while also giving Strickland a fresh paint in on screen presentation.
Jon Moxley vs Bandido
(For the AEW Continental Championshp)
Bandido has been nothing short than amazing every time he gets an opportunity to be showcased. As the reigning Ring Of Honor World Champion, he deserves more respect on AEW television - a sentiment I have expressed before. Another sentiment I have expressed before is I HATE the concept of this belt being defended outside of the Continental Classic. It’s like, what is the point of winning a full tournament if I can just wait till it's over and get my one on one shot for the strap? I seem to be the only one bothered by this. With that being said, I am willing to overlook this peeve of mine in favor of a Bandido victory.
As for Moxley, how does he deal with losing this championship, while his protege in Will Ospreay wins the Men’s Owen Hart Cup and the opportunity to fight for the AEW World Championship? How does the rest of the Deathriders react to their leader falling while the newest member ascends in power? As tensions rise, do allegiances change from Moxley to Ospreay - or will the new member be ousted, seemingly as quickly as he joined. I think this is an intriguing route to go down and as mentioned earlier, Ospreay needs a match at AEW Redemption before heading to All In. I pitch Ospreay vs Moxley, with all this tension boiling over towards this match.
Team Briscoe vs MJF and The Don Callis Family
This match has a stipulation where if Team Briscoe wins, Mark Briscoe gets a shot for the AEW World Championship against MJF. Personally, I am not a big fan of stipulations like this because I feel like it telegraphs the winner too hard. I get that it is ‘something on the line’ to give this match some stakes, but it’s not like the stakes are high for BOTH men. MJF has to defend his belt at some point anyways, why would he care if he has to put it on the line against a guy he has beaten already? Clearly I am overthinking it, but lets go in a different direction.
Andrade gets the win for MJFs team, subverting expectations of the Briscoe win and the rumored betrayal by Andrade of The Don Callis Family. With Andrade putting the nail in the coffin for Briscoe, he demands that is he is next in line for the AEW World Championship - only for MJF to dismiss him. This actually draws the ire of Don Callis and his entire family, who feel they are owed something. This leads to MJF reluctantly giving Andrade his shot at AEW Redemption.
And there it is
I got some content to make for the Instagram account for this week, I have been trying to back log some stuff so I can post more regularly instead of making a post on the spot like I usually do. Ya boy just completely sends it, but its time for ya boy to go from hunter to gather. Can you tell I smoked some weed before writing this outro? Famous last words but I will aim to drop a Verdict Club for next week since there are no PLEs booked. I wrote a fantasy booking for a past storyline, but I’m not a huge fan of my narrative structure of that series. Fuck it though, ya boy just send its
Until next time!