I am not one of those people who holds their nose up at Forbidden Door and think its an unnecessary event. I’m not only happy to see its still on AEW’s calendar, but I’m really happy to see it back in June. Last year’s show taking place in August made sense because All In was in July, but the show coming so soon after the G1 Climax, and the CMLL/Stardom involvement still being minimal, made it hard for the show to feel like Forbidden Door. Moving it back to June this year and strengthening CMLL and Stardom’s presence should go a long way to giving Forbidden Door the feel of a massive, cross promotional event.

Of course, the onus now is on AEW and New Japan to deliver it, something I feel they haven’t done with the last two Forbidden Doors. Don’t get me wrong; both the 2024 and 2025 incarnations of the event were very good, maybe even great, but they didn’t have the same feel as 2022 and 2023, especially when the 2024 show was headlined by an all-AEW event and much of the 2025 show felt like AEW vs. AEW matches. I can see that on any other AEW PPV; I shouldn’t be seeing it at Forbidden Door. So if I’m AEW, New Japan, CMLL, and Stardom, I’m looking to rectify that this year. Forbidden 2026 shouldn’t follow the same template as 2024 and 2025, but instead should look to capture the spirit of Forbidden Door 2022 and 2023, and make this feel like a true cross promotional extravaganza.