In the build-up to the inaugural Forbidden Door event came immeasurable disappointment in the injury-forced postponement of the dream match between Bryan Danielson and Zack Sabre Jr., but as promised a replacement would be put forward, and he would need to be quite the name to turn that bitter taste sweet. 

The debut of Claudio Castagnoli did that and a little bit more, with what very easily could have been a squash and a surprise for the segment being given the time to actually breathe for itself, putting forward an entirely alternative dream match that opened up the next chapter for the man formerly known as Cesaro. It should go without saying at this point, but Castagnoli is one of the most reliable high-quality wrestlers with a genuine sense of aura and charisma in the sport; Sabre Jr. is perhaps one of the best grapplers in professional wrestling today (and also three years ago). So they were bound to have a good match, in fact they were bound to and wound up having a great match comprised of their respective styles clashing in a genuinely organic way. 

It was wrestling in its rawest form, no melodrama, just a contest of participants. I am cognizant of those who do not like the ‘Pure’ style, but it’s a good thing there’s more than one flavor being sold. This flavor is my flavor, it was three years ago, and it was on the re-watch, and that’s the thing. For someone like me, this is a match that can be watched at any time, something to stand on its own as a bout in an athlete’s career rather than a story with months of weekly lore or, per the wrestling custom, lackluster cut and paste segments. 

More importantly, on an AEW x NJPW show this was one of the rare matches that actually leaned into the latter promotion’s signature style more than anything, and if one thing can be said of AEW, it’s that they will have great matches that follow the exact same beats and that can be progressively jarring, so whenever something feels different there is this inherent gravitation towards it. 

Lastly, on a show that featured the inaugural All-Atlantic Championship inauguration, a title since renamed to the International title, the American title, the International title again, and then unified with the Continental title to make the Unified Championship, in a match that pitted now-WWE stars Miro and Malakai Black (Rusev and Aleister Black, respectively) against Clark Connors and PAC, Castagnoli and Sabre Jr.’s presence has continued to be felt in AEW up until now. Like it not, Castagnoli is featured every week as part of the company’s top faction, he has held AEW Trios and ROH gold, and can be consistently relied on to deliver a great match. That makes it a good business decision as well. There is quite literally nothing negative that could be said about this moment in time, although I will leave that to someone else to try.

Written by Max Everett