AEW Forbidden Door
Image Credit: All Elite Wrestling

AEW Forbidden Door: Review, Grades, Card For August 24

By Matt Black

Our AEW Forbidden Door results for this afternoon include Hangman Page defending the World Championship against MJF, a Lights Out Steel Cage match between the best AEW and New Japan have to offer, Toni Storm defends the Women’s World Championship against Athena, Kazuchika Okada defends the Unified Championship against Swerve Strickland, The Hurt Syndicate defending the World Tag Team Titles against FTR and Brodido in an elimination match, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage will team up once again to face Kip Sabian and Luchasaurus, and so much more!

Tonight’s episode of Dynamite will take place at The O2 in London, England.

AEW Forbidden Door Card

The announced card is as follows:

  • AEW World Championship: Hangman Page (c) vs. MJF
  • Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd, and the Young Bucks
  • AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Athena
  • Tag Team Grudge Match: Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. Kip Sabian and Luchasaurus
  • TNT Championship: Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness
  • AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Persephone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Bozilla
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate (c) vs. FTR vs. Brodido

AEW Forbidden Door: Zero Hour Results:

CRU, Josh Alexander, and Hechicero (w/ Don Callis, Lance Archer, and Rocky Romero) vs. El Desperado, Paragon, and Yuya Uemura

  • The finish of the match saw Yuya Uemura hit Lio Rush with a bridging Deadbolt Suplex to score the pinfall victory for his team.

Winners: El Desperado, Paragon, and Yuya Uemura

Grade: B

This was a fun opener to put on while the crowd is still filing in. There are really no storyline consequences coming out of it, and it was just a good wrestling match. The Don Callis Family aftermath and Tomohiro Ishii spot were, honestly, to be expected. Very on brand.

Ricochet and GOA vs. JetSpeed and Michael Oku (w/ Amira)

  • The finish of the match saw Ricochet hit Michael Oku with the Spirit Gun to score the pinfall victory for his team.

Winners: Ricochet and GOA

Grade: B+

This match was wild! There were a couple of terrifying spots in this match where I thought Michael Oku legitimately hurt himself. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the case. That was a fantastic follow-up to the opening contest, and I hope Zero Hour continues to build from here.

The Triangle of Madness and Megan Bayne (w/ Penelope Ford) vs. Willow Nightingale, Queen Aminata, Harley Cameron, and Kris Statlander

  • The finish of the match saw a miscommunication between Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale, which led to Megan Bayne hitting Harley Cameron with a running Liger Bomb to score the pinfall victory for her team.

Winners: Megan Bayne and the Triangle of Madness

Grade: B+

Very fun women’s match. Unlike the previous matches we’ve seen on this show, I believe this is just another step towards these ladies getting the opportunity to compete in the first women’s Blood & Guts match. The story between Statlander and Willow also continues. I still stand firm in my theory that those two will be the first AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Tony Khan has an announcement

Tony Schiavone brings out Tony Khan, Martha Hart, and Owen’s son Oje. Khan says they broke the attendance record for any pro wrestling event at the O2 today. There really wasn’t much more to this than that.

AEW Trios World Championship: The Opps (c) vs. Bullet Club: Wardogs (w/ Gedo)

  • The finish of the match saw Samoa Joe hit Robbie X with the Muscle Buster to score the pinfall victory for his team.

Winners: And still AEW Trios World Champions, The Opps!

Grade: B+

This match went down to the wire on Zero Hour. This was a great main event for the preshow, and I can’t wait to see what the main show brings us in just a few moments!

AEW Forbidden Door Results:

Bryan Danielson is on commentary to start the show, which explains his absence from Zero Hour.

Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. Kip Sabian and Luchasaurus (Killswitch) (w/ Mother Wayne)

  • The finish of the match saw Adam Copeland hit Kip Sabian with an elevated spear. Christian Cage scored the pinfall victory for his team.

Winners: Adam Copeland and Christian Cage

Grade: B+

This match was about the story of whether both teams could truly trust each other. Cope and Cage had just as many questions as Kip and Luchasaurus. The latter team not being on the same page opened the door for Copeland and Cage to get the win. Now the journey to All Out begins as they will absolutely be in the ring against FTR.

TNT Championship: Kyle Fletcher (c) (w/ Don Callis and Lance Archer) vs. Hiromu Takahashi

  • The winner of the match saw Kyle Fletcher hit Hiromu Takahashi with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster to score the pinfall victory.

Winner: And still AEW TNT Champion, Kyle Fletcher

Grade: A-

Damn good match. I don’t think the winner here was ever in doubt, but the match was very good regardless. I’m not really sure what AEW’s long-term plan is for Fletcher’s TNT Title reign, but it should be an interesting story to follow in the months ahead.

AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Persephone vs. Alex Windsor vs. Bozilla

  • The finish of this match saw Mercedes Moné reverse Persephone’s powerbomb into a sunset flip to score the pinfall victory.

Winner: And still AEW TBS Champion, Mercedes Moné

Grade: A

This match was fantastic. A beautiful contrast of styles between four very talented women. Mercedes escaped with the victory and certainly didn’t come out of this looking like the dominant and definitive winner. This was a big match for Bozilla, who likely just introduced herself to a large part of this audience for the first time. Great stuff all around!

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness (w/ Daniel Garcia)

  • The finish of the match saw Zack Sabre Jr. catch Nigel McGuinness after a series of back-and-forth pinfall attempts to pick up the victory.

Winner: And still IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Zack Sabre Jr.

After the match, Daniel Garcia hugs McGuinness. Shockingly, we got no heel turn this afternoon.

Grade: A-

This was a damn good match. I think my biggest disappointment stems from the fact that it didn’t get another five minutes. These two were doing great work, and I really thought they still had time to take it to another gear, but we never got there. I would love to see a rematch, but not sure that’s in the cards.

A big return!

Backstage, Thekla and Queen Aminata are still brawling from their match on Zero Hour. They take the fight up the aisle, and eventually Skye Blue and Julia Hart join in. This leads to the return of Jamie Hayter, who got some quick revenge on Thekla before Hart and Blue pulled her away to keep the two women separated.

AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate (c) vs. FTR (w/ Big Stoke) vs. Brodido

  • Late in the match, The Hurt Syndicate are jumped by masked men who reveal themselves to be Ricochet and GOA. They are taken out of the arena. The finish of the match saw Brodido hit their flip double-team move on Dax Harwood to score the pinfall victory. Unfortunately, the pinfall finish was botched.

Winners: And NEW AEW World Tag Team Champions, Brodido!

Grade: B+

This match was initially advertised as an elimination match, but clearly something changed. MVP not being out at ringside with Lashley and Benjamin also spoke volumes regarding the recent reports surrounding him this month. Brodido was a fun choice to win this one, which means the match between FTR and Cope and Cage at All Out won’t be for the titles.

AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Swerve Strickland

  • The finish of the match saw Kazuchika Okada hit Swerve Strickland with the Rainmaker to score the pinfall victory.

Winner: And still AEW Unified Champion, Kazuchika Okada

After the match, Okada traps Strickland’s leg in the steel steps and smashes it repeatedly with a steel chair. Prince Nana comes out with a steel pipe to chase Okada away. As Nana checks on Swerve, Wardlow returns through the crowd and attacks Nana and making Swerve watch as he can’t move to save him. It’s confirmed that Wardlow is the newest member of the Don Callis Family. Dissension was teased between Wardlow and Takeshita.

Grade: A-

This was a great match, although I wish it could have been a bit longer. I hate that this is the last we’re gonna be Swerve Strickland for a while. Losing him and Will Ospreay for a certain period of time isn’t a good thing. Getting Wardlow back at the end of this was certainly surprising, however, and I guess he’ll be Strickland’s first opponent when he returns from injury.

AEW Women’s World Championship: “Timeless” Toni Storm (c) vs. Athena (w/ Billie Starkz)

  • The finish of the match saw Toni Storm reverse Athena’s O-Face into the TCM Chicken Wing to score the victory via submission.

Winner: And still AEW Women’s World Champion, Toni Storm!

Grade: A+

This match freaking ruled. I had high expectations going into this one, and I feel they over-delivered. I am practically begging Tony Khan not to relegate Athena back to ROH after this. She BELONGS on AEW programming. This run has solidified that and should erase any doubt that anyone would have about which brand she should be featured on.

AEW World Championship: Hangman Page (c) vs. MJF

  • The finish of the match saw Hangman Page hit MJF with the Buckshot Lariat to score the pinfall victory.

Winner: And still AEW World Champion, Hangman Page!

Grade: A

The overbooked nature of the finish kept this from being an A+ for me. It got a bit too cute for its own good, but nothing is stopping this from being an excellent match. I hate that MJF’s contract is still in play, but at least it wasn’t utilized tonight in a post-match fashion to make the initial match mean less.

Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd, and the Young Bucks

  • The finish of the match saw Hiroshi Tanahashi hit Matt Jackson with a High Fly Flow to score the pinfall victory for his team.

Winners: Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi

Grade: A+

Darby Allin is looked over by the medical team and Kenny Omega at ringside and is helped back to the ring to momentarily celebrate before they leave Will Ospreay alone in the ring to take in this moment with the audience. The Death Riders take this moment to attack and lock the cage and lay Ospreay out with countless Death Riders from Moxley, followed by the chair spot to his neck as AEW Forbidden Door goes off the air.

AEW Forbidden Door Review:

I thought this was a really great show, and they ended things with their three strongest matches, in my opinion. The Light Out Steel Cage match was a spectacle in every sense of the word. While I really enjoyed the show overall, I think my only issues with the show are that a couple of matches could have been given a few more minutes, and most of the results were pretty predictable going in.

Luckily, that didn’t affect my enjoyment of a majority of the matches, and that’s a testament to the talent for making sure the viewer got lost in the matches themselves. AEW heads back stateside this week to Philly for a stay at the 2300 Arena, and that in itself should prove to be very interesting.

Grade: A-

READ MORE: Report: What People In AEW & WWE Are Saying Regarding Chris Jericho’s Future

What did you think of AEW Forbidden Door? What was your favorite match or segment? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

Matt Black
Matt Black

Matt Black has been covering wrestling video games since WWE Warzone from Acclaim. Coverage of wrestling video games eventually lead him into the world of wrestling news. Matt is a fan of every wrestling company and enjoys the current state of the industry in 2024.

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