[7.0] "This was a very enjoyable show for the most part, i was excited to watch it and i would say it didnt disappoint, some banger matches here the 2 4 ways, the fun 3 way tag, the 6 man tag with the elite v dudes with attitudes. a few not so great ones the mainevent and the Women';s championship match. overall a good show"
[6.0] "The good news for all AEW fans is that this is a much better show than Double or Nothing a few weeks earlier. This is mainly due to the fact that there is not a single complete failure in the matches, only between Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm it doesn't click at all to my surprise. My MOTN is actually Castagnoli's bout against Sabre, because it's quite well-rounded and very decently performed. The rest of the show is on a pretty consistent level, the action is often perfectly fine, but they don't really want to weaken anyone in this cross-promotional event. With a running time of almost four hours, it's also quite a long show, but you get adequate entertainment for the time invested. That's all very acceptable."
[10.0] "One of the best PPVs of all time. The crowd really helped boost an already incredible card to an all timer! One of the best openers to an AEW PPV followed by a great tag match. The All-Atlantic title 4 way was a huge surprise with a great ending. Next came a really fun trios match with some great comedic spots. The womens match followed and also surprised as I'm not the biggest Rosa fan although it was definitely the worst match on the card. I had high expectations for Ospreay Vs OC and was not disappointed! Claudio Vs ZSJ was also fantastic with some great technical and physical wrestling from the pair. The 4 way was good with an unfortunately abrupt ending and the main event while slightly overrated was still great. All round fantastic show."
[9.0] "Easily the finest PPV AEW have put on up to this point and maybe my favourite AEW show full stop. Only one real disappointment here, Rosa and Storm are so talented and the booking let them down, also didnt enjoy the Ospreay/Cassidy match but thats more down to their styles not really being my thing in the first place. Everything else though? Pretty great. Mox/Tanahashi is an all time fav, Claudio/ZSJ is up there too, and theres a surprising amount of super fun multi man matches that actually make sense and feel like fights rather than choreographed sequences. I wish all wrestling was this good."
[7.0] "Theres one really great match on the event which claudio vs Zack sabre Jr but it seemed like most the matches, especially the last 2 looked like they were going to be a lot better than what we got, with the 4 way in particular being good but never close to great. Awesome three matches to start the show but it seemed after that the show dragged a bit"
[8.0] "Sicherlich ein guter PPV, der allerdings längst nicht alles aus dem NJPW-AEW Crossover rausholt. Erstmal sind nur 4 von 9 Matches 1 vs 1. Dass man ausgerechnet dieses Charakteristikum von NJPW in eine Show, die ansonsten gänzlich dem AEW-Stil folgt, übernimmt ist deplatziert und mindestens beim IWGP Titel auch schlechtes Booking. Das beste Match war der Main Event, dicht gefolgt von Orange vs Ospreay."
[10.0] "The opener was amazing, everybody looked great and fantastic in-ring action. The three way tag team match wasn't very good in the first part but the action got way better in the second one and the match ended up being really good. The four way for the All-Atlantic title was a bit boring in the first half but Miro got speared through a table the action got better, especially because of a great Clark Connors perfomance. Dudes with Attitudes vs. Bullet Club was my match of the night: a funny, stupid and amazing pro wrestling match that I loved for every second it lasted. Rosa vs. Storm was satisfactory but could've been better with a proper ending and more time. Ospreay vs. Cassidy was another fantastic match with two amazing perfomances by both men and an incredible crescendo towards the end. Sabre Jr. vs. Castagnoli and the four way match for Iwgp World title were very solid matches, especially Claudio vs. ZSJ. Moxley vs. Tanahashi was a great main event, nothing incredible but a really, really good match. Overall: an incredible show, all the maches were fire and this is one of the best shows in the last years"
[9.0] "An historic event between the two promotions, that exceeded expectations in spite of injuries on both sides depriving us of some dream matches. Ospreay vs Cassidy was easily the MOTN on a card that consistenly delivered."
[10.0] "I thought it was a fantastic show with some great matches the best being the aew world title match, claudio vs zack was great will osprey vs orange cassidy was a great match and overall almost every match was really good there was only a couple that wasn't the greatest the only thing this show suffered from was having a bunch of people injured."
[7.0] "An enjoyable show but not one I see the show of the year reception for and Id have it below Revolution for AEWs best PPV of 2022. Mostly entertaining matches and the show did overachieve considering all of the issues heading into it but for a show to be called show of the year to me, I personally see more emotional stakes and a higher ceiling for matches that most of the matches on this show did not quite reach. Thats not to say the show was bad as it was consistent and enjoyable throughout but I didnt feel that anything necessarily stood out more beyond the rest aside from Orange/Will and the Shingo tag. Moxley also looked great against Tanahashi. While Forbidden Door 2023 had some lower lows, I also felt it had higher highs and was a more strongly paced show. This one was still entertaining though and did well considering all of the circumstances that the show was dealt in the build up."
[8.0] "Ein PPV mit sehr guten Matches, aber auch mit einigen Makeln, die ich nicht übersehen konnte. Der Opener war sehr gut, nur vielleicht ein paar Minuten zu lang. Das Three Way Tag Title Match war auch gut, aber ich konnte mir keinen Reim auf die Verletzung von Dax machen und ob sie kayfabe war oder nicht. Am Ende spielte sie nämlich so gar keine Rolle. Als nächstes wunderte ich mich, dass Hiromu nicht dabei war. Aber wie schon so oft angemerkt: AEW findet anscheinend zu einem guten Prozentsatz auf Twitter statt. Trotzdem hätte man erklären müssen, warum er nicht dabei ist und wenn es nur für Leute wie mich ist, die nicht auf Social Media sind. Der nächste größere Moment war für mich dann der Überraschungsauftritt von Shibata. Damit hat man wirklich nochmal eine wahrhaftigen Schocker aus dem Hut gezaubert. Claudio-ZSJ war im Grunde genau das, was ich erwartet hatte. Vom Four Way Match war ich enttäuscht. Ich hatte im Vorfeld schon wenig für die Idee eines Four Ways übrig und so richtig abgeholt hat es mich hier auch nicht. Es gab ein paar coole Transitions, aber speziell das Finish mit dem plötzlichen Pin von White gegen Cole wirkte sehr seltsam und alles in allem hat es mich nicht überzeugt. Tanahashi-Moxley war dann nochmal gut, auch wenn ich mal wieder den Blade Job kritisieren muss, der hier zu 0% zu irgendeiner Dramatik beigetragen hat, sondern stattdessen wie Selbstzweck wirkt. Auch fand ich den Abschlussangle deplatziert. Der Moment zwischen Moxley und Tanahashi, der möglicherweise so bald nicht wiederkommt, wird durch irgendeinen random Beatdown zwischen Jerichos Gruppierung und dessen Gegnern unterbrochen, nur um damit Dynamite am kommenden Donnerstag zu promoten. Das wirkt einfach nur wie ADHS-Booking. Immer muss noch etwas und noch etwas folgen und man kann nie den Moment als solchen stehen und wirken lassen. Aus diesem Grund war es für mich bei Weitem keine perfekte Show. Das In Ring ist in weiten Teilen wirklich gut, aber viele Feinheiten hätten wesentlich besser laufen können."
"Had never seen Shota Umino work before, but my god, Shooter has a very bright future in NJPW. Four-way for the All-Atlantic was exactly what it needed to be and shout out to Clark Conners for stepping in for an injury, but he had a great showing. Before the finish, the IGWP Heavyweight four-way was on the path of being a match of the year contender. All four guys were astounding, and kudos to White for stepping in and keeping Cole safe. Claudio and ZSJ had a barn burner that was perfect for Claudios debut. Main event was given a hard task to follow the ending before it, but tana and mox did a great job making the match intriguing. But easily the best match on the card was OC vs Ospreay. They stole the show and have Chicago one of the best matches of the year. Top to bottom, what a phenomenal show."
[10.0] "This is without a doubt my favorite event from 2022. A lot of hype behind the first ppv between both promotions and for the fans of NJPW and AEW it didnt dissapoint in any way. The really crazy part is that this ppv feel like it was cursed or something because it was plagued with injuries from really important wrestlers from both companies. Its really wild that the event went on to be as succesful with so many big players out of action. The big match of Punk vs Tanahashi was teased and it couldnt be delivered because of Punk injury, but the four way that we got was a dream match in every way possible, the sad part is that Cole got injured and to this day he hasnt come back. But outside of the injuries that happened before the event and what happened with Cole, this event was really special for multiple reasons. With a sold out Arena like United Center I think all AEW and NJPW fans can hope is that this year event is just as special as this one."
[7.0] "LOTS of fun, especially considering the injury and illness woes, as well as the lackluster Dominon and Double or Nothing that both companies were coming in from. [Bishamon vs Factory] - 3.25 stars. [Archer vs Comoroto] - 2.5 stars. [Swerve in Our Glory vs SZKGN] - 3.25 stars. [Caster/Gunns vs Young Lions] - 2.5 stars (Worst of the Night). [Kingston/Umino/Yuta vs JAS/Suzuki] - 4 stars. [FTR vs Khan on the Cobb vs Roppongi Vice] - 3 stars. [Black vs PAC vs Miro vs Clark] - 3.5 stars. [BC vs Darby/Shingo/Sting] - 3 stars. [Thunder Rosa vs Toni Storm] - 2.5 stars. [Ospready vs Cassidy] - 4.5 stars (Match of the Night). [Claudio vs ZSJ] - 3.75 stars. [White/Okada/Cole/Page] - 3 stars. [Tanahashi vs Moxley] - 3.5 stars. Average match rating: 3.25 of 5 stars (or 6.5 of 10). Rounded to 7 for Cagematch."
[4.0] "Perhaps the most disappointing event of the year that is also the most overrated event of the year. The build up to this "dream event" was cursed by a slew of significant injuries and pretty boring booking decisions that didn't really help highlight the NJPW side almost at all with most NJPW talents showing very late to the build up and doing almost nothing. Also a lot of the matches were thrown together and/or were multi-man confusing messes. Now everyone rating this event highly is saying that the matches were great. If you are like me (you don't care for fast and spot-filled trainwrecks), there were no great matches to be seen. The closest thing to one was Zack Sabre Jr's match and not because of him. There were also some in-between matches stuff that ranged from the pretty cool post Ospreay-Cassidy cameo from a NJPW great to the alright Juice Robinson and Jay White promo all the way to the abominable Jericho fireball wizard nonsense. After the main event there was an angle to the Blood & Guts FREE TV show that was pretty much just a shitty brawl with the new BCC member saving the day which was cool but only mildly due to the length of the event completely taking the fans' energy and them already having seen said debut earlier on. I also noticed that there were no NJPW referees (not a positive or negative just an observation). Perhaps I am in the minority here but I was deeply disappointed by this event especially because I was looking forward to it."
[7.0] "A satisfying event, truly, but I can't go overboard and say it was ten out of ten great. The stakes just weren't there with most of these matches considering the lacklustre build. Again, the talent pulled their weight, I just don't think the stories of the matches were particularly compelling."
[10.0] "Just great wrestling from start to finish. Excellent stuff. Opening match probably my favourite with the Umino/Jericho story sprinkled with Eddie Kingston wanting to kill everyone on site. Lovely stuff. Top show."
[7.0] "Almost no match had a storyline behind it but it ended up being a pretty good show. It even was slightly shorter than your typical AEW PPV! Still pretty damn long though."
[9.0] "I think this PPV has a lot of great matches but I didn't find any classics one or cherry on top. If I break down every match, the score of each match would be around 7-8 points good but nothing special. Overall I very much appreciate every dollar I paid for this event."
[8.0] "Wohl der beste PPV bislang in 2022. Kein einziges Upset - leider auch kein wirkliches Must-see. Aber alle liefern auf PPV-NIveau oder drüber. Das ist sehr selten. Zudem kommen diverse Überraschungen und Titelwechsel. Ein bisschen schade finde ich, dass - obwohl es eine Gemeinschaftsschow war - New Japan im Wesentlichen nur Beiwerk bei einem AEW PPV war. Hier hätte ein Konzept a la Starrcade 1995 mich mehr begeistert. Aber das ist aus o.g. Gründen meckern auf hohem NIveau!"
[9.0] "Sehr starker PPV von AEW und New Japan. Man konnte es ja schon erwarten aber wie sie es umgesetzt haben war dann nochmal eine Nummer besser als ich gedacht hätte. Das ging schon mit dem sehr guten Opener los. Die Crowd war direkt komplett drin und feuerte alle an. Besonders Umino konnte am Ende glänzen auch wenn er den Pin von Jerich hinnehmen musste. Starker Opener. Das Tag Team Titel Three Way Match hat mir auch sehr gefallen. Auch hier wieder super gutes Wrestling im Ring und am Ende auch ein gefeierter Sieg von FTR. Ging auf starken Niveau weiter mit dem Four Way. Connors braucht einige Zeit um in das Match zu kommen aber spästens nach dem Spear gegen Miro war er auch voll drin. Gutes Finish indem man Miro mit dem Mist rausnahm. Top Ding. Das nächste Trios Match war vollkommen in Ordnung. Das Team der Bucks und ELP wußte zu gefallen. Sting wie immer auch mit einer Top Leistung. Rundes Ding. Das schwächste Match des Abends war das Frauentitelmatch und auch das war immer noch vollkommen in Ordnung. Solide Leistung von beiden. War wirlicht gut. MOTN folge dann. Cassidy und Ospreay liefern sich ein herausragendes Match und mein MOTY bisher glaube ich. Das war fantastisch von beiden und zeigte wieder einma wie gut beide sind. Castagnoli gegen ZSJ war auch gut. Schönes Wrestling hier und freut mich für Claudio. Das Four Way litt natürlich am Ende unter der Verletzung von Cole. Daher ein unrundes Ende trotz eines guten Matches. Der Main Event war dann nochmal Big Time Feeling. Mox und Tana liefern das Match das man erwarten konnte und das war auch richtig gut. Toller Main Event einer gigantischen Show."
[6.0] "Honestly, thought this was a very overrated show. Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy was fantastic, but most of the card suffered from being paint by numbers predictable without enough storyline to the matches to overcome that obstacle. I think I had it like 9th of the 13 AEW PPVs I've seen."
[8.0] "I had three matches at four stars or just above so can? t complain at all. Not quite as high as others are on it as a few too many multi man matches for my tastes but still a high end ppv."
"A really good ppv put up by Tony Khan & Team. Ospreay v Cassidy was the best match of the night in my opinion with Claudio v Zack a close second, the PPV looked different than the usual stuff AEW puts out which was a little refreshing, the finishes of the matches were unexpected and good too."
[10.0] "Really awesome show. Even the low moments weren't bad. Loved getting to see all the NJPW guys get to hear crowds erupt for them. Orange Cassidy and Ospreay was the match of the night. 10 points for Shibata."
[10.0] "Just a great show all around. Even with the unfortunate circumstances leading up to the show, both companies ended up overdelivering in the matches. The pacing of the show was nice and each match felt like its own special match and felt different from the rest which made watching this 5 hour show easy."
"the first aew ppv i've watched start to finish. 7/10. great only in comparison to wwe's current badness. half of the wrestlers on the card came from njpw and frankly they came off way better than aew's roster; way more charisma, athleticism, psychology and stylish presentation. standout wrestlers, imo: will ospreay, jeff cobb, jay white & sting of all people. the best matches were claudio vs zsj, dudes w/ attitudes vs bullet club & the 4 way for the njpw title. the worst matches were the women's match and a supremely underwhelming main event from jon moxley and tanahashi."
[10.0] "AEW and NJPW managed to make the best ppv so far this year even with the injuries, politics, last minute changes in the card and all those dream matches we weren't able to see this time. All matches were great, the pacing was perfect. Claudio debut was an amazing moment, Katsuyori Shibata showing up almost made me cry. The crowd was hot throughout the 4+ hours of this event. It's almost like something special happens everytime AEW is in the United Center. I'm looking forward to see more cross promotion stuff from this two companies since this event was amazing."
[7.0] "It's curious how this event is rated an average of 9 but there is only 1 match with a 9 rating. With that off my chest, this event was very strong, the floor was very high and we had an amazing match put on by OC and WO to highlight it. I was hoping for a lot more from the fatal 4 way match and out of Okada, it sucked, and the Moxley match was predictable and like most Moxley matches: he hasn't found a razor he doesn't like, and there was no suspense: we knew Moxley was going to win. The FTR match was strong but ruined: Dax was PINNED and the ref counted 3 but they acted like it didn't happen. THAT CAN'T HAPPEN and it killed the legitimacy of the match and win. They should not have left champions given the pin, it looked absolutely ridiculous. Aside from the Ospreay match, the highlight was the debut of Claudio (Cesaro), and as always, he put on a strong showing. I can't rate this event a 9 given there was only one elite match, and this card, while very enjoyable and with some surprises, is being overrated. It was NOT better than Revolution, nor was it better than Wrestlemania night 1, which are the best 2 American PPVs of the year so far."
[8.0] "Considering all the bad luck leading up to this show... this turned out pretty good. Not sure if there really should have been this many multi-man matches on the card, especially four-in-a-row, but they were at least all different. Tag titles match was a little weak with the injury angle, only for Dax to later come out completely fine. All-Atlantic title match was amazing, especially the finishing sequence. Dudes/Bullet Club match was pretty bad, tons of comedy and ridiculous moves, plus Sting seemingly forgot one of his spots with El Phantasmo and just left the ring with Phantasmo having to improvise. Women's match was solid but didn't have me all that invested. US Title match was better than I expected. IWGP World Heavyweight title match was excellent until the awkward finish because of Cole's injury. AEW Title match definitely wasn't as good as some matches that came before it. Moxley's bladejob was dumb & unnecessary. I think this was a very good show, but not the best show ever by far."
[9.0] "So good. So very, very, very good. Like many, came into this with no working knowledge of NJPW. Monday morning, signed up for NJPW World streaming and dove in whole hog. Without a doubt, the best wrestling card I've ever seen. Not a duff match the whole night. It was a revelation."
[6.0] "Der Aufbau war vom Pech verfolgt, teilweise absolut beliebig und oberflächlich und echten Hype musste man schon ordentlich suchen. Ich habe mich auf Claudio gefreut und letztendlich liefert er auch das MOTN mit einem gut aufgelegten ZSJ, der hier zwar etwas unter Wert verkauft wird, aber dennoch abliefert. Ansonsten kann man sich OC vs. Ospreay geben. Den Rest fand ich solide bis vergessenswert wie das Six Man Tag Team Match mit entbehrlicher Comedy und so einer absoluten Verschwendung von Shingo. Das sehr schwache Finish des IWGP World Heavyweight Matches kostet ein paar Punkte und beim FTR-Showcase hätte ich mir mehr Gegenwehr gewünscht. Als Event war das solide. Die nächste Ausgabe wird besser und bekommt dann ggf. auch einen schlüssigeren Titel für so eine Co-Op-Show."
[10.0] "The best wrestling show ive ever been to and the first AEW show ive been to. Even the pre show was awesome. Best Moments of the night: Eddie Kingston in the ring with Minoru Suzuki, Pac wins a championship, Stings entrance, Orange Cassidys kick outs, Claudio debut, that fan who punched a security guard during the main event, and of course Jon Moxley winning the interim AEW championship."
[7.0] "It was a great show but 9.27, come on guys this show was mostly AEW guys beating on NJPW wrestlers. There was probably only 2 or 3 really good matches and the rest there good or average. Overall it was a great show but it isn't 9.27 good but i guess that's what you get from you marks that rate Wardlow getting gassed hitting powerbomb after powerbomb a 10"
[9.0] "Despite the mexican politics, AEW and NJPW managed to put on quite a superb event. That was STACKED. At least, the less shinest bouts were pretty solids and had tons of good moments. The All-Atlantic's first crowning was a show-stealer as well as Castagnoli vs. ZSJ. Moxley vs. Tanahashi was quite something, a true passioning letter to wrestling."
[10.0] "Is it bad too say that this is one of my favourite wrestling shows ever? Maybe. But God damn was this a fire event. The build was mediocre, but the event itself ended up being an absolute masterpiece, with the womens match being the only disappointment. Also so very happy to see the return of Claudio. MOTY: Will Ospreay VS Orange Cassidy"
[10.0] "Not as good as Revolution but better than Double or Nothing, this was a really fun show with just a couple things that taint it slightly, those being the end to the IWGP World title match and the post-match of Moxley-Tanahashi with the big brawl at the end, the latter of which was indicative of a benign but recognizable issue that this was an AEW show with some NJPW guys and not a true equal joint show. It's hard to knock it for build because how well can you really build an inter-promotional show in a month? They also did really well with overall match quality and big, fun moments despite all of the injuries leading up to the show. Overall, every single match was good to great, Claudio's debut ruled, Shooter became a star, Sting and Shingo fistbumped, Shibata saved Cassidy, and I had a blast. This was not perfect, but considering the ominous cloud hanging over the show, it well exceeded expectations and maybe with a week's hindsight, I'll place less importance on the tiny wrinkles that bug me right now and give this the full 10. Edit: full 10 it is. Very few shows ever hit this level of consistently high match quality."
[8.0] "Great PPV. I'm not a NJPW guy and don't know much about the company or it wrestlers, of course I know legends like Okada, Ospreay and Tanahashi but I enjoy probably all the matches in the PPV. These matches were spetacular, TOP 3 PPV's I'd ever see in my 18 brazilian years. Love it. Match of the PPV: Orange Cassidy vs Will Ospreay."
[10.0] "Without knowing NJPW, this show was excellent. All the matches were very good. All presentation for NJPW talent was really good for someone who doesn't know NJPW. In my opinion, the match of the show is clearly the match between Will Ospreay and Orange Cassidy. This is one of the best PPV's I've seen in my life."
[7.0] "It was good, even very good. There's no patch that's worse than "Nice", there's a big rhythm. The three matches I'll remember are the opener, Bullet Club vs Dudes with Attitude and Ospreay vs Orange Cassidy. However, this is not an AEW × NJPW show. It's clearly an AEW show, with some NJPW wrestlers. And I think that's not a good thing, since the name of the show isn't really respected."
[7.0] "The best, most consistent show of the year, even with all the surrounding injuries. 6-man opener was really fun. Everyone impressed in their unique roles. Kingston, Shota, and Yuta showed great fire, while Suzuki and Sammy were good too, but Jericho was just 'there'. ***1/2. The Double Tag Titles 3-way was pretty good. Cool story of Dax valiantly returning after his shoulder injury. His arm-selling was definitely inconsistent, but he showed good fire. Lots of fun exchanges and near falls. ***1/4 - ***1/2. The All-Atlantic Title 4-way was good. Fun story of the unknown Connors winning the crowd over as the fiery underdog out of his depth. Pac, Black, and Miro all looked good with their signature stuff. Very fun final 1/3rd with the big trades and near falls. ***1/4 - ***1/2. Darby, Shingo & Sting vs ELP & The Bucks was good. Bucks' usual spots were okay. Sting's dominance, while charming, was definitely quite absurd. Shingo's intense attacks were great. ELP's obnoxious heel work and aerial attacks were wonderful. Darby's babyface-selling and speedy/agile attacks were really fun. ***1/4 - ***1/2. Rosa vs Toni wasn't too bad but definitely rather boring. Rosa's offence was initially quite flimsy and poorly timed, though it admittedly got better. Toni's attacks all looked better, but not by much, since even she was a bit clumsy. Lots of very uninspired and effortless exchanges. Awful decision for Rosa to retain. **1/2. Ospreay vs Cassidy was obviously great. Ospreay's arrogant heel work was tremendously entertaining, and of course his signature offence was world-class. Cassidy worked well alongside him, with his gimmick spots fitting in well and his serious offence matching Ospreay's really well. Typical exciting exchanges and spots all throughout. ***3/4 - ****. Sabre vs Claudio was great and my MOTN. Claudio was the only one who could fit this mystery role, and he gave a great debut performance. Sabre's technical work was awesome, especially with his many slick counters. Claudio had great impact in all his attacks, and his inconsistent arm-selling was his one negative. Their styles mixed together extremely well, making for many exciting exchanges and creative spots. ***3/4 - ****. Shibata's surprise appearance was incredibly hype, and I'm incredibly excited if he faces OSPREAY of all people. The IWGP World Title 4-way was good, but disappointing. Multi-man matches are inherently limited, which unfortunately meant all 4 were pretty restrained (except Cole, who still did his usual mediocre spam). Some good exchanges and spots, plus some decent stories of broken alliances, but nothing especially creative or exciting. Very flat and confusing finish, too. ***1/4 - ***1/2. Moxley vs Tanahashi had a bit of a styles clash, but Moxley's impactful aggression and Tanahashi's godly selling insured this was still really good, as those two factors bounced off each other really well. ***1/2. Not an "all-time" show but still a really good one."
[10.0] "Die Erwartungen im Vorfeld waren etwas niedriger, da es leider doch viele Verletzungen gab und dadurch einige Dreammatches verhindert wurden, doch die Veranstaltung hat am Ende trotzdem eines der besten Wrestling Veranstaltungen des Jahres geliefert. Es gab durchgehend gutes bis großartiges Wrestling zu sehen und das Publikum war bei jedem Match voll dabei und kannte sich auch gut mit den NJPW Wrestlern aus. Es gab zusätzlich zu den Matches auch nette kleine Überraschungen wie die "Rückkehr" von Shibata oder der Dive von Sting kurz bevor das Match losging. Claudio als Überraschung war zu erwarten, aber auch der perfekte Ersatz für Danielson. MOTN war Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy, was man im Vorfeld überhaupt nicht als MOTN auf dem Schirm hatte. An diesem Abend konnte jedoch einiges die Erwartungen übertreffen, weshalb diese Veranstaltung auch so positiv in Erinnerung bleiben wird. Die erste Forbidden Door Veranstaltung war ein Fest für die Wrestlingfans der beiden Promotions und wird hoffentlich nicht die letzte Veranstaltung zwischen AEW und NJPW gewesen sein."
[9.0] "Ein wundervoller Pay per view, an den ich eigentlichen keine konkreten Erwartungen hatte, sondern nur, dass ich viel Spaß haben werde. Der Opener war mein Match of the Night. Das immernoch recht gute Damenmatch war sogar noch das schwächste der Show und das spiegelt das Gesamtniveau sehr gut wieder"
"Not a bad show but far too long. I understand wanting to get guys on the card but 5 hours is far too much. Also, many matches just seemed thrown together. I get that many of the NJPW guys aren? t going to appear regularly, but it just was bland from my perspective. Cassidy far exceeded my expectations."
[9.0] "Insane Pro-Wrestling event from start to finish. AEW and NJPW granted my wish as a wrestling fan, basically throwing some of the greatest athletes from NA and Japan against each other. The event building was pretty unlucky with all the injuries and some matches had no construction at all but the overall was pretty good. The IWGP title match was good with a pretty unlucky ending but i'm glad White retained. Also, the crowd was incredible, the pop for Okada and even for Shibata, i was not excpecting that at all. When Mox had Tanahashi almost tapping, the crowd was literally chanting for Tana. As a pro-wrestling fun, it was a great, great, great experience! I also need to point out how insanely good Will Ospreay has become: he delivered another screamer (almost perfect), making O.C looking good too despite the lose. He wrestled at Dynamite, at Rampage, at GCW and Warrior event and then at Forbidden Door. He delivered a good-to-great match (the one with Nick Wayne is a gem too) every single time and was even injured few days before the NA tour. He's only 29 and he's already an all-time great."
[7.0] "I'm not far from agreeing about matches ratings, it was a great night in-ring wise, glad that AEW guys managed to do great performances against NJPW guys they barely know and that makes me very optimistic for future Forbidden Door events. However, I don't think this show is a show that deserves more than the sum of its matches, build was pretty poor, results were very predictable, having 3 tag matches early in the show and not at all after the mid point feels like poor balancing, using Okada in a 4-way that wasn't that great feels like a huge mistake, women's match was mediocre, and I feel like that post main event angle lowered the show's value by making it obivous they cared more about building Blood and Guts."
[9.0] "An excellent show. Opener and Ospreay vs. Cassidy were the best matches. Loved seeing Claudio get some spotlight. Hopefully he will actually be used well by his new employer unlike the last place he worked. Would have liked to see Okada in a singles match instead of a four-way, which are almost always kind of lame. Interesting that Jay White, the champion in the match, seemed to be the least over guy of all four participants. I hope that the two companies will be able to put together another one of these shows in the future, with guys like Danielson, Naito, Punk and Omega being involved next time, and Okada doing a singles match instead of a multi-man."
[9.0] "In my opinion, none of the matches on this card stuck out as matches of the year. However, all of these matches were atleast good if not great making the average for this show really high. Every match on this show was entertaining and was worthy of it's spot on the card. It showed that both companies will be working together for a while since different wrestlers have new faction alliances or hold titles for the other company which is really exciting. This is not quite a perfect show, but it is in my opinion the best show of the year to date."
[10.0] "Well, I think the story and the main event of 2022 went super well. Firstly, there was excellent wrestling, all the matches were above average and every fighter gave his all for the fans and history. FTR have overcome a new barrier and now they are IWGP team champions - nice. PAC won for himself the first title in AEW, finally it happened and I'm sure he won't give up this title just like that. Ospreay/Cassidy is the main match of the evening and a candidate for a 5-star rating. Katsuyori Shibata appeared on the show, this is a super surprise and a big shock moment for all the fans, I wonder if he will return to the ring? Claudio/ZSJ as promised by the American Dragon, we were given the best technical match that can only be made for the general public, now the Swiss Cyborg will conquer AEW. I wish Adam Cole a speedy recovery, it's a pity that his injury so spoiled the overall impression of such a cool match for the world title. Jon Moxley is a 2-time AEW world champion and I am wildly glad, he deserved it and now he looks nice. Summing up all the emotions, I will say that I am wildly glad that two big companies are now friends and I reacted like a child to every match, it is a hurricane of different emotions, from joy to tears of happiness, I am extremely shocked by such an amazing show, many thanks to everyone who had a hand in this show, this is a REAL Story about wrestling! You're on a horse!"
[8.0] "Overall this was definitely a great show and a huge success for the first AEW/NJPW crossover event. The run of matches from the All-Atlantic four-way to the Claudio/ZSJ match was absolutely phenomenal, unfortunately though, the show was let down by the co-main event. The tag title match wasn't a great match either, but for an early in the card spot, it's fine to build from, but the final two matches, the two world title matches, should be great and they just weren't and that puts a dent on the show. Still, best show of the year by my reckoning. As well as the excellent middle portion of matches, there was also a star making performance from Shota Umino in the entertaining opener, that he paid for that later in the show when he was on the end of some wizardry from Jericho, and of course, there was a moment for the ages when Shibata's music hit and he made an appearance. The crowd were also absolutely electric from the first second to the last, providing a great atmosphere even for the matches I didn't think were that good."
[9.0] "This was lacking that truly classic match and I did feel that the final three matches were all a little underwhelming for various reasons, but put together the average match quality, the novelty of cross-promotion (and fanservice), good card pacing, and one of the hottest crowds in a while, and you have a very entertaining show. They lost Hiromu, Ishii, Punk, and Danielson, so both companies can step back and say "If you thought that was good, wait until next time when we're at our best." Some missed opportunities in this one for me in the final half of the show. Claudio was obviously supposed to debut as a run-in during that final brawl. Might have been best to scrap the brawl and just have Moxley and Tanahashi shake hands since Claudio's surprise card had already been dealt. The IWGP match was also brought down with that injury ending, but all in all this'll probably be the show of the year unless maybe they can get the crowds back without restrictions for the G1. I'd say my match ratings would mostly be a bit below the averages here, but judging this PPV as a whole it was a good show."
[9.0] "Die Show hat mir sehr gut gefallen und war wahrscheinlich seit einer langen Zeit eine Show auf die ich mich sehr gefreut habe. Ich glaube dennoch, dass da für Forbidden Door 2, oder wie man es auch immer nennen mag, noch viel mehr gezeigt werden kann. Hoffentlich sind Namen wie Omega, Danielson, Punk, Naito, Ishii usw für diese Show verfügbar. Trotzdem gab es hier wirklich viele gute Matches zu sehen und die Stimmung war allgemein sehr toll. Meine Highlights waren der Opener, OC/Ospreay, das Debut von Claudio und der Main Event. Nur das Bucks 6 Man fand ich eher schwach, aber der Rest war auch solide bis wirklich gut."
[8.0] "Der Opener war echt gute, physisch Nonstop Action zum Start und für mich gleich mal das drittbeste Match der Show. Den einzigen Kritikpunkt den ich hier habe ist, dass ein Opener in meinen Augen nicht knapp 19 Minuten gehen muss. Beide Matches danach fand ich mehr als anständig, wobei der Sieg von FTR als auch der von PAC schöne Momente waren. Thunder Rosa und Toni Storm befanden sich dann auch in einem etwas undankbaren Spot und das hängt sicherlich auch damit zusammen, dass dieses Match mit unter 11 Minuten das Kürzeste war - aber mit Matchlängen und Pacing hab ich bei AEW ja immer wieder mal Probleme. Das Match selbst war aber anständig. Ospreay gegen Cassidy danach fand ich zwar nicht ganz so stark wie viele andere aber trotzdem richtig gut als Mischung von Entertainment und Wrestlerischem und es war auch mein MOTN. Direkt danach kam bei mir das Match danach, was wrestlerisch sicherlich das beste Match war und der Cesaro Moment war übrigens ähnlich cool wie der Auftritt von Shibata vom Match zuvor. Das Co ME hatte dann ein diskutables Finish was aber zu White passte und das Match selbst war mehr als anständig und das ME war dann ein echter guter Abschluss einer echt guten Show, bei der es die angesprochenen kleinen Problemchen für mich gab, weswegen ich sie nicht sehr gut fand aber trotzdem hat es mir Spaß gemacht und ich halte 8 Punkte für angemessen."
[9.0] "Amazing PPV and a dream for true wrestling fans. All matches were between good to amazing and the crowd was probably the hottest I have ever heard. Hell; even guys like Umino and Clark Connors were well supported! Even with all the injuries this show must have amongst the biggest star power of any show in the history of the business."
[10.0] "In my eyes, it was by far the best ppv in AEW since its debut, with high quality matches and very good technical production. One can simply regret that there was no truly exceptional match, except perhaps Ospreay vs. Cassidy, but the average level of wrestling was excellent. Even the end of the match for the IWGP belt didn't disappoint me, especially for a semi-main event (I wouldn't have said the same thing if it had been the last match): there, it's a frustrating outcome, but perfect to advance the storyline around Jay White. In short, a show to recommend!"
[10.0] "The crowd was red hot all the way through and especially in that first match. All matches I thought were 4 stars or above apart from the women's title match which was still a ***1/2. One of, if not the best PPV this year. Seeing wrestlers from the 2 companies interact and a cheering crowd who was perfectly familiar with the NJPW wrestlers was just awesome. The 2nd crossover event can't come soon enough and it'll, hopefully, somehow be even better since this one had so many people missing because of injuries."
[9.0] "One of the best PPVs AEW has created over it's lifetime. Top to bottom, every single match was amazing, there wasn't a second where you could've been bored. The crossover was done amazingly, with New Japan was showcased as a one of the best talents on earth. The only complaint is that the build-up wasn't great, as most matches were established just a week or two before the event."
[9.0] "Amazing show. The match quality from top to bottom was insane. Nothing even close to being a bad match on the whole show. Everything was very good to great. Huge success considering all the injuries and people unable to compete. All the people out and the poor build to the show made me lose a lot of excitement but of course they delivered an awesome show. I do wish the show hadn't ended on a big brawl for blood and guts which was already done on rampage. Should have just been Moxley and Tanahashi enjoying the moment. Also for this show to have been a 10 for me it needed a real stand out insane match and this just didn't have that. Had some great matches but nothing to me that was a 9 or 10. Overall amazing and cant wait to see more forbidden door shows."
[7.0] "I am suprised to see so many positive comments about the show to be honest. I thought the promotion was actually pretty bad and definitely unfortunate since some of the stars missed the show entirely. I'd rather see tag match with Okada & Page vs. White & Cole since they still kinda worked it that way. There's really no need to have IWGP Title Match. And also 4-way in that matter, which is mostly hard to follow and I prefer to have it in a midcard titles, like they did in an All-Atlantic Title Match. I also didn't really like the idea of Interim AEW Champion - just put Mox and Tanahashi together, that is enough to have a great match. The matches themselves in my opinion were not amazing as well. 4-way IWGP Title match was kinda hard to follow. Women's title match was totally out of place in an inter-promotional event. There was weird angle with Dax Harwood in 3-way tag match that I wasn't fan of. I would actually like to see more matches like the opener and the other six-man tag with Bucks and El Phantasmo - the second one was kinda comedy, but I gotta say I had a pretty good laugh watching Phantasmo's back rake and spot with Sting (despite the latter missing his cue). Congrats to Jericho, even if he doesn't belong in the same ring with Suzuki or Umino, he still proves that he is able to go only by being a massive draw. I liked FTR winning as well. Also PAC deserved to win, even though they did pretty good job with promoting Clark Connors and I was wondering if they would be able to give him a title. I liked Claudio's debut and with the final segment it seems like he's gonna be much bigger deal here than in the WWE. The match with ZSJ was pretty good too, although it was lacking something (or someone - more specifically Bryan Danielson). MOTN was definitely Ospreay and OC, the sole truly great match on the card. Overall, I found the show just ok. I would give this 6/10, but maybe one more point considering how unlucky AEW was with injuries of Punk and Danielson (and Kenny too) and also with the fact that it is inter-promotional show. These guys does not work together on a daily basis, so doing these matches is an extra effort to put. Of course I'd love to see more of AEW x NJPW in the future."
[10.0] "Ungespoilert am ersten Tag geschaut, was absolut die richtige Entscheidung war. Eine super Show, nahe am Homerun. Wenn das jetzt jedes Jahr kommt, nehme ich das gerne. Tolle Präsentation mit Kevin Kelly am Kommentar und Shibata als Ringsprecher. Der Opener ist gleich richtig stark und sowas wie eine Starmaking Performance für Shota Umino, der hier richtig gut präsentiert wird. Das Tag Team Title Match beginnt mit einem Shocker, nicht noch ein Verletzter dachte ich aber es scheint zum Glück nicht soo schlimm zu sein. Das Match war ebenfalls gut und ich hoffe man gibt FTR jetzt auch noch die AEW Tag Team Titles. Der 4 Way um den neuen All Atlantic Title war dann das PWG Spotmatch aber erneut stark in dieser Form und für PAC freut es mich sehr. Ebenfalls schön, dass Conners sich hier zeigen konnte, wenn auch nur durch die Verletzung von Ishii. Im 6 Man springt Sting natürlich mal wieder von der Stage, was sollte er auch anders machen in seinem Alter. Auch hier ein echt spaßiges, gutes Match. Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm bekommt dann leider nur 10 Minuten, da wäre schon ein bisschen mehr drin gewesen. Das Match ist ordentlich, geht hier aber etwas unter. Ospreay vs. Cassidy ist dann der Showstealer des Abends und vielleicht sogar das MOTN. Großartiges Match und Ospreay ist hier einfach der perfekte Heel für Cassidy, welcher nach dem Match noch Katsuyori Shibata seine Sonnenbrille aufsetzen darf. Wie wunderschön war das bitte? ! Danach ist es endlich soweit, das Match mit Zack Sabre Jr. und dem neuen Mann. Hier hat man uns echt lange auf die Folter gespannt, der Pop für Double war dann absolut fantastisch. Dazu noch ein tolles Match und wohl das zweitbeste Match der Show. Freut mich sehr für Claudio. Der 4 Way um den IWGP Title hat mir dann ebenfalls gut gefallen mit einem etwas merkwürdigem Ende. Sah so aus, als wäre Cole wirklich angeschlagen. Der Main Event ist wenig überraschend auch klasse, wobei ich das Blut hier nicht gebraucht hätte und Moxley vermasselt es auch ein wenig, da er einfach zu viel blutet und sich wohl zu tief geschnitten hat. Insgesamt eine fantastische Show, die unglaublich viel Spaß gemacht hat und nur knapp an der 10 vorbeischrammt. Edit. Der Hype hält an, ich gehe nochmal einen Punkt hoch."
[10.0] "Fantastic show with a lot of fun matches. If I had to rank them it would be in this order: 1. Jericho, Guevara & Suzuki vs Umino, Yuta & Kingston ****1/2, 2. Claudio Castagnoli vs Zack Sabre Jr. ****1/4, 3. Orange Cassidy vs Will Ospreay ****1/4, 4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jon Moxley ****1/4, 5. Allin, Sting & Takagi vs Young Bucks & El Phantasmo ****, 6. Roppongi Vice vs United Empire vs FTR ****, 7. Miro vs PAC vs Black vs Connors ***3/4, 8. Okada vs Cole vs White vs Page ***3/4 (I didn't watch Storm vs Rosa completely. That's why I won't rank that match)"
[7.0] "While not as good as most AEW PPV's, this was still a damn good show! MOTN definitely goes to Ospreay/Cassidy & it was cool to see Claudio debut!"
[7.0] "A bit below the level of the typical AEW ppv, with too many multi-man matches leading to diminishing returns and an overall lack of storyline development. But a lot of these matches, individually, would be MOTN on any given Dynamite, and a couple of really tremendous pops add to its special event feel. I don't necessarily want to pay $50 for this every year, but especially given all the misfortune that befell it, this was a very solid show."
[8.0] "The build to this show was really bad, but everyone knew that matches would deliver and they did. Surprisingly though, the two matches that seemed most of a sure thing ended up being kind of flat for me, those being the IWGP title match and the AEW championship match. Still, this was like a summer blockbuster of a PPV - a lot of fun stuff that doesn't hold much weight. But that's fine."
[10.0] "One of the greatest shows of the year, I really liked most the matches on this card, specially Claudio Castagnoli's AEW debut against Zack Sabre Jr. and the main event between Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi. I also loved to see FTR capturing yet another title, Thunder Rosa putting on a great performance and the confrontation between Will Ospreay and Katsuyori Shibata, great stuff overall. I think this show besides being great really helped to get the fans hyped for the upcoming shows of both AEW and NJPW, and I also think most people really want to see more events from this two promotions working together, so I hope they keep it going."
[7.0] "The build to this PPV was atrocious. Some may blame injuries and/or interpromotion politics, but the fact is that it seemed like AEW was more concerned with building to Blood & Guts rather than Forbidden Door. You can see this in the insipid ending of this PPV, a Dynamite style show-ending brawl to build to the next big event, which is a terrible way to end a co-promotion show. That all said, everyone on the show worked VERY hard and the show was paced well, so I'd say the overall show was a success."
[9.0] "Echt erstaunlich was man aus diesem PPV gemacht hat nachdem eine wahre Verletzungsserie samt Krankheiten absoluten Top Stars die Möglichkeit nahm hier teilzunehmen. Wrestlerisch kann man hier rein gar nichts aussetzen. Es gab keinen Stinker (das AEW Women's Title Match bekam nur 10 Min. und war auch nicht besonders aber eben wrestlerisch fehlerlos) Sting zeigte uns mal wieder was mit 63 im Wrestling noch möglich ist; Ospreay vs. Cassidy ließ die Hater & Kritiker mucksmäuschenstill werden; usw. Mehr zu den einzelnen Matches im Guide. Claudio Castagnoli's AEW-Debut war Epic weil ich es dem Schweizer sowas von gönne seine Karriere respektvoll in die letzte Phase zu führen und nicht bei der WWE als Millionär vergammeln zu sehen und Matches im TV für 3 Minuten zu führen (und auch noch zu jobben). Moxley geht als Interims-Champ vollkommen in Ordnung (das bladen sollte er nun mal sein lassen oder zumindest glaubwürdiger einsetzen..bei Blood & Guts hat er mehr Gründe dies zu tun) und die Japaner (vorallem Shota Umino & Shingo Takagi) zeigten gute Leistungen (Okada fiel hier ein bisschen ab..aber der Climax steht vor der Tür und da sollte er topfit sein) Alles in allem ein toller PPV und gerne mehr davon."
[10.0] "Best ppv I have seen in years. Never felt tired once and there was absolutely zero filler. Each match served a purpose, and a good one at that. The card was booked with excellent purpose, variety, and pacing. By the end, Mox and Tana could have simply shook hands and made fart noises under their armpits for a couple mins before leaving the ring for a double countout, and I'd still give this a 10. Curious and hopeful that FD2 happens soon!"
[10.0] "One of the best PPVs I've seen in recent years. Hell, even the preshow matches were actually good. Even if the card changed, NJPW and AEW proved that you don't have to get the most popular stars to get an absolute insane show. Great talent. Great show. Not 1 bad match. Everything went great. Everything looked fresh. Everyone looked good in the ring. No botches at all. Only thing I found annoying was that referee when he proceeds to do the 3rd count, he does it way too fast and confuses the wrestlers and the fans too. Forbidden Door 2 when?"
[7.0] "Forbidden Door startet direkt Episch in die Show mit dem Six Man Tag Team Match zwischen den Le Sex God's (Sammy Guevera & Chris Jericho) + Minoru Suzuki vs. Eddie Kingston + Shota Umino + Wheeler Yuta. Ein wirklich extrem Gutes Match zum Anfang der Show (****). IWGP / ROH Tag Team Championship Match war so Ulala. Natürlich ein extrem starkes Three Way Tag Team Match von allen Beteiligten, aber meiner Meinung nach brutal viele Botches während des Matches. Der größte Botch dem einen Im Kopf Bleibt, ist das Roppongi Vice "eigentlich" das Match gewonnen gehabt hatte, da ein Klarer Three Count Durchging. Doch Komischerweise ließ der Ringrichte Bryce Remsburg das Match weiter laufen und somit holten sich FTR den Sieg und die IWGP Tag Team Championship's. Und das hat die Crowd auch bemerkbar gestört. Trotzdem war es Ein Gutes Match und so wie es aussieht sieht man FTR bald öfters in Japan (***1/2). Four Way Match um den AEW All-Atlantic Championship, war in der Anfangsphase auch brutal unabgestimmt. Was sich dann im Laufe des Matches natürlich besserte und PAC als Sieger feiere ich sehr! (****). Dudes with Attitudes vs. Bullet Club war Fantastisch. Der Entrance von Sting FANTASTISCH! Da vergisst man auch mal so einen Botch wie kurz vor dem Ende des Matches mit Sting und El Phantasmo, wo Sting eine Sequenz verpasst hat (****1/4). Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm war Okey. Die Women's Division ist aber eindeutig der Schwachpunkt von All Elite Wrestling und man muss definitiv noch lange an der Division arbeiten. Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy viel zu Over Hyped. Das Match war wirklich stark und großartig, keine Frage. Aber: Orange Cassidy ist kein schlechter Wrestler, doch das Gimmick ist einfach nicht für so einen Spot geeignet. Ich sage damit nicht das man Cassidy ein neues Gimmick geben soll, aber er ist für mich "nur" ein Comedy Gimmick für die Under / Mid-Card. Match war trotzdem großartig (****1/4). Dann kommt der große Moment: Und zwar wer ist der Mystery Oponnent von Zack Sabre Jr.? Niemand Geringeres als Claudio Castagnoli! Holy Cow, einfach Gänsehaut Pur! Das Match war dann natürlich wie erwartet bei den beiden großen Namen auch ganz ganz große Klasse (****1/4). IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Four Way Match war dann auch Gut! Nur das Finish ist halt Extrem nervend (****). Main Event dann auch mal wieder (Wie immer) ganz stark! Das Jon Moxley hier den Sieg holt war natürlich klar. Das einzigste was mich Mittler nur nervt, ist dass bei jedem Match Moxley's, der mann immer wieder auf Knopfdruck Bluten Muss. Und grade aufeinmal bei dem Match bei einer Stelle, wo es absolut klar gewesen ist das es nur Blading sein kann. Nervt mittlerweile, wenn es immer wieder das selbe ist. Irgendwann wird's leider eintönig. Das war Auch der einzigste Kritik Punkt den ich zu diesem Match habe, sonst war es ein Starkes Wrestling Match (****1/2). Insgesamt ein Guter Crossover PPV zwischen AEW und New Japan Pro Wrestling."
[10.0] "Despite the many injuries that plagued the build and execution of this pay per view, it truly was an epic show that put some of the biggest wrestling stars in the world today in the ring for 3+ hours. There were a number of matches that nominated themselves for match of the night and it is hard for me to decide myself. The atmosphere was unreal for most of the night and the Chicago crowd was loud and respectful for all of it. Personally I would have liked to hear Tony more on commentary, as he usually adds a much needed fan dimension. Kelly was fine, as was everyone really, but I missed Tony's unbridled joy at the action in the ring. I was not in line with how the show ended -- although I understand why they did it, the only thing that should top a title change in my eyes would be a shocking debut, turn or something else that has a business of being larger than the World title (even if it's interim). That's nitpicking, though, the show was otherwise a spectacle."
[10.0] "I've been watching wrestling since 1985. I've been to several huge events. This was the best 1-night PPV I've ever seen. When's Forbidden Door II?"
[10.0] "The build to this PPV was definitely weak but match quality wise this was one of the best PPV'S ever, I've seen some NJPW matches in my life but not many but these guys impressed a lot here. This was also one of AEW better paced PPV'S as no match here went too long and everything flowed along perfectly. Matches from best to worst: Ospreay/Cassidy ****3/4, Sabre/Claudio ****1/2, Tana/Mox ****1/2, JAS/Kingston, Yuta and Umino ****1/4, White/Okada/Cole/Page ****1/4, Pac/Connors Black ****, FTR/UE/RV ****, DWA/BC ***3/4, Rosa/Storm ***1/4"
[9.0] "Key AEW talent not wrestling on this show: Kenny Omega, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Andrade, Fenix, Penta, Jungle Boy, MJF, Daniel Garcia, Christian, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Samoa Joe, Ricky Starks, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, Scorpio Sky, Wardlow. Key NJPW talent not wrestling on this show: Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori, Kushida, Kenta, Tomohiro Ishii, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Juice Robinson. and yet STILL these two companies put on an absolutely incredible show. The matchmakers deserve their flowers for this one, so many unfortunate injuries and a lot of bad to mediocre build up, and every single match on this card delivered. Also anyone still hating on Orange Cassidy needs to get their eyes checked because he ALWAYS tears the house down when given the opportunity."
[9.0] "The opening trios was a great blast that had the right winners while FTR cemented their place deeper as the flagship tag team of the game. PAC had his ultimate crowning in a great bout & Sting once again ruled the scene. Rosa/Storm was physically sound while Ospreay/Cassidy stole the night surprisingly. Claudio's debut was magnificent & White almost had another banger until the untimely finish. The main event was awesome with a much-needed winner. This was a historic night for both companies by tearing the house down with a splendid PPV!"
[9.0] "Excellent stuff. Tons of good+ matches. The show really benefitted from following the NJPW card structure rather than the AEW card structure too."
[10.0] "This PPV felt like a love letter to professional wrestling. It really was a feel-good show from top to bottom. There were no bad matches, and it focused heavily on the wrestling and less of the promos. The Forbidden Door PPV is proof that when competition is put aside and two companies can work in harmony for the benefit of both fanbases, magic can happen in the squared circle. Despite injuries preventing this PPV to be booked as was originally intended, this show was an absolute masterpiece. Hopefully more wrestling companies put their differences aside and join in on the cross-promotional bandwagon. I'm sure this won't be the last time we see NJPW and AEW working together, as Tony Kahn has mentioned that there are plans to have Forbidden Door be a yearly PPV, which would be outstanding. It can be safe to say that NJPW got a serious push in the United States, and AEW got a serious push in Japan as well as the rest of the world. Fantasy booking became reality booking in this one. The sky's the limit with this collaboration. 10/10"
[9.0] "Wrestling wise, one of the best PPV's I've ever seen. Not much downtime either, only few minutes between the matches, so if you like wrestling this is one of the shows you should go out your way to watch. The build for the PPV wasn't as crisp as it should've been but it was reported that only the women's match was what was originally planned because so many people got injured during the month leading up to it, so one should be a bit more understanding why it was what it was."
[7.0] "Great show! Definitely felt like an AEW show with some Japanese wrestlers mixed in, instead of a joint super-show in my honest opinion. 1) Suzuki & JAS/Kingston, Umino & Yuta - ***3/4. 2) FTR/Roppongi Vice/United Empire - ***1/4. 3) PAC/Connors/Black/Miro - ***3/4. 4) Allin, Takagi & Sting/Phantasmo & Bucks - ***. 5) Rosa/Storm - **1/2. 6) Ospreay/Cassidy - ****. 7) Castagnoli/ZSJ - ****1/4. 8) White/Cole/Page/Okada - ***1/2. 9) Moxley/Tanahashi - ***1/2. Only complaint, is the weird ending, did you really have to sell the JAS/Blackpool feud that hard? Its a weekly airing angle for Christ sake, why not just let Moxley and Tanahashi shake hands, you know, a wonderful symbolic way to end this historic show? Just felt forced, dumb and unnecessary. Anyways, everything else was very good, thumbs up to this show!"
[10.0] "In terms of match quality alone, this is probably the best PPV I've ever seen, and for that reason alone it deserves full marks. There may have been a few less hugely memorable moments than at other great events, but apart from the injury to Cole there was nothing that wasn't extremely good. To put on an event of this quality with all the injuries and changes leading up to it is a monumental achievement, and a credit to both promotions. Hopefully there will be a repeat soon when more people are healthy, and some of the missing dream matches can happen. It's hard to imagine a more enjoyable, entertaining event with more great wrestling could be possible."
[10.0] "Honestly, the best PPV I've seen to date. There weren't any appallingly bad matches on the card. For me Ospreay and Cassidy stole the show and should've been higher on the card. All in all, a very enjoyable PPV from two great companies."
[10.0] "Top tier PPV from top to bottom. I understand the lack of build and I was critical of this before the show, but I had a change of heart during the show. I now think of this event as a wrestling festival, so to speak. The action was great and everyone brought their ? A-game. Match of the night for me was Osprey vs. Orange Cassidy and the post match exchange with Shibata was emotional and amazing. If you enjoy fun and hard hitting action, you? ll love this PPV. I can? t wait until they run the next one (hopefully in Japan.)"
[7.0] "For the awful build and iffy card it still delivered. Not as high on it as others but what needed to deliver hit hard for me. Awesome main event and Sting and Shingo teaming was so fucking cool. A good show Now please for the love of god make sure the next one is booked better lol"
[10.0] "NJPW und AEW haben einfach eine der besten Shows des Jahres abgeliefert und das obwohl Stars wie Omega, Danielson, Punk usw. verletzt sind. Chapeu! Einzig das Hiromu nicht da war hat mich ein wenig traurig gemacht doch sonst für mich eine Glatte 10!"
[9.0] "An absolute joy of a PPV, far superior to the previous AEW Double or Nothing this year in terms of pacing and entertainment. Something for everyone here, with nobody doing multiman matches better than this, and some great 1v1 matches too. Every single person on the roster felt like a star and had a moment to shine. Some blips with injuries unfortunately but were handled as well as can be."
[7.0] "Forbidden Door was far from being a Show of the year contender or of all time imo but i really enjoyed watching it. There's only one great match with Ospreay vs Cassidy, the rest is either good or really good. 0 bad matches, good PPV."
"Easily the best PPV of 2022, and with good reason. 2 of the 3 top companies in pro wrestling put together a wrestling card with most of their top stars (save those who were injured) and it showed. So, a show of this caliber was to be expected. Giving credit where it's due though, they pulled it off and the show was basically flawless. Personally, I'd rate the show a 9.5/10."
[10.0] "This is Pay Per view of the year for sure. There's not a single bad match on the card. The womens match was the weakest with Ospreay vs Oc being the best."
[10.0] "This will go down as one of the greatest PPVs of all time. I had EVERYTHING. The debuts, the match quality was off the roof, the crows was loud as hell. With all the injuries this was still a 10/10."
[8.0] "Den Opener fand ich durchwachsen, allmählich nervt die Kingston-Jericho Fehde. Suzuki mit immer seinem selben altbackenen Mist, hast ein Match von dem gesehen, hast alle gesehen. Gute Leistung von Umino. So wirklich überzeugend war für mich der Sieg von FTR im zweiten Match auch nicht..PAC als Gewinner hat mich dann doch etwas überrascht, da die meisten wohl auf Miro gesetzt haben. Im drauffolgenden Match hat mir El Phantasmo gut gefallen. Die Frauen haben mal wieder AEW like das schwächste Match des Abends abgeliefert. Ospreay wie zu erwarten mit einem Sieg. Schön zu sehen, dass die Disney Kinder WWE Claudio rein wrestlerisch nicht völlig versaut hat. Ordentliche Leistung von ihm, von Zabre war ich hingegen eher etwas enttäuscht. Der Co-Mainer war um weiten schwächer als man sich im Vorfeld erhofft hatte. Das große Feuerwerk wurde nicht abgebrannt. Die Veteranen konnten es allen nochmal im Mainer zeigen. Fazit: Die Show war insgesamt besser als ich erwartet habe, ich bin kein Fan von vielen Multi-Man Matches. Das große MOTN habe ich aber dennoch vermißt, der richtig fette Knaller hat irgendwie gefehlt."
[10.0] "In terms of overall match quality, this not an all time PPV nor even AEW's best and certainly not NJPW's... HOWEVER given what we had in the face of changing rosters, Twitter discontrnt political BS and horrendous injury bad luck in what I call the Summer of Punked Out... well if they didn't just bloody pull it off! That aline is a 10 in my heart. I would be more than welcome for this to be an annual thing."
[9.0] "I adored the show, save for the odd, abrupt ending to the four way match due to injury and the underwhelming intra-promotional women's title match. There have been some struggles in finding how to properly present such a show but, when the time came, it shined as a celebration of two promotions and their dedication to in-ring product. It's been agonizing seeing how hard injuries and unfortunate circumstances have tried to derail this show...and yet, it still succeeded."
[8.0] "I would rate this event a 10 if the fatal 4-way match didn't get that botched ending. Ospreay vs Cassidy was the match of the night followed by Shibata's debut! I wish the main event was longer because maybe we won't ever see Moxley vs Tanahashi again in near future, but it's still good tho."
"I am not going to rate this show, as I didn't buy it and only watched highlights, which is what I am going off of here. The two six man tags were fine. They had little to no story but they were fine matches. (The first one was way better). The tag team title match was okay. I really liked the All Atlantic four way. Fun spots, a potential set up for a Miro/Black feud, and Pac FINALLY won something in AEW! The women's title match was underwhelming, mainly because of ridiculous time constraints. 10 minutes for the lone women's match on a 9 match card? Fucking criminal. I will defend this claim forever, but Tony Khan only has a women's division because he feels obligated to have one. 10 minutes on such a huge PPV is a fucking insult when there was a pointless Young Bucks match on the card that got more time. Orange and Ospreay had a surprisingly fun match. I hate to say it but... Ospreay is starting to win me over. Too bad he's a piece of shit in real life. Cesaro in AEW was really cool and this was the only match I watched in full. Well worth the watch too. Great stuff between him and Sabre. The four way IWGP title match was really boring to me. All four felt like they were in autopilot. And man, poor Adam Cole. Having to work through some really serious injuries, getting body shamed daily, and now he's concussed. I don't think he should have wrestled at all but whatever. Hopefully they give him ample time off to fully recover. Main event was kind or disappointing. Not bad at all, but I was expecting more. This show proves that you need more than just good wrestling to succeed. You need stories to back up what's going on in the ring. Outside of the IWGP four way and maybe the opener, none of these had a story. Just matches for the sake of matches. Mostly good matches, but I didn't feel any emotional attachment to anything besides Claudio's debut."
[9.0] "Ganz starke Crossover Show von AEW und NJPW, die man trotz einiger Verletzungsusfalle und Wrestling Politics wirklich gut gemeisterst hat. Nahezu jedes Match konnte unterhalten und einige Momente boten das besondere Etwas. Obendrauf gab es noch eine gut aufgelegte Crowd, dei einfach nur Lust auf's gute Wrestling hatte. So soll es seiin. Claudio Castagnoli ist ein starkes Neuzugang udn man ließ noch etwas Luft nach oben für ein Sequel zur Forbidden Door."
[9.0] "A damn near perfect event with every match ranging from good to legit match of the year contender. Only things holding it back from being a truly perfect show is Thunder Rosa vs Toni Storm only getting 10 and a half minutes and the match not being structured in a way to accommodate it and make the ending feel proper, the unfortunate ending to the IWGP Champion 4-way due to Adam Cole's injury, and the baffling decision to end the show with a brawl to put over the Blood and Guts match that will be happening on Wednesday. They already ended the Dynamite and Rampage preceding this show with big multi-man brawls - it was completely unnecessary here ESPECIALLY on PPV."
[7.0] "Overrated show with little to no build-up storywise and ravaged by injuries as well. Wrestling is good great for the most part but don't look for MOTY material here. Mindless fan service is mindless fan service, even if it looks good at the first glance."
[9.0] "A great overall show with a lot of action, great moves and great matches. Some imperfections but with referee micommunication and the womens match very sadly disapointing. A great overall action stacked show."
"Best show AEW has done. Everything on this show is must watch outside of the slightly disappointing IWGP Four Way. MOTN we? re Jericho/Sammy/Suzuki vs Eddie/Yuta/Shooter and OC vs Ospreay."
[8.0] "Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki VS Shota Umino, Wheeler Yuta & Eddie Kingston: It was a match full of everything, literally everything. Good and non-sense storytelling, huge moves and terrible botches, but the conclusion it is that it was most entertaining that I was expecting. These 6 men did a great job. Good match. [***3/4]; Roppongi Vice VS Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan VS FTR: Another good match for the event. Using the same formula, beggining slow and improve the intensity exponentially. It's great now seeing these new IWGP Tag Team champs. Good match. [****]; AEW All-Atlantic Title Four Way Match: Another good one. At this point of the event, we should be having a singles match, but again we had the intensity of a Fatal-4-way. These four are great, and put a decent match, even Connors, a man that I've not watched a lot. Nice match. [***1/2]; Dudes with Attitudes VS The Young Bucks & El Phantasmo: Another good bout. Watching Sting wrestling again was pretty emotional, and seeing how this match let Shingo show all this strenght and intensity was awesome. The match wasn't so above of the expectations, but still a satisfactory one. [***1/2]; Thunder Rosa VS Toni Storm: Thunder Rosa had reached a level in which her matches are satisfactory to watch, but not good enough to be memorable or even pretty watchable. Congratulations for Toni to put this well-conducted showing. Satisfactory match too. [***]; Will Ospreay VS Orange Cassidy: I really though Orange had a possibility to win, what a selling match, impressive action. When they first organized these two to collide I wasn't a big fan of the decision, but they showed great skills to put an awesome match. Good match. The return of Shibata was just magical. [****]; Claudio Castagnoli VS Zack Sabre Jr.: Now the Blackpool Combat Club looks like some fantasy booking stable that everyone once had dreamed, with this new addition. The match was good, but sadly a fulled crowd having watched almost 10 matches in a row, feels really tired, as me two. This was just a satisfactory one, I really didn't see the special thing in this one. [***]; IWGP World Heavyweight Title Four Way Match: Great match, until the moment, my candidate for MOTN. The match worked around the two underdogs of the match, and showed the expectance of having a singles between this 4 with a lot of 1vs1 combinations. The end went a bit awkward, maybe 'cause some Cole's injury (what a surprise). Still, pretty nice match. [****1/2]; Interim AEW World Title Match: Maybe the obvious winner of the match diminished the impact of this fight, although was pretty nice to watch Mox and The Ace collidind all over that blood. Nothing else to say, more than a satisfactory match. [***1/2]; An event that achieved the expectations all over the world put over it. The matches at least were satisfactory, there was no bad fight, and the New Japan guys didn't look as weak as everyone would expect. Good first of event for AEW/New Japan"
[10.0] "Top to bottom, probably the best show I've ever watched live and probably one of the best wrestling shows I've ever watched in general. Absolutely incredible Night"
[10.0] "The quality of matches all spoke for themselves. The best thing about this show is that AEW proved that they really are one of the best wrestling promotions in the world (for me they are alongside NOAH, DDT, AJPW, & Stardom). Because they dealt with A LOT of adversity building up to this show, but they were still able to look adversity dead in the eyes and give it 2 middle fingers. Well done, AEW. This show was a total Smash Hit, Banger, Home Run, Slam Dunk. Whatever you want to call it."
[10.0] "This is my favorite show of 2022 so far. Maybe one of my favorites ever. Every single match delivered. Every single one. Highlights were the 4 last matches. OC vs. Ospreay, Claudio vs. ZSJ, Okada vs. Hangman vs. Cole vs. White, & Mox vs. Tanahashi. What a perfectly built show. Injuries and suggestions that the show was "cursed" be damned, they pulled it off so hard. Hope Cole is okay, but even that called finish didn't detract from the incredible match that came before. Forbidden Door was everything it needed to be."
[9.0] "Have no clue what the two guys below me are talking about, this show WAY overdelivered after a mediocre buildup. Aside from the weird finishes in the womens title match and especially in the IWGP HW title match, everything here ranged from good to great. Especially the Ospreay vs OC match and the opening trios match, not to mention we got a surprise Shibata appearance, and the debut of Claudio Castagnoli, who had a great match with ZSJ. FTR collecting belts, Sting still doing crazy stuff at 63 years old, and lots of other great things happened on this PPV. Sure, it wasnt perfect, but damn, I honestly enjoyed this more than DoN from last month, and that was a pretty great show. Didnt feel long in the tooth like some of the AEWs recent PPVs."
[10.0] "Lol at everyone that was worried about this show because of a weak build. This was awesome all around. Fucking Katsuyori Shibata showed up and wore OCs shades for christs sake. This show delivered on all fronts the finish to the four way match was a bit weird but thats the only complaint I can really muster. The main event was a war and Tana is one of the greatest to ever live no doubt about it. My favorite match had to have been the opener which surprised me. Eddie and Suzuki are a match made in heaven. I loved the OC and Ospreay match too and I had a feeling it would be a sleeper. Really no bad matches on this card, and plus Claudio of course. Oh and they put the belt on PAC which was the right choice, either him or Miro."
[10.0] "The best PPV I have ever seen in my entire life, even better than All Out 2021. That Shibata surprise entrance made me cry, the debut of Claudio, the incredible matches and the awesome crowd, it was PERFECT."
[6.0] "I wasn't really too hyped about this show going into it and I was still somehow let down. I'll be positive and say that the average match was decent to good, nothing outstanding or MOTY quality but a good enough watch. Now with the negatives, I think some matches went way too long like Claudio vs. ZSJ, The U.S. title match, and the Triple Threat Tag. The injury bug of course didn't help the show but losing Ishii lowered the four way All Atlantic match for me, I thought Clark Connors was okay but wasn't really outstanding. The four way IWGP title match was boring. Claudio finally debuting was great to see and of course he's still a beast. So yes, an okay show but I'm only going to remember it for being the first AEW/NJPW joint show, hopefully we get more of these and hopefully we see Ishii vs. Miro & Goto having a singles match."
[9.0] "Overall an excellent PPV. Match quality was fantastic from both a wrestling and storytelling perspective and the card felt stacked without the same exhausting feeling that Double or Nothing had this year. Moxley vs Tanahashi was worthy of its properly drawn out build, Ospreay vs Cassidy somehow exceeded expectations despite it being arguably my most hyped match of the night, and I've never lost my mind over a surprise entrance like I did with Shibata. Claudio was a perfect surprise opponent and put on an absolute banger with ZSJ. My only real setbacks were both the interference post-main event that made it feel like they cared more about building for Blood and Guts than they ever did Forbidden Door, and the awkward-feeling ending of the IWGP Title match which still doesn't take away from the pure talent shown by all four guys. Hopefully they can pull a crossover like this off again, this one was a blast."
[10.0] "Entertaining show all around. PPV of the year so far with many great moments. The only gripe would be the four-way finish which seemed like an injury from Cole. Minus the finish that match was still great. AEW will have an interesting time building up to All Out and trying to top this show. I can only see that happening if Punk/Mox and Bucks/FTR 3 are on that card. Amazing show overall and was thoroughly entertained."
[8.0] "Pretty good show as a whole, with some abolute bangers and some piles of garbage still called matches. I'm pretty happy of the show overall, I expected to be dissapointed (as I often am with both NJPW and AEW shows), but this time they delivered. The show isn't perfect, but is still a very very good show that I'd recommend to almost anyone."
[9.0] "Pretty good show overall. Close to being historically great, but the last two matches had weird finishes and ending the show with a build-up for another AEW PPV/TV event feels weird given this was an NJPW co-promoted show. Other than that, most of the matches were good to great and the Shibata moment was very cool to see."
[10.0] "I think we all agree when we say that this is the best PPV of the year, by far, what a great job by both companies to make the whole wrestling world come together to enjoy this great event. Simply, thanks."
[10.0] "PPV of the year no doubt about it. For a card that was so cursed and messed up this exceeded all my expectations. Mostly every match was good to amazing and the crowd was alive the whole show, You had huge surprises like Claudio and Shibata and wrestler like Clark Connor and Shota Umino getting over with the US crowd. This show was All Out 2021 levels for me."
