Tony Khan Explains Adam Cole's Absence From AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2023

While this year's AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door remained free of the many derailments that plagued last year's show, one match did end up getting scrapped on the day of the show. Adam Cole was set to face off against Tom Lawlor, but was unfortunately pulled from the show due to an illness. During the post-show media scrum, AEW CEO Tony Khan commented on Cole's status.

"I'm sorry that they weren't able to have the match. It's just terrible. Adam Cole came sick today, and we had to send him home. We didn't want to get everybody else sick. Especially post-lockdown, I think the measures are very careful. He's a very tough guy, and he would to fight, but he came in with a fever. He's got what I think is a flu. I think he's going to be okay, I hope he's going to be okay. In this case, you've just got to be safe," Khan said, "Look forward to Adam Cole and MJF, and a number of other great pairings that we'll put together competing in the tag team tournament when he's better. But he wasn't cleared for tonight. When Tom Lawlor is available and not doing New Japan, I still think it'd be a great match. I wanted to give Tom Lawlor a match still on the show, so I did give Tom Lawlor a spot. He went out and took out his anger on Serpentico. [...] I know he enjoyed getting out to wrestle for the fans, but he did want to go out there and have a good match with Adam Cole."

While this year's show wasn't quite so bogged down by injuries as last year's, there was still an injury sustained during the show's main event. In his match with Kazuchika Okada, Bryan Danielson suffered a fractured forearm that will see him out of action for nearly two months.