Orange Cassidy To Take On Top International Star At AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2024

AEW x NJPW (x CMLL) Forbidden Door 2024 officially has its fifth match, and first non-title contest. In a video package on Saturday's "AEW Collision," NJPW star Zack Sabre Jr. laid out a challenge AEW's Orange Cassidy, demanding that Cassidy meet him in the ring on June 30.

"AEW fans, rejoice! You are listening to the dulcet tones of Zack Sabre Jr," said Sabre Jr. in the video package. "We are fast approaching that magical time of the bloody year, The Naughty Door, and it would not be complete without the greatest technical wrestler in the world, ZSJ. And this year I'm returning for some unfinished business. Freshly squeezed Orange Bollocks, if you've got the juicy bits, you'll get your ass to New York, June 30, Forbidden Door. I'll see you there, darling." 

Sabre Jr.'s mention of "unfinished business" refers to last year's Forbidden Door, where Sabre Jr. (along with Daniel Garcia and Katsuyori Shibata) failed to capture the AEW International Championship from Cassidy in a four-way match. Sabre Jr. wasn't pinned or made to submit during the match, making a return engagement a logical choice. Later in the broadcast, Cassidy — who's already having to deal with the dissolution of Best Friends and being turned on by Trent Beretta and Kris Statlander — seemed mostly just annoyed that Sabre Jr. was adding to his woes, but the match was made official before the show went off the air.

This will be the first one-on-one match between the two men, both of whom have appeared on every Forbidden Door card so far. In addition to last year's Intercontinental title match, Sabre Jr. and Cassidy both lost high-profile Forbidden Door matches in 2022, Sabre Jr. to a debuting Claudio Castagnoli (who filled in for an injured Bryan Danielson) and Cassidy to then-NJPW star Will Ospreay, who ironically now holds the International title.