Tony Khan's "Huge Announcement" Revealed On AEW Dynamite
On tonight's episode of AEW Dynamite, a previously advertised 'huge announcement' was made during the show by AEW President and founder, Tony Khan
As it's been speculated throughout the week, the announcement was New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling joining forces for a supershow later this Summer. It will take place on June 26 at the United Center in Chicago, and the show will be called "Forbidden Door".
But instead of Tony and New Japan President Takami Ohbari making the announcement like they were teasing, Adam Cole interrupted the segment and made the announcement, himself. He also revealed that this Friday on Rampage, he will go one-on-one against Tomohiro Ishii in an Owen Hart Tournament qualifying match.
'Switchblade' Jay White also interrupted the segment and said that the unifying of NJPW and AEW is all about The Undisputed Elite and The Bullet Club.
An AEW/New Japan Supershow is just the latest step in the partnership between the two sides, which began in February of 2021 when New Japan star KENTA attacked AEW star Jon Moxley on an episode of Dynamite. Since then, talents from both sides have worked together on New Japan Strong, AEW Dynamite, Rampage, and other shows from both organizations.
During this year, major AEW and New Japan stars have also teased working together in what some would consider 'dream matches'. In January, Kazuchika Okada brought up publicly his desire to wrestle CM Punk, as well as fellow AEW star Bryan Danielson. CM Punk then responded to Okada's comments by tweeting Okada the address for the United Center, telling Okada to see him there, which gave the first indication that a Supershow was on the horizon.
"I think this surprise is different than anything we've promoted before. We've had a lot of great surprise moments in AEW, and a lot of special nights on Dynamite. Without giving too much away, I think this is a unique announcement. I'm excited about this as anything we've worked on," Tony Khan told TV Insider prior to revealing the news.
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