Jim Ross Believes Recent AEW PPV May Have Been Too Long

AEW's most recent pay-per-view saw the company collaborate with NJPW to put on Forbidden Door, a show that featured multiple stars from both companies going head to head, and in some cases teaming, with people from the opposite promotion. The event, which included nine matches on the main card, lasted almost four hours — significantly shorter than AEW's longest PPV, Double or Nothing 2022, which took place shortly before Forbidden Door and came perilously close to hitting the five-hour mark, but still somewhat lengthy.

While on Grilling JR, WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW announcer Jim Ross discussed the length of the recent AEW X NJPW show.

"I thought that [Forbidden Door] was exceptional," Ross said. "It was long, that was maybe a negative for some people, but the talent worked their asses off and that, to me, is where it starts and ends. Great effort and preparation ... We had a lot of show-stopping matches and a lot of matches where guys put on spots to raise their game. For example, the very unique Orange Cassidy, who is a gimmick guy, had a hell of a match with Will Ospreay, who's a much better wrestler than is Orange Cassidy, but we saw Orange Cassidy could wrestle. He did the honors, he lost the match, so what? I just enjoyed the hell out of that show."

Ospreay defended the IWGP United States Championship against Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door in a contest with a hot crowd and fast-paced action for the majority of its duration. Ospreay retained his title after hitting Cassidy with a Stormbreaker after almost 17 minutes of action; the match was almost universally praised.

AEW's next Pay-Per-View, All Out, will take place in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, September 4th.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.