Tony Khan Confirms Latest PPV Buy Rate For AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door
AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door is the first Pay-Per-View event that featured stars from both companies, with some NJPW and AEW stars facing off against each other and others teaming up to face their enemies.
While on "Busted Open Radio", the owner of AEW, Tony Khan, confirmed what the buy rate was for the joint Pay-Per-View.
"The Forbidden Door Pay-Per-View was a huge success," Khan said. "We estimate about 127,000 buys right now and still, with replay, buys trickling in, it was ahead of all projections and expectations. And I absolutely would love to do it again, and I think that we will do it again going forward, I anticipate."
Forbidden Door was headlined by two World Championship matches, with the main event promising a new Interim AEW Champion while CM Punk is injured. In the second to last match, Jay White successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Adam Cole, 'Hangman' Adam Page, and former Champion Kazuchika Okada, pinning Cole for the win. In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the Interim AEW World Championship.
The PPV did not just see big matches, it also saw big debuts, as Claudio Castagnoli was revealed as the surprise opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. This was Castagnoli's first appearance inside a ring since February when he lost to Happy Corbin in under four minutes on an episode of WWE "Friday Night Smackdown." Castagnoli defeated Sabre Jr. after about 18 minutes of back and forth, in-ring action.
The surprises did not stop there, however, as after Will Ospreay defeated Orange Cassidy to retain the IWGP United States Championship, Katsuyori Shibata, who made his return to wrestling in late 2021 after suffering a life-threatening injury, made his mark, ensuring that the United Empire, Ospreay's faction, did not proceed to beat up Cassidy. Once the United Empire had been dealt with, instead of putting the glasses on himself, Cassidy put his famous glasses on Shibata.
In the undercard, Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki defeated Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino in the opening match, FTR retained their ROH Tag Title and won the IWPG Tag Team Championships by defeating the United Empire's Jeff Cobb and The Great O'Khan and Roppongi Vice, PAC became the inaugural All-Atlantic Champion by defeating Miro, Malakai Black, and Clark Connors, Sting, Darby Allin, and Shingo Takagi defeated the team of the Young Bucks and El Phantasmo, and Thunder Rosa defeated Toni Storm to retain the AEW Women's World Title.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open with a h/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.