AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door: FTR wins IWGP gold

CHICAGO — FTR has additional gold on their shelves after their triple threat tag match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door Sunday night.

Early injury match leads to going backstage with the AEW doctor

Early in the match, FTR’s Dax Harwood appeared to hurt his shoulder on an elbow drop. AEW doctor Michael Sampson checked on him, while Cash Wheeler was expressing concern. Harwood went to the back with Sampson.

Meltzer: Injury was all storyline

Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer would confirm on Twitter that the injury was all storyline. It resulted in Wheeler being alone and double-teamed by the United Empire’s Jeff Cobb and the Great O-Khan.

In-ring action continues

Roppongi Vice’s Trent Berretta got the tag from Wheeler and took out O-Khan with a half-and-half suplex. Trent went for a spinning DDT on Cobb, but it was blocked. Roppongi Vice and United Empire took the fight to the floor. Beretta hit O-Khan with a spear. He hit O-Khan with a sliding knee strike for a two-count near fall. Wheeler tagged himself back in and took the fight to United Empire. The match broke down in a rather fast fashion. However, it appeared that Wheeler was crawling to his own corner with no one to tag. Harwood came back to the ring with a huge pop. His shoulder was visibly taped up. Harwood got the tag and took the fight to Cobb and O-Khan. Harwood took out O-Khan with a clothesline followed by three rolling Germans on Cobb. Beretta and Harwood teamed up to superplex Cobb. Wheeler flew in off the top with a splash for a two-count. Wheeler and Romero then teamed up to spike piledriver O-Khan. While Beretta went for a Strong Zero on Cobb, Cobb countered with a powerbomb. The action went back and forth with each team getting their shots in.

FTR wins IWGP tag titles, adding to their title collection

Then, out of nowhere, FTR hit the Big Rig on Rocky Romero for the pinfall and won the IWGP World Tag Team Championships. They also retained the ROH World Tag Team Championships.

FTR wants to fight for AEW world tag titles

In a post-show media scrum, both Wheeler and Harwood stated that they would like to challenge to win back their AEW World Tag Team Championships.

Production notes

Caprice Coleman joined the commentary table for the match while ROH ring announcer Bobby Cruise handled ring introductions.

Post-match promo

Tony Schiavone interviewed Juice Robinson (with the IWGP US Title belt over his shoulder) and IWGP World Champion Jay White. Robinson said the Ospreay/Cassidy match is just to crown a number one contender. Winner: FTR via pinfall (16:21)

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