AEW: Jay White retains IWGP heavyweight title

CHICAGO — Jay White is remaining the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion after a hard-fought fatal four-way at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. Kazuchika Okada received the largest ovation of the four during match introductions. Before a single grapple would occur to start the match, the excitement could have blown off the ceiling of the United Center. Former Bullet Club allies Adam Cole and Jay White tried to work together against the babyfaces Adam Page and Okada. Most of the early action was White against Okada and Cole against Page. Cole and White would pair up to deliver a suplex on Page onto the entrance ramp. Adam Cole would then hit a hangman’s neckbreaker on Okada. Cole hit the former AEW World Champion Page with a pump kick. Page came back with a fallaway slam on Cole, a plancha on White, and a top rope lariat on Cole for a near fall. The momentum switched when Page was caught with a superkick from Cole while attempting a moonsault. The match left Okada in a 2-on-1 handicap against Cole and White.

Okada takes the momentum

Okada took the momentum with a series of attacks. He attacked cole with an elbow, followed by a flapjack on White. Okada then dropkicked Cole off the turnbuckles. He then tosses Cole and White over the barricade before diving onto both men over the barricade. Action returns to the ring as Okada locked on Cole with the Money Clip before White broke it up. White planted Okada on the mat with a Saito Suplex, then went for a German suplex on Page. However, Page flipped through and got a jackknife cover for a two count.

Bullet Club alliance short-lived

Cole broke up the alliance, turning on White with a backstabber followed by an ushigoroshi for a near fall. White’s momentum was brief, taking Cole down with a chop. He would follow that with sleeper suplexes on all three opponents. Okada and Page exchanged boo/yay forearms with Cole and White. Page caught Okada with a boot, Cole with a clothesline, and White with a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall. He would follow with a top-rope moonsault to the floor on Okada and Cole. Page went for the Buckshot Lariat once again, but it was avoided by White. White went for the Bladerunner, but it was countered into the Deadeye and then the Buckshot Lariat. Okada broke up the pinfall attempt. This left Okada and Page in the ring. Okada went for a tombstone and the Rainmaker, but they were avoided by Page. Page tried to go for the Buckshot, but he was tripped up by Cole and hit Okada with the Panama Sunrise. Okada would counter a neckbreaker, dropping Cole with a top-rope elbow. He missed two attempts at the Rainmaker on Cole, getting a pair of superkicks before Okada came back with a dropkick. Okada hit a landslide on Cole and went for another Rainmaker. However, White ran in and hit Okada with the Bladerunner. White dumped Okada, pinning Cole for the victory.

AEW post-match analysis

Cole did appear to be injured after the match. Some rumors state that it may have messed up the match. This could potentially be the deal as White said something to the referee post-match. Jim Ross noted from the commentary booth how abrupt the match’s ending was. The Young Bucks came out and exchanged words with White as he left. Their capacity was to check on the status of Cole. AEW commentator Excalibur later made it a point to mention during the match replays that Cole left the arena under his own power. Winner: Jay White via pinfall (21:02)

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