10 NJPW Matches To Watch Before AEW Forbidden Door
A ten-match NJPW crash course for AEW fans ahead of June's Forbidden Door PPV.
While a good portion of the AEW audience is up to date with what's going on in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the upcoming Forbidden Door pay-per-view will be the first large-scale exposure to the promotion for a number of viewers. Outside of the few appearances of KENTA, Jay White, Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii, the two companies haven't interacted much on television.
AEW can, at times, be too reliant on its audience understanding the history of their stars in other promotions - we all remember the Miseria Cantare incident, right? It's refreshing to have our knowledge respected by a wrestling company, but sometimes it takes more than a rapid-fire Excalibur exposition dump to get everyone up to speed.
NJPW can be intimidating to jump into unaided, with fewer promos and the language barrier making it a bit harder to connect with the product. But give it a chance, and you'll be rewarded with some great characters and stories. There are plenty of matches that could have made this list, but here are ten matches to introduce you to the in-ring style and the big stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling, with the help of a few familiar faces.
10. Chris Jericho Vs. Kenny Omega - Wrestle Kingdom 12
When Kenny Omega closed the show at Power Struggle in November 2017, he requested a challenge for his IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. The video that appeared on the screen revealed Chris Jericho, making his first non-WWE appearance since he signed with the company in 1999. Jericho laid out the challenge for Wrestle Kingdom - New Japan's biggest show of the year on 4 January in the Tokyo Dome.
The clash was made a No Disqualification match after a series of Jericho attacks, and the two went to war for the US Title in the semi-main event. Chairs, tables, the genesis of Jericho's camera middle finger spot, even then-Young Lion Shota Umino being put in the Walls of Jericho; this match delivered when it came to spots. It was an American-style hardcore match in a promotion that rarely features such contests, and served as an introduction to NJPW for many wrestling fans at the time.
The match was given five stars by Dave Meltzer, and was a driving factor in the NJPW World streaming service gaining 25,000 new subscribers for the event. It was the beginning of Jericho and Omega's feud, which would continue at All In and culminate in AEW. While All In was the first tangible step, this match played a big part in the genesis of AEW.