10 NJPW Matches To Watch Before AEW Forbidden Door

AEW audiences should be pretty familiar with Jay White. He appeared in February 2022 to aid The Elite in attacking Roppongi Vice twice before defeating Trent Beretta on Rampage, and again during the announcement of Forbidden Door.

White turned down an offer from Kenny Omega to join Bullet Club the night after Wrestle Kingdom 12 in 2018, instead joining CHAOS at the invitation of Kazuchika Okada. At the press conference announcing his arrival to the group, White warned Okada "watch your back, do not get to comfortable". Those words rang true when he turned on Okada and joined Bullet Club - who were now separating from the Elite - later in the year, along with Okada's long-time manager Gedo. Throughout the rest of the year, Bullet Club ran riot over NJPW, ruining matches in the G1 Climax and attacking anyone and everyone not wearing the black and white shirts. Long-time rivals Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi even joined forces to take on Bullet Club. But the payoff of this angle took place at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

Both men have had better matches - including one against each other a few months later in Madison Square Garden - but the storytelling makes this one a fine introduction to what these two wrestlers can do between the ropes.