12 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door

4. Will Ospreay Justifies His Reputation

Forbidden Door saw Will Ospreay enter the kind of performance that makes it easy to see why he is generally considered amongst the best in the world.

Opposite Orange Cassidy, Ospreay was at his repugnant best, successfully imparting hyper-athleticism, psychology, and his fantastic "obnoxious British person in a foreign land" character in one of the night's most impressive matches. Where once the United Empire's heel persona represented a tired Conor McGregor knockoff, this is no longer the case. Ospreay has made this role his own. You see it when he mockingly stuffs his own hands into Cassidy's pockets, lets himself fall for OC's tricks by reacting scornfully to those deliberately soft kicks, and walks the ring like a chihuahua with a ten-inch member.

Cassidy was tremendous here too. His schtick never gets tiring because he is continually evolving, always thinking of fresh spots and new ways to keep things interesting. Yes, he puts his hands in his pockets and uses insultingly weak strikes in every match, though his Eddie Guerrero tribute spot was genuinely inspired here. Luring Ospreay in by pretending to be injured when his back was turned, the moment was made even more electric when Will looked like he had countered it, flipping around OC several times, then ultimately ate a Beach Break.

Ospreay won, successfully defending the IWGP United States Championship. Juice Robinson and Katsuyori Shibata both took aim at him on this show, giving him a fresh set of matches to enhance his already strong Wrestler of the Year case.