8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 (Review)

6. A Unique Ripper Of A Four-Way

A completely unique and very, very entertaining addition to the undercard, the four-way International title match was a great showcase of the synergy that exists between Tony Khan and his talent roster. Few others would have booked a multi-man technical showcase, but this was Tony Khan at his mad scientist best.

In a great early sequence, Daniel Garcia tried to get in on Zack Sabre, Jr and Katsuyori Shibata's strike exchange. They were having none of it, taking it in turns to slap the sports entertainer out of him. This was class; it was a funny bit in and of itself, positioned ZSJ and Shibata as deadly serious ass-kickers capable of winning the belt, and allowed Garcia to hide in plain sight deeper in the match as an opportunistic threat. Everybody, including the crowd, had taken their eye off him.

The submission attempts as saves thread worked brilliantly, perhaps even more so than the pinfall break-ups typical of the multi-man genre. The dramatic promise of a finish and the thrill of the match continuing was intensified here: every save doubled as a win attempt through this unique meeting of style and genre.

It never felt too contrived, either. While it was a novelty more than an ultra-serious title fight, in that nothing seemed to hurt each wrestler for too long, ZSJ punished Orange Cassidy's hand in one wince-inducing sequence to create a lingering thread of damage and set up a one on one meeting further down the line. Cassidy and Shibata deserve a sequel too, and this was also foreshadowed: Shibata had the match won before Cassidy threw him out of the ring.

One of the better stories in wrestling right now continued in a super creative way and set up two future chapters.