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

3. Good Match, Even Better Achievement

Toni Storm
AEW

In terms of duration and heat, Willow Nightingale Vs. Toni Storm was a glorified TV match. It was a very good TV match, but it hardly threatened to become truly special.

At the same time, these wrestlers did do something of which very few people are capable: they followed a blow-away awesome Young Bucks pay-per-view match and actually got the crowd invested. It helped massively that Willow treated it as a major deal. It didn't matter to her that this was positioned in the cool-down slot. She was too intensely into her character and performance to sell that, and Toni Storm as a composed ring general made for a compelling dynamic.

The fans were into this by the finishing stretch, and while the odd shortcut to a pop was taken - the Death Valley Driver on the ring apron - this wasn't a hollow attempt to do stuff that gets over but rather a committed story told of a spirited loss taken away by daylight robbery. That is the case with every single match involving the Outcasts, granted, but the key difference here is that Willow is so endearing that the cheating and interference feels like a transgression.

Were this to have taken place on an episode of Dynamite, people would be raving about its physicality and emotion; as it is, it should be praised for absolutely no-selling the death spot.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!