Stardom & CMLL To Be Part Of AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2024

This year's Forbidden Door will feature AEW, NJPW, Stardom, and CMLL.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door CMLL Stardom
AEW/CMLL/Bushiroad

With Stardom President Taro Okada in attendance for last night's AEW Dynamite: Big Business - as revealed by Tony Khan posting a picture of himself with Okada backstage at Boston's TD Garden - it's now being reported that both Stardom and CMLL will be a part of this year's Forbidden Door event.

Speaking on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that these two promotions will be involved in the annual crossover PPV that's so far been a collaboration between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

As Meltzer simply stated:

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"There will be Stardom and CMLL wrestlers on the Forbidden Door show when they do that show in June."

The Observer founder also noted how Tony Khan's somewhat childish X post wishing Stardom co-founder Rossy Ogawa farewell after Ogawa was fired by Bushiroad earlier this year, was seen as loyalty towards the Stardom brand - which was purchased by NJPW parent company Bushiroad in 2019.

Of course, Rossy Ogawa had already given notice and was in the process of leaving Bushiroad prior to his firing, with the organisation opting to terminate him a couple of weeks ahead of that planned departure. Bushiroad alleged Ogawa was attempting to poach talent ahead of setting up a new promotion, which are allegations Rossy publicly denied.

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In the time since that firing, Ogawa has put in motion plans to indeed launch a new wrestling company, with many Stardom talents expected to join this burgeoning promotion once their existing deals expire in March. One such talent is Giulia, who credits Rossy Ogawa with launching her career and intends to help him out before she joins WWE later in the year.

As well as Forbidden Door, there's also a belief that some Stardom talent - in particular, AZM and Mina Shirakawa - could work ROH Supercard of Honor on 5 April.

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While no exact date has been announced as of this writing, Forbidden Door 2024 will take place in June from New York City's Arthur Ashe Stadium.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.