AEW Forbidden Door: Will Ospreay Dethrones Kenny Omega in Another Instant Classic

By Connor Casey

Will Ospreay defeated Kenny Omega to win back the IWGP United States Championship at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday night, following their Match of the Year contender from Wrestle Kingdom 17 with another instant classic. But unlike their first bout, Don Callis played a heavy role in the match, repeatedly interfering from ringside (at one point even passing Ospreay the screwdriver he previously stabbed Omega with) and offering him insight into Omega's greatest weaknesses. Ospreay was finally able to put "The Cleaner" away with a Tiger Driver '91, a Hidden Blade and a Stormbreaker combination. 

Related:

While the win gives Ospreay some redemption for his Wrestle Kingdom loss, the defeat will undoubtedly continue Omega's blood feud with Callis. The man formerly known as "The Jackyl" previously cost Omega a Steel Cage Match against Jon Moxley, then corrupted Konosuke Takeshita to break from The Elite and side with The Blackpool Combat Club in the war between the two factions. Throughout it all, Callis repeatedly blamed Omega for causing the rift between the two.

"The problem is they (The Bucks) drag Kenny down," Callis explained prior to Double or Nothing. "You have one guy who is Albert Einstein and you have another couple of guys that just want to have fun. So I brought them into The Elite when I came here. Because I thought, 'Well, Kenny can't work all the time. He needs something that makes him happy other than me.' The problem is the Bucks are like wood ticks, they attach themselves and it's like an infection. Then all of a sudden Kenny wants to do trios matches. I had a vision for Kenny Omega and myself, we'd be a modern-day (Bobby) Heenan and (Nick) Bockwinkel. Kenny chose to be one of the Three Stooges with The Young Bucks."

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Results

  • Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) def. Roppongi Vice & El Desperado (Zero Hour)
  • Owen Hart Cup: Athena def. Billie Starkz  (Zero Hour)
  • El Phantasmo def. Stu Grayson (Zero Hour)
  • Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, TJP) vs.  (Zero Hour)
  • AEW World Championship: MJF def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk def. Satoshi Kojima
  • AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy def. Katsuyori Shibata, Zack Sabre Jr., Daniel Garcia
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada def. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
  • The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii def. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Konosukta Takeshita & Shota Umino 
  • AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm def. Willow Nightingale 
  • IWGP United States Championship: Will Ospreay def. Kenny Oemga
  • Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson 

Trending Now: