Did NJPW Dominion Set Up Two of the Biggest Matches of the Year for Forbidden Door?

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Dominion took place this weekend, featuring several All Elite Wrestling stars (Lance Archer, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castagnoli to name a few), so it makes sense that the show helped build to the upcoming AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door show in Toronto later this month. Let’s look at what may have been set in motion at NJPW Dominion.

NJPW Dominion Set Up for Forbidden Door

The first potential match build occurred when Will Ospreay defeated Lance Archer to become the number one contender for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Of course, that title is held by AEW star Kenny Omega.

Following his victory, Ospreay stated that he would “will walk into Canada” to challenge for the title, clearly alluding to the Forbidden Door event.

Will Ospreay was defeated by Kenny Omega for the US title at Wrestle Kingdom 17, in what many called the match of the year, despite the fact that it happened in January. If the two meet up once again at Forbidden Door, it will almost certainly be another classic bout.

However, Ospreay/Omega II wasn’t the only potential match that was set up at Dominion. After Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli (along with Shota Umino) lost to Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, and Hiroshi Tanahashi in a six-man tag match, Moxley introduced a video promo featuring his Blackpool Combat Club partner Bryan Danielson.

In the promo, Danielson challenged Okada to a match.

This could legitimately be one of the biggest matches of the year. Both Okada and Danielson are two of the best wrestlers in the world right now, and a one-on-one match between the two at this stage in their careers is a definite dream match.

Dream Matches at Forbidden Door

While last year’s Forbidden Door event was well received by fans and critics alike, some criticized its lack of build and true “dream matches.” Of course, a lot of that may have been due to the series of injuries that struck AEW at the time (Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, etc.). This time, however, it looks like two of the biggest possible matches have already been booked for the show – which is certainly a good sign.

Of course, no one can predict injuries or other issues, but if all goes well, Forbidden Door could be a truly special event – and that’s with just two matches lined up. So far, stars such as Jon Moxley, Jay White, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay, etc.) could still potentially be booked for the show. There could also be matches involving the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA and the current AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (despite the fact that MJF has said in character that he doesn’t want to wrestle on the show).

In short, it looks like this year’s show could live up to what many expected from the event when it was initially announced over a year ago.