AEW Forbidden Door 2022: Results, Live Updates and Match Ratings

We got a piledriver mere minutes into this match, so you knew it was going to escalate to high places. Jon Moxley ended up a bloody mess after about 10 minutes of action here, after Tanahashi hit him with a Slingblade. (Which means Mox bladed too deep -- I'm assuming the Slingblade didn't hardway him.) By that point, we'd seen Moxley Piledrive Tanahashi and slam him through a table on the outside.

Moxley was seriously bloodied up, with a bright crimson mask. But he fought back, planting Moxley with a Paradigm Shift DDT for a two count. Tanahashi caught Moxley with a stiff knee, then took him down with a splash from the top rope. He then landed his High Fly Flow finisher -- essentially a Frogsplash -- for a two count. Moxley rolled out of the pin into a Bulldog choke. 

With his blood dripping all over Tanahashi, it was a brutal sight. 

They exchanged roll-up attempts, then Moxley smashed Tanahashi with a huge clothesline -- but he only got a one count. He began to hulk up, but Moxley blitzed him with elbows and put him in the rear-naked choke. As he choked him, the crowd chanted "Go ace!" 

Tanahashi managed to stand to his feet, but Moxley transitioned out into a Paradigm Shift for the win.

After the match, the Jericho Appreciation Society came to the ring to beat up Moxley and Tanahashi to set up their clash at Blood and Guts on Wednesday. Eddie Kingston and the Blackpool Combat Club came down followed by Claudio Castagnoli. Castagnoli cleared house, hitting flying elbows on everyone and then a Giant Swing on Garcia. 

Rating: 4 stars. It was a strong main event. Tanahashi's knees are obviously in bad shape, as you can tell when he runs around the ring. That's nothing new though and, as in the past, he worked his way into a great match. It ended slightly prematurely though. As he hulked up towards the end, the crowd got behind him in a major way -- but that's exactly when Moxley beat him. An extra few minutes would have been welcome. 

Jay White is still IWGP Champion, but the story of this match is likely to be the botch ending. Jay White pinned Adam Cole after Adam Cole... collapsed for no reason. It appeared that he was meant to be hit with a Rainmaker from Kazuchika Okada first, but he accidentally dodged it -- then sold it afterward. It's possible that Adam Cole was injured at some point.

This match at first almost had a flavor of a Tornado Tag. Jay White and Adam Cole are buddies and distinct heels, so the opening minutes focused on them working over one or both of the good guys. The highlight of this was Adam Cole clocking Hangman Page with a Superkick while Page was midair, in the middle of a Moonsault attempt. 

Eventually, of course, the facade of friendship cracked. With Page and Okada out, Cole talked Jay White into double teaming Page. As White walked off to do that, Cole hit him with a Backcracker. Jay White ended up getting the advantage, hitting a dragon suplex on Cole -- and then Okada, and then Page. Cole then surprised White with a Boom Knee, but was cut down by a Shotgun Dropkick from Okada, who in turn ate a Discuss Clothesline from Page. The crowd chants "this is awesome!" as all four are laid out.

Hangman Page attempted to cinch the match with a Buckshot Lariat on White, but he's stopped by Cole. Page kicks off Cole, then takes both Cole and Okada out with a Moonsault to the outside. After distraction from Gedo, who manages Jay White, Page hits a Deadeye and then a Buckshot Lariat on White, but the pinfall is broken up.

From there Okada was the star of the match, wrestling a sequence with Adam Page and then Adam Cole. There was a super creative spot where Okada attempted a Rainmaker clothesline on Cole but Cole dodged, but at that precise moment Page attempted a Buckshot Lariat on Okada. Okada dodged and swung Page into a Rainmaker, but before he could hit it Cole clocked him with a Superkick.

It was a bit of a Superkick party after that, with Cole hitting a number of them on both Okada and Page. 

But here's where everything went wrong.

Okada did a Mitchinoku Driver on Adam Cole to setup a Rainmaker. Okada tried to hit the Rainmaker, but Cole ducked it -- but then collapsed. Jay White ran in and took out Okada with the Switchblade, but then pinned Adam Cole.

It appears Cole was meant to be laid out by the Rainmaker, but he ducked it.

Rating: 3.75 stars. Terrific match, but taken down a peg by the botched finish.

Bryan Danielson's replacement, and new member of the the Blackpool Combat Club, is Claudio Castignoli -- the former Cesaro.

The match started with a bang, as Castagnoli immediately landed a huge flying uppercut and then planted ZSJ with the Neutralizer. The crowd bought it as a finish, but Zack Sabre kicked out. The crowd was all in. Claudio beat ZSJ around the ring, but the tied turned when he tried another flying uppercut but Sabre moved, leading to Castagnoli crashing into the barricade.

These two worked a match that highlighted their respective strengths: Zack Sabre's technical wrestling and Castagnoli's inhuman strength. The epitome of this was late in the match, where ZSJ had a triangle shoulder lock on, and Castagnoli powered up and dumped ZSJ over the top rope -- but ZSJ held on to the submission, pulling Cladio to the outside. From there, Claudio hoisted ZSJ up and, holding his bodyweight with one arm, waled from the outside and up the ring steps to the apron, where he dumped him inside.

Claudio attempted a Giant Swing, much to the crowd's delight, but ZSJ cut him off. After some more back and forth, Castagnoli managed to get Zack Sabre into the Giant Swing but, because ZSJ had worked his body over so thoroughly, his arm gave up. When he tried a Sharpshooter, Zack Sabre countered it into a sweet heel hook, but Claudio eventually got out.

Zack Sabre attempted a Penalty Kick, but Claudio, who was on his knees, shrugged it off and told ZSJ to hit him harder. Hit him harder he did, blitzing Castagnoli with a series of snug kicks. Claudio ate them all, then rolled out of a rollup attempt. He hit ZSJ with a pop-up uppercut, a huge rolling clothesline and a powerbomb for the win.

Rating: 4.25 sars. Perfect combination. It's awesome to see Claudio in AEW, but just as much credit deserves to go to Zack Sabre Jr. He's so awesome to watch.

Will Ospreay defeated Orange Cassidy, retaining his IWGP United States Championship. After the match, Ospreay and his lackeys Aussie Open attacked Cassidy -- but Cassidy was saved by Katsuyori Shabata!

These two on paper looked like an unusual match up, but they worked together exceptionally well. That's not a surprise: Ospreay is easily one of the best in the world, and Cassidy has proven he can hang. 

As you could predict, the opening section of the match was largely theatrics. Cassidy put his hands in his pockets from the get go, and wrestled that way for the first few sequences. It was largely Cassidy trying to throw Ospreay off his game. Ospreay did a good job at letting Cassidy get the better of him, but not so much that he looked like an idiot. 

Tremendous nearfall where Cassidy, after taking out Aussie Open on the outside, spiked Ospreay with a top-rope DDT. Ospreay kicked out at 2.9 seconds, a great job on his part of powering out at just the right time. It was the same story moments later where Orange Cassidy planted Ospreay with a Beach Break -- after luring him in by playing possum on the ground -- and Ospreay kicked out at the last microsecond. 

Cassidy took off his elbow pad and attempted an Orange Punch, but Ospreay countered and landed an Ospreay Cutter. Ospreay tried a Stormbreaker, but this time Cassidy countered into a sick Frankenstein. Ospreay powered out of the pinfall and landed a Hidden Blade for a two count, which the crowd couldn't believe. He immediately followed up with a Stormbreaker for the win.

After the match, Aussie Open jumped in the ring and started beating on Cassidy. Roppongi Vice ran in to try and save him, but they got dispatched quickly. We then got treated to a rare appearance by Katsuyori Shibata, a Japanese legend who was briefly retired following a brain injury in 2017. Shibata stormed the ring and kicked everyone's ass. Afterwards, Orange Cassidy put his sunglasses on Shibata and posed with his thumbs up. It ruled.

Rating: 4.25 stars.

Thunder Rosa is still AEW Women's Champion after defeating Toni Storm in a strong match. Rosa, a protege of Dustin Rhodes, leaned into Rhodes' offense throughout the match, pinning Storm after a Final Reckoning.

These women worked very hard. There was a particularly gnarly sequence on the outside which saw Thunder Rosa give Toni Storm a Northern Lights Suplex on the outside, then Toni Storm did a German Suplex to Rosa on the apron, and then followed it up with a Tornado DDT onto the ground. 

Storm hit Rosa with her running Hip Attack in the corner. That really should be her finishing move, it looks like it hurts so much. Rosa fought back with a sweet busaiku knee and then a Fire Thunder Driver, but Storm kicked out.

The announcer's said Storm was Rosa's toughest challenge yet, but only about a minute later Rosa planted Storm with a Final Reckoning -- Dustin Rhodes' finishing move -- to get the win.

Rating: 3.5 stars. This was very good, but ended a little prematurely. It felt like Rosa got the win just as the match was kicking into high gear. They worked very well together, hopefully it's not their last showdown.

This match had a fantastic opening. Darby Allin and Shingo Takagi made their entrance, but no one came out when Sting's music played. The Young Bucks and El Phantasmo made their entrance, but after they posed on stage the lights cut out. When they came back on, Sting was perched up on top of the entrance way. He took out The Bullet Club with a huge splash. 

Much of the matches first half was The Young Bucks and El Phantasmo working over Darby Allin. They had a contest to see who could do the most absurd back rake on Allin -- there was a lot of flossing going on here.

The good guys began to mount a comeback when Sting got a hot tag. He punched and chopped his way through the Bucks and Phantasmo, then it was Stinger Splash dejure. He hit the splash on Phantasmo, then both Bucks separately and finally both Bucks together. He attempted to lock in the Scorpion Death Lock on Phantasmo, but Bullet Club goon Hikuleo provided interference. Phantasmo then punched String right in the crotch. 

The Young Bucks slid in and began a Superkick Party on everyone. They hit stereo Superkicks on Sting, but he no sold it, beat his chest and clotheslined the Bucks. He then collapsed and tagged in Darby Allin.

Of all the things AEW is good at, treating Sting like a star, and retaining his big-star feeling, is one of the best.

Allin attempted a Coffin Drop on Matt Jackson, but Jackson got his knees up. From there the Bullet Club hit a series of athletic moves on everyone. Springboard moonsaults, top-rope splashes, stereo Suicide Dives. Sting teased a Suicide Dive of his own but The Bucks and Phantasmo hit him with a triple Superkick.

The Bucks tried a BTE Trigger on Sting, but he dodged it and their knees clanged together. String planted them with double Scorpion Death Drop. With Hikuleo distracting the ref again, Sting got his payback by kicking Phantasmo in the balls.

Shingo Takagi, apparently the legal man, hit a huge clothesline on El Phantasmo and then pinned him after hitting his Last of the Dragon finishing move. 

Rating: 3.75 stars. Lots of fun, mostly as a spotlight for Sting. 

Pac became the first ever AEW All Atlantic Champion when he defeated Miro, Malakai Black and Clark Connors in a Fatal Four Way.  Does AEW have too many titles? Sure, but this was a lot of fun. 

Clark Connors has the smallest profile of anyone in the match, but got one of the biggest pops. A table was set up by the barricade outside, with both Pac and Malakai Black trying to put Miro through it. Miro fought both off, but ate a huge spear from Connors through the table, which the crowd loved. For good reason too -- it was a sick spear.

As Connors ran wild in the ring he got a "Let's go Clarke!" chant, but Pac cut him off. Pac attempted a Black Arrow, but Black cut him off. We then got the classic four way spot: Connors and Black went for a double superplex, but Miro slipped underneath and powerbombed Black and Clarke.

Miro then chucked out both Clarke and Black, then obliterated Pac with a huge kick. Miro locked in the Game Over for a great false finish -- Pac's face was going purple, and it looked like he would tap out. Black made the save by spitting black mist into Miro's face. Connors then jumped in the ring, but Black caught him with a flying armbar.

Pac scaled the ropes and hit a 450 Splash on Malakai Black, who had Connors in the armbar. He then rolled Connors into a Brutalizer, getting the submission win. 

Rating: 3.75 stars. The match was good, the finishing sequence was tremendous.

FTR's hot streak continues. After an excellent tag team match, Dax Harwood pinned Roppongi Vice's Rocky Romero after FTR hit Romero with a Big Rig. FTR are now both the Ring of Honor and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. 

The story of the match revolved around an injury. In one of the opening spots, Harwood landed an elbow drop on Romero. He immediately dropped to his shoulder and rolled out of the ring. Moments later, the referee walked Harwood to the back. It looked like a freak accident would put Harwood out of the match. To make matters worse, Romero slightly botched a clothesline on Cash Wheeler which bloodied up Wheeler's lip. It looked like the wheels were falling off this one.

Nope! It was all a work. (Except maybe that stiff clothesline.) Wheeler fought valiently against both United Empire and Roppongi Vice, but eventually had to tag out of the match. From there Jeff Cobb and the Great O'Kahn battled with Romero and Trent Baretta. The crowd didn't dislike either team, but lost a bit of interest. FTR were certainly the stars of the match.

Naturally, things picked up when Harwood made his return. As he walked back to the ring, shoulder all taped up, the crowd popped huge. Harwood took out United Empire on his lonesome, whaling on both and then blitzing Cobb with a series of suplexes -- very impressive for Cobb's size. 

Both United Empire and Roppongi Vice got nearfalls that the crowd bought as finishes, but in the end the match was FTR's. Harwood and Romero were in the ring, exchanging pinfall attempts when Wheeler snuck into the ring behind Romero. FTR planted him with a great Big Rig for the win.

Rating: 4 stars. The format of this match didn't make sense: It was one of those silly tag matches where there's three teams but only two people in the ring. Tagging someone in from another team makes no sense, so the premise is weak. But if you can forgive that -- as I suspect most people can -- this was great.

FTR were the stars of the match. The crowd cheered loud for their entrance, but was quiet for both United Empire and Roppongi Vice. Throughout the match, they popped when either FTR member did anything, but would be subdued for the other teams. But by final stretch, the crowd was into everything everyone was doing. These six guys worked together to get the crowd not just into FTR, but into the match.

This was a chaotic opening match, but in the best way. Packed with action, it was a fun six-man tag that set the tone for what's sure to be an insane night. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki won after Jericho hit the Judas Effect on Shota Umino. 

As a result, the Jericho Appreciation Society gets the advantage going into Blood and Guts against the Blackpool Combat Club on Wednesday. 

They showed footage of Jericho attacking Shota Umino in New Japan back when Umino was just a trainee, which was very cool. It began with Wheeler Yuta squaring off with Jericho, hitting him with a bunch of German Suplexes, but it quickly broke down into a six-person melee.

The first big pop came when Eddie Kingston tagged in to confront Jericho, but Jericho tagged out to Suzuki. The crowd popped huge for it. Suzuki got the best of the exchange, leading to "Suzuki!" chants from the Chicago crowd.

It was all back-and-forth action from there on. There was a spot where all three members of Jericho's team got submissions on the other team. When Shoota Umino was running wild, Sammy Guevara cut him off which a sick Shooting Star Press from the top rope to the outside. We got follow up drives from Wheeler Yuta and Eddie Kingston. Suzuki teased doing a suicide dive but stopped at the last moment, laughing and taunting the crowd.

In the ring, Eddie Kingston clocked Suzuki with a spinning back first. Jericho broke up the pin, but he ate a Shotgun Dropkick from Umino. Guevara hit Umino with a Springboard Cutter, but then Wheeler Yuta surprised Guevara with a top-rope splash for a two count -- and the first "this is awesome!" chant of the night. 

From there, the final stretch of the match focused mostly on Jericho and Umino. 

Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Umino but only got a two count (not a big pop from the crowd which means they didn't buy it as a finish). Jerircho tried some turnbuckle offense, but Umino countered with a top-rope powerslam, which was very cool. 

There was then a great sequence when Sammy hit Umino in the back with the baseball bat. While he was selling, Jericho went for a Judas Effect. Umino dodged it then planted Jericho with a Tornado DDT-Brainbuster combo. Umino put Jericho in the Walls of Jericho, but it was broken up by Suzuki and Guevara.

Umino fought off both Suzuki and Guevara, but was then hit with a Judas Effect and pinned by Jericho.

Rating: 4 stars.