In December 2019, Hiroshi Tanahashi was ready to kick down the Forbidden Door.
Tanahashi used the "forbidden door" term in an interview with Tokyo Sports ahead of his Wrestle Kingdom 14 bout against Chris Jericho, who was the reigning AEW World Champion at the time. Since then, the term has become common in wrestling and is the name of Sunday's AEW and NJPW joint event.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Tanahashi is ready to shine at Forbidden Door.
“I will be the star of Forbidden Door,” Tanahashi said. “I mean, I did think of the name after all. When I first used the term, it was three years ago, and AEW had really only just gotten started. I don’t think anyone really knew how they would develop, but they had some great talent behind them, and I knew we would be onto something great if we crossed over. So coining that phrase, it was my way of putting things into the universe.”
Tanahashi is set to headline Forbidden Door when he takes on Jon Moxley for the Interim AEW World Title.
Speaking about his opponent on Sunday, Tanahashi said, “If it’s up to him, this will get wild. But I’m expecting that. I can fight fire with fire. He’s a good bit bigger than me, and he has a reputation for being a street fighter. But he’s really precise with every little thing he does. Moxley rarely makes mistakes, and I respect that about him.”
Moxley and Tanahashi teamed on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite to defeat Jericho & Lance Archer in tag team action.
Fans can check out the current lineup for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door by clicking here.
