AEW Officially Advertises Major Championship Match For Forbidden Door

We don’t know who will face “Switchblade” Jay White for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door on Sunday in Chicago, but we do know that perhaps the title will indeed be defended.

AEW listed the event’s current card in a press statement on Tuesday morning about Forbidden Door being screened in select cinema theatres throughout the US, listing White as having to defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against an opponent yet to be selected. This is AEW’s first formal confirmation that the bout will happen.

White featured in a segment with “Hangman” Adam Page and Adam Cole on this week’s edition of “AEW Dynamite.”

After laying down Page, White took to the microphone and said, “If I’m going to put my title on the stake at Forbidden Door, it’s not going to be against you, mate.” White then told Cole that he, too, would not be receiving a championship bout.

While commentator Jim Ross appeared to interpret White’s words as confirmation that the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be contested at Forbidden Door, White’s particular language left the issue somewhat ambiguous, making AEW’s dramatic press release a welcome clarification.

As of this writing, White has only had the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for nine days, having won it from Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion on June 12.

According to previous rumors, Okada would defend his title against Page in a singles competition, or potentially against Page and Cole in a three-way bout.

Following White’s triumph, speculation moved to a possible White/Cole/Page three-way, but White seemed to put an end to the concept last week.

It should be emphasized, however, that although the press release seems to imply a singles match, this narrative might go in any number of imaginative ways.

Six of the seven bouts in the press release are championship bouts, including the AEW Interim World Championship, the all-new AEW All-Atlantic Championship, the AEW Women’s Championship, the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Tag Team Championship, and also the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship. This week, more matchups are scheduled to be revealed.

As previously stated in the press release, Forbidden Door will be the next AEW event to be shown in select cinemas as part of AEW’s cooperation with Joe Hands Promotions.

The tournament will also be aired on standard pay-per-view channels as well as Bleacher Report.