If there’s one thing that the build for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2026 has been criticized for, it’s the lack of inclusion from the other companies involved in the show. New Japan Pro Wrestling, STARDOM, and CMLL are also part of the event, but up until very recently, it seemed like another standard AEW pay-per-view. However, that has since been changed thanks to matches like this, a three-way tag team match featuring representation from three different companies.
Representing AEW will be the “Founding Fathers” themselves, The Young Bucks. Flying the flag for CMLL will be two-thirds of El Sky Team, Mistico and Mascara Dorada, and fighting for the lion mark of NJPW will be Shingo Takagi and Titan (who is also contracted to CMLL) of Unbound Co.. Considering that Matt and Nick Jackson are the two names AEW fans are most familiar with, you would think that they would be a slam dunk pick for this match, but it’s not that simple.
Two nights before Forbidden Door takes place, Mistico and Mascara Dorada will challenge Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos of La Faccion Ingobrenable for the ROH World Tag Team Championships at the CMLL “Viernes Espectacular” event on June 25 inside Arena Mexico. If they were to win that match, Mistico and Dorada would be walking into this match as the only set of champions, and the likelihood of the new champions having their momentum carried on through Forbidden Door would rise dramatically, hence why the 36% that didn’t vote for The Young Bucks went for El Sky Team. They could pin Titan to keep The Young Bucks strong, give CMLL a much needed victory on the card, and everyone wins.
Having said all that, the story that is being told right now with the Jackson brothers is that they want their AEW World Tag Team Championships back, and they want to earn the spot of number one contenders by beating the best that the world, let alone AEW, has to offer. Having them lose at Forbidden Door, regardless of whether either Matt or Nick are pinned, doesn’t fit with that story. It would give CMLL or NJPW a nice moment, but that nice moment would undermine an AEW story that is yet to be paid off.
A bunch of matches on this show could be the match of the night, and this is no exception. It will be a sleeper hit for sure, and while we aren’t sleeping on El Sky Team getting the win, we’re putting our chips on the table and gambling on The Young Bucks walking away victorious. Sorry Titan and Shingo, you’ll still do great.
Written by Sam Palmer
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