WWE’s Sasha Banks is yet to enter the AEW territory but she was reportedly set to debut at Forbidden Door 2023. But plans regarding her had to be canceled due to her ongoing injury which otherwise could have produced a huge match. Being a joint venture, the upcoming event would feature wrestlers from both the AEW and NJPW which had already set up some dream scenarios.
Sports Illustrated is reporting there have been “significant discussions” between AEW President Tony Khan and Sasha Banks, now going by the name of Mercedes Moné to be involved in a match at Forbidden Door 2023. An additional report from Fightful Select also confirmed that Khan was specifically interested in bringing the former IWGP Women’s Champion for the second cross-promotional pay-per-view.
AEW All In 2023: Reigning Champion Wants A Match With Veteran Saraya
The Fightful report says that Khan and Moné were talking about Forbidden Door 2023 as far back as January, just after she debuted in NJPW following her WWE departure. There are no confirmations on how far the talks between the two parties went ahead but Fightful did mention that there had been unconfirmed rumors of Moné possibly wrestling Saraya fka Paige in WWE.
Hopes of the match were over after Mercedes Mone sustained an injury at NJPW Resurgence on May 21st. She was competing against Willow Nightingale in that match and ended up suffering an ankle injury. Now, Willow has become the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, a title that was originally supposed to have gone to Mone.
Tony Khan had high hopes for AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door 2023
During an interview, Tony Khan acknowledged the injury challenges he faced during the first Forbidden Door event in 2022 but he also expressed confidence that AEW and NJPW would collaborate to deliver the best wrestling event in the form of Forbidden Door 2023,
“Last year’s Forbidden Door was a challenging time with a number of injuries and travel obstacles, and we were able to come together to put together the best event of the year in wrestling. This year’s Forbidden Door will be the best event either company has ever participated in.”
AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door 2023 pay-per-view took place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 25th. The event went down with no title changes from the AEW promotion.
