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Team Ospreay Emerges Victorious At Forbidden Door; Moxley Strikes After Cage Match

Will Ospreay is expected to have neck surgery following Forbidden Door. He'll be away from AEW indefinitely.
Lyric Swinton|
All Elite Wrestling - Lee South

When a Lights Out Steel Cage match was announced for Forbidden Door, mayhem was expected and this evening in the O2 Arena, it was delivered.

Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Darby Allin defeated the team of the Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd, and the Young Bucks after a brutal 32-minute battle in a widened steel structure.

There were several jaw-dropping moments in the match, including a leap off the steel cage from Will Ospreay, Wheeler Yuta falling from the side of the cage through the Japanese announce table, and Darby Allin and Gabe Kidd crashing through a tower of tables. Perhaps the most harrowing moment came after Jon Moxley handcuffed himself to Darby Allin and stuck a metal fork through his earlobe to create a bloody mess.

Elsewhere in the match, several existing rivalries and relationships were revisited. Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega worked in tandem as the Golden Lovers, bringing back their tag team offense and quarreling once again with the Young Bucks, their former friends and a team they notably battled years ago in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Kenny Omega also crossed paths with Gabe Kidd in a continuation of their rivalry dating back to January's Wrestle Dynasty.

At times in the match when the Death Riders were at their most volatile, Will Ospreay protected the body of his former boss and mentor, Hiroshi Tanahashi, with his own.

In the end, it was the teamwork of Ospreay and Omega via a Hidden Blade/One Winged Angel combination that created an opening for the Ace to pin Matt Jackson after a High Fly Flow from the top rope. Tanahashi main-evented the first Forbidden Door in 2022 and came up short against Jon Moxley. Tonight, he main-evented his final Forbidden Door before he retires in January 2026 with a win over Moxley's team.

What's Next For Will Ospreay?

Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay | All Elite Wrestling - Lee South

The babyface team celebrated together in the ring before leaving Ospreay alone in the cage to presumably say his goodbyes to the crowd in his home country of England before going away for neck surgery. It seemed like the PPV would end on that note, but then the Death Riders swooped in for the attack, closing the cage and leaving Ospreay's teammates helpless to stop them.

By the time the AEW World Trios Champions, The Opps, ran out to help open the cage to make the save, it was too late. The Death Riders wedged Ospreay's neck in a steel chair and followed with a curbstomp from Moxley. Needless to say, Ospreay is expected to be out indefinitely and has officially been written off AEW TV to jump-start his road to recovery.

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Lyric Swinton
LYRIC SWINTON

Lyric Swinton is a proud graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s in Sport & Entertainment Management. Her lifelong passion for wrestling has taken her around the world, primarily writing about alternative and international promotions for several major wrestling and media outlets, such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine, Blavity, Fightful, and more. She has covered wrestling for seven major promotions in some of the most famous venues in the world, including Wembley Stadium and the Tokyo Dome.

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