Forbidden Door II Post-Show Media Scrum: Sting’s Retirement, Bryan Danielson Suffered Injury, Adam Cole Update, PPV Buys

AEW held a post-show media scrum following Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Some of the notable highlights included:

• During Sting and Darby Allin’s portion of the media scrum, Sting stated that he has not made up his mind yet on when his retirement match will take place but does not see it happening at AEW’s All In event at Wembley Stadium this August. Sting stated “I have not decided on a date, for sure. A lot of people have actually wondered if I was going to retire at Wembley. That would be kind of cool, but I don’t see that happening. I think I’m going to continue on. Tony has been in my ear here and there saying, ‘Steve, you can stay as long as you want.’ I’m not sure how long that will be, but like I said a few months ago, Showtime is just about over with, and it truly is, but I’m looking forward to going back to London. Last time I was there, I was Joker Sting, the crowd loved it there and it was not the big stadium, but still a great crowd. I’m looking forward to heading back over there.“
• Sting’s portion of the media call was interrupted by Chris Jericho who challenged Sting and Darby Allin to a Tornado Tag Team match for this week’s Dynamite show. AEW CEO Tony Khan agreed to make the match official if it would guarantee that Jericho would leave the press area and prevent a fight from breaking out.
• During Will Ospreay’s portion of the media call, Ospreay stated that he felt his match with Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Championship was one of the greatest matches he had ever seen and got to be involved in.
• Ospreay also stated that he will likely be wrapping up his bookings for the indies this year due to him wanting to preserve the health of his body for the rest of his career. Ospreay stated “My whole thing with performing, not just in Japan, in England, United States, France, Canada, Italy, Spain, Germany, and anywhere. The term ‘best in the world’ is thrown around almost religiously in any type of promotion. I don’t allocate myself to one place. I think to truly be the best in the world, you test yourself in every company’s position, you go anywhere and everywhere. That’s how you find and discover new talent. I always have a saying of ‘pay it forward.’ I’m very passionate about the British wrestling scene. They got hit real hard from the pandemic and I took it upon myself to try to get it back how it was. I still don’t think the job is done in England yet, but I do feel like my time is coming up, especially doing all the independents. My body is starting to break down and I think it is time for me to be a little more sensible, and I probably will wrap up doing the independents this year.“
• On the topic of Naomichi Marufuji’s 25th anniversary event this September for Pro Wrestling NOAH, Ospreay stated that he would like to be part of that event and potentially as Marafuji’s opponent if possible. Ospreay stated that it would be all up to NOAH to make that a reality.
• During Toni Storm’s portion of the media call, Storm stated that she would like to face off against Stardom’s Giulia in a match in the future. Storm also stated that the ring gear she work at Forbidden Door II was not meant to be a tribute to her former Stardom gear.
• During Bryan Danielson’s portion of the media call, Danielson came out in a large cast on his arm. Danielson stated that he had suffered a potential fractured right forearm injury and that it took place around 10 minutes before the end of his match with Kazuchika Okada. Danielson stated “I was planning on wrestling on Wednesday this week. I don’t think that’s going to happen because, in this specifically, we think I fractured my right forearm with about ten minutes left to go. Talking to our doctors, and I love the AEW medical staff and trainers, they think it’s going to be six to eight weeks for this specific injury. The stuff after Revolution and the Iron Man match with Max, I had a torn labrum and then some compressed vertebrae. That’s normal wrestler stuff. I’m fine. We just thought, for a precautionary measure.“
• On the topic of future match opponents, Danielson named NJPW’s Tomohiro Ishii as someone he would like to have a match against in the future.
• On the topic of wrestling outside of AEW, Danielson stated that his main focus in towards AEW and making it the best place it can be. Danielson stated that he would be interested in working in a G1 Climax tournament for NJPW in the future but also has some doubt it if it worth the risk in terms of the demands that would be placed upon his body.
• On the topic of his injury during his match against Okada, Danielson confirmed that it did cause some of the original plans for the ending of their match to be changed.
• On the topic of AEW’s upcoming All In event this August, Danielson gave his praise to Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, and PAC. Danielson also stated that he has yet to have a second high profile match with Omega in AEW.
• During Tony Khan’s portion of the media call, Khan stated that the early numbers for Forbidden Door II’s pay-per-view buys are higher than what last year’s Forbidden Door event did. Khan also stated that the current numbers are also higher than what this past May’s Double or Nothing 2023 event generated.
• On the topic of Adam Cole being pulled from Forbidden Door II due to an illness reason, Khan stated that Cole had came to work sick with a fever and was sent home as a precautionary post-COVID world measure. Khan also stated that he would like to try to book “Filthy” Tom Lawlor for a match against Cole in the future to make up for their match being cancelled for the event. Khan also praised Lawlor for being a great personality and wrestler.
• On the topic of the broadcast status for All In, Khan stated that he did not have any new details to share due to legal issues revolving around AEW’s international business but promised everyone will be able to watch both All In and AEW’s All Out 2023 event the following week.
• On the topic of Danielson coming out to his old “Final Countdown” theme at the show, Khan stated that this was just a one-night only type deal and he confirmed what Danielson had said earlier in the media scrum about it being a very expensive song to secure the rights for. Khan stated that the cost to play the song live at Forbidden Door II was just as expensive as a typical AEW wrestler contract. Khan also teased the possibility of Danielson coming out to the song one more time in the future. Khan also stated that AEW did purchase the perpetuity rights to the song to use for their video library.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II post-show media scrum full video:

Sources: F4WOnline.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, & 3