NJPW Star Says He Texted Tony Khan With The Idea For Forbidden Door

One NJPW star recalled the time he contacted AEW CEO Tony Khan about a crossover show. Back in June, both promotions worked together to deliver the AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event. Rocky Romero played a big role in making the cross-promotion card a reality. During his appearance on "The Sessions with Renee Paquette," Romero recalled things between NJPW and AEW not being so rosy in the beginning.

"The relationship between New Japan and AEW kind of started off a little rocky," Romero said. "Obviously, The Elite being a part of New Japan, and then obviously this new company starting and what that was gonna look like was kind of strange because especially Kenny [Omega] was a contracted wrestler, and here he was saying he was leaving to start a new company. It didn't start off the best, and definitely the President at the time was kind of opposed of working with AEW in the beginning."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides were more willing to do business with one another. Romero then decided it was a good time to put the wheels in motion for a crossover show.

"I think I texted with Tony, like, 'What if we just did a super show of some sort? The matches could be mixed, they could be New Japan matches, AEW matches. Whatever it is, let's just put the idea out there. I would love to see if we could make something work,' and then Tony was immediately like, 'I have like eight matches I'm ready to do.'" Romero said he went back and forth between NJPW management and Khan on making the event work.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Sessions with Renee Paquette," with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.