Major AEW & NJPW Stars Will Reportedly Work Forbidden Door 2023 With Injuries

Recently, you may have noticed just how little physicality Bryan Danielson has engaged in on AEW programming. He's had just three matches in the last four and a half months, and the only one since the 60-minute Iron Man Match against MJF at Revolution was the eight-man Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing, where he took minimal bumps. It was easy to get the impression that he was nursing an injury and/or being protected for this Sunday's main event against Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door, and in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer explains the status of Danielson and other top stars going into the inter-promotional spectacular.

With regards to Danielson, Meltzer writes that, unsurprisingly, he "has been hurting since the MJF match," where they went over an hour working a very physical style. The build to that match involved MJF demanding Danielson run a gauntlet of five handpicked opponents over several weeks to get the title shot with his preferred stipulation, which included a pair of incredibly well-received matches against Bandido and Rush, with the latter being especially brutal.

In addition to Danielson, Meltzer also notes that Will Ospreay has been working on a shoulder injury that has been hindering him in recent matches, while a May 10 cage match with Jon Moxley "took its physical toll" on his Forbidden Door opponent, Kenny Omega. Forbidden Door airs this Sunday night on pay-per-view, with streaming options including Bleacher Report Live in the U.S., NJPW World PPV in Japan, and FITE TV in the rest of the world.