Tony Khan Discusses The Non-Traditional Way AEW Has Built To Forbidden Door 2023

AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling will present their second Forbidden Door pay-per-view tonight with a loaded card including first-time match-ups like Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada and MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. And with that has come a non-traditional build considering the stars have had little to no interaction.

During a recent interview with "The Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast," Tony Khan addressed the uniqueness of setting up this year's event.

"One of the cool things about the build to Forbidden Door is we have a lot of our own great stars in AEW who are great promos who can build up these matches in interesting ways," Khan said. "Without a lot of history between them or without being in the same place at the same time, I think the idea of fighting to prove who's the greatest between Okada and Bryan Danielson is very compelling, and it's one of the reasons why even without a traditional story of them cutting promos on television face-to-face, it's been very compelling to hear what is being said."

Danielson and several other top stars weren't able to compete at last year's Forbidden Door due to injuries, but that didn't stop AEW and NJPW from putting on one of the best events according to fans.

"Last year we really wanted to have Bryan Danielson on Forbidden Door," Khan added. "It was a huge thing when we had to make adjustments to the card, and I was so proud as a company and a partner that we came out of last year's Forbidden Door with the best event of the entire year."

Khan noted that big matches like Danielson vs. Okada were part of the allure for Danielson joining AEW. He thought it would be difficult to top the 2022 card, but he's pumped for what they have in store tonight.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.