Mark Henry Ranks Forbidden Door 2023 Among The Top 5 PPVs He's Seen In His Life

Mark Henry believes AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday was "one of the best pay-per-views that I have ever seen," claiming there were "no weaknesses" in the four-hour crossover event. The WWE Hall of Famer, who now works for AEW as a backstage coach and onscreen personality, said Forbidden Door was "one of the most anticipated pay-per-views in years and it lived up."

"One of the best pay-per-views that I have ever seen card-wise, talent-wise, performance-wise, like there was no weaknesses," Henry said on Busted Open Radio, putting it in his "top-5 pay-per-views" he'd ever seen. "We can nitpick — everybody that's got a pair of lips can nitpick –— but nothing was substantial to nitpick and it's a waste of breath to actually do it." Bully Ray agreed "there is not a lot to nitpick," and called it a "highly entertaining pay-per-view." The event was the second time AEW and NJPW worked together on a joint pay-per-view, and was highlighted by a main-event bout between Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada, as well as an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega. The card was filled with big title matches, including MJF defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in an AEW World Championship match, and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada defending his title against "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry.

Some fans and critics did claim the show's four-hour length was too long, and that matches had little storyline buildup and too obvious of outcomes given certain wrestlers and championships on the line belonging to each company, but Bully Ray said the two promotions did a good job facing the music and "setting the pace for exactly what this show is" with its opening matches. "It's this guy versus this guy," Ray explained. "It's my best guy versus your best guy."