AEW's Tony Khan Reveals Genesis Of Lights Out Steel Cage Match, How Tanahashi Came In

At Forbidden Door, several talents from AEW and NJPW will collide in a Lights Out Steel Cage Match, with Will Ospreay leading one team, while Jon Moxley heads the other. In storyline, this comes after AEW's medical team couldn't clear an injured Ospreay, who subsequently called for an unsanctioned 10-man match in his home country of England. On the Forbidden Door media call, AEW CEO Tony Khan peeled back the curtain on the real origins of the Lights Out Steel Cage Match.

"It was a while ago. This would have been even before the residency, but I was in Chicago, and I went out after one of the shows and I was sitting there putting ideas for a card together, sketching out an outline," Khan recalled. "I had this idea: Lights Out Steel Cage Match. It just sounded so exciting. Having some of the top stars from AEW and New Japan, the top villains and the top fan favorites coming together and making these dream teams of top stars, it's come together incredibly well. It's exactly the lineup I would have dreamed of, to have these ten men fighting in this match, some of the top stars from AEW and top stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling, and several of them who have been the very top stars in both promotions at times, which I think is really exciting and compelling."

Standing alongside Ospreay will be Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi. For Tanahashi, this will mark his final match in the United Kingdom as he plans to retire from in-ring competition in January 2026. According to Khan, he simply asked Tanahashi if he wanted to be part of Forbidden Door's Lights Out Steel Cage Match, to which Tanahashi cheerfully agreed.

Inside the cage, Ospreay, Tanahashi, and crew will take on the team of Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), and Gabe Kidd.