On Wednesday, March 15th, 2023, Tony Khan announced a summer AEW Canadian Tour, which will feature six stops and include the second-ever running of Forbidden Door, aka Forbidden Door II, the New Japan Pro Wrestling co-promoted event that pits some of the best wrestlers the world has to offer against each other with more than a few titles on the line.

In 2022, the show was a resounding success, with more than a few dream matches and even a few title changes from one promotion to another, with FTR famously winning the IWGP Tag Team Titles off of the United Empire duo of Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb in a match that also featured the cross-promotional duo of Roppongi Vice, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero, but in 2023, the show is shaping up to be even better, with Kenny Omega healthy and Tetsuya Naito available to wrestle on the card too.

With a whole ‘nother AEW Pay-Per-View, Double or Nothing, scheduled before the second running of Forbidden Door, it's safe to assume there will be plenty of storyline and character development between mid-march and the show, which isn't scheduled until the final Sunday in June. Still, why not look at where the storylines are now, what the wrestlers are saying, and try to formulate a few way-too-early matches that could go incredibly over at one of the most highly-anticipated shows of the year?

3. Los Ingobernables vs. House of Black for the AEW World Trios Title

When Forbidden Door II was announced, Brody King took to Twitter to shoot his shot at one of NJPW's biggest stars.

“I want to fight Shingo Takagi,” King wrote. “Trios, Tag, singles, I don’t care.”

Alright, so let's assume King gets his way and is afforded a chance to wrestle Takagi, how would that work? Well, considering the House of Black are currently the AEW World Trios Champions – which could change by June but may not –  the easiest way to get the duo in the ring together would be a trios match between King, Malakai Black, and Buddy Matthews, and Los Ingobernables, which could include Takagi, Naito, and
 “El Toro Blanco” RUSH, who has never actually wrestled in New Japan but is the leader of AEW's chapter of LFI and as a result, could provide some fun brand synergy between the two companies.

Would it be a tad unusual to have RUSH work with Takagi and Naito? Eh, maybe a little, but considering the team of Takagi and Naito have wrestled in 236 tag team matches together under the Ingobernables moniker, that synergy should allow for a new performer to be folded into the fray without much issue, which is good, because House of Black is one of the most imposing trios to take a ring, AEW or otherwise, in some time.

2. Britt Baker vs. Mercedes Moné for the IWGP Women's Title

Much like with Brody King, this match isn't too hard to imagine either, as Britt Baker explicitly requested a match with Mercedes Moné in an interview with the New York Post.

“It’s weird to see now that she’s out in the wild. She’s not completely inaccessible in a way. These are very realistic matchups that could happen and I think the world is ready to see Mercedes MonĂ© let out of the cage. What is she gonna do now? I hope and pray that someday we see her in some capacity in AEW,” Baker said. “And if by chance I could be in the connection too, I would be very, very for that.”

Understandably, this got more than a few fans thinking Forbidden Door II, and frankly, the pairing makes sense. While Jamie Hayter is the current AEW Women's World Champion and Saraya is probably the company's biggest mainstream star, Baker is the originator of the AEW Women's Division, and because she doesn't presently hold a title, she could easily drop a match to Moné that put her way over and proves that both women are legitimate international draws.

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Neck brace Tony Khan with a text bubble reading "I should have seen this coming, in hindsight" with the 2024 Young Bucks on his left and 2024 Jack Perry on his right with the 2024 NFL Draft logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Neckbrace Tony Khan with a text bubble reading "WWE is the Harvey Weinstein of professional wrestling" with the NFL Network logo as the background.

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Matthew Jackson of the Young Bucks with a text bubble reading "We're trying to get this place back to what it was supposed to be" nexto to Nicholas Jackson of the Young Bucks and Jack Perry with the AEW logo as the background.

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1.  Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Title

After missing Forbidden Door I due to injury, Kenny Omega has to be not only a featured part of Forbidden Door II but arguably the main event of the show, as he's not only AEW's first-ever Triple Crown Champion but also the current IWGP United States Champion, a belt he won at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in the reigning Match of the Year against Will Ospreay.

Did Khan wish he promoted Omega-Ospreay on AEW programming? Most definitely. Fortunately, now he has a chance to do just that, as unless someone gets injured, or things really change in AEW over the next three months, Omega-Ospreay II – technically Omega-Ospreay III if you count PWG matches – will be on the card at Forbidden Door II in one way or another.