Ace Austin is not an announced performer for the AEW/New Japan Pro Wrestling co-promotional event Forbidden Door. He isn't officially a member of either promotion, and unless he signs a deal in the next dozen or so days, it's generally assumed that he won't be wrestling on what could be one of the biggest independent professional wrestling Pay-Per-View of the year.

And yet, during his time at New Japan Pro Wrestling for the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Austin clearly earned some fans within the organization, as he was inducted into Bullet Club after assisting Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, and El Phantasmo in a trios match versus the United Empire's Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, and Aaron Henare – becoming the second wrestler contracted to Impact to earn such an honor alongside Chris Bey. With the Bullet Club expected to be a major force at Forbidden Door, it's entirely possible that Austin could join his fellow stateside club members like ELP, Bey, and Hikuleo ringside for a match featuring “Switchblade” Jay White or even The Good Brothers.

Well, if that is how things go down, Austin won't be strutting around ringside with his X-Division Championship belt, as he lost the strap in an Ultimate X match at Impact's Slammiversary, losing to noted Konosuke Takeshita opponent “Speedball” Mike Bailey in what will be his first major American title win since returning to the country back in January.

Now granted, is Austin's title drop directly related to Forbidden Door? Maybe, maybe not; maybe Scott D'Amore and company are just genuinely excited about the “Speedball” and want to strap a rocket to his run in the promotion while he's also tearing up the indies delivering fantastic match after fantastic match. Or maybe, just maybe, Austin is about to spend the next few months over in AEW as a part of an ongoing feud between the Bullet Club and the Undisputed Elite, and Impact wants to keep the X-Division belt in the promotion.