While the phrase “Forbidden Door” was initially just a fun little phrase coined by NJPW Star Hiroshi Tanahashi, it has since become a title for multiple people in the industry, including Tony Khan himself, the symbol of cross-promotional matches and angles, and an incoming collaborative pay-per-view between New Japan and AEW.

Oh, and if recent news is of any indication, the phrase also represents an absolute curse on wrestlers that are just trying to put on a once-in-a-lifetime show.

That’s right; this pay-per-view and its buildup have been plagued by everything from injuries to backstage politics, scheduling conflicts, and now even illness, to the point where many a fan is afraid to open the “Forbidden Door” to Twitter just to see yet another announced change to the match card.

The Forbidden Door may be open for AEW and NJPW, but there have been speed bumps going through it.

Let’s start with an early known, but arguably huge, loss to the potential card. Kenny Omega, one of the most important figures when it comes to New Japan and AEW, has been out recovering from many injuries since last November, and as Forbidden Door got closer and closer, it became more and more apparent that Omega simply wouldn’t be healed up in time for the show, with his Sean Ross Sapp interview all but confirming it.

Now, could Omega be pulling the ultimate work on Sapp and the public at large and appear in some way in Chicago? Probably not, but a wrestler who has as much history with both promotions as Kenny Omega would not miss Forbidden Door unless he absolutely has to for his health, and it is nice to see him focusing on getting better.

Interestingly, Omega’s Golden Lover ex-tag team partner Kota Ibushi has also been out for a while with an injury, as well as a very complex controversy with New Japan that is beyond the scope of this article.

As for how actually planned matches for the card have changed due to unforeseen circumstances, F4WOnline’s Bryan & Vinny Show posted a concise rundown on YouTube, and according to Bryan Alvarez, the only match that he for sure knows hasn’t changed since the initial plans was the Thunder Rosa-Toni Storm match.

The four-way match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship was apparently meant to be a non-title tag team match involving one unnamed performer moved elsewhere in the card, the All-Atlantic Title match has Tomohiro Ishii replaced by Clark Connors due to injury, Andrade was supposed to face off against Will Ospreay before CMLL-related politics replaced him with Orange Cassidy – who Alvarez theorized could have been in the original plans for the non-title tag team match with Kazuchika Okada – and matches like three-way winner-takes-all tag team championship and Bullet Club vs Dudes with Attitudes were probably changed a lot internally, with a lot of bouncing around as the card had to keep being updated.

Funny enough, this video was posted before yet another change occurred, this time with Hiromu Takahashi being out of the aforementioned Bullet Club vs Dudes with Attitudes match due to a fever, meaning that it will now be a three-on-three, with the Young Bucks and El Phantasmo versus Sting, Darby Allin, and Shingo Takagi.

Granted, some of the biggest injury-related changes to the card have turned into interesting angles, even if it probably fast-tracked some storylines. AEW World Champion CM Punk’s injury led to him eventually being replaced with Jon Moxley against Hiroshi Tanahashi, meaning that we’ll finally get to see the originator of the phrase “Forbidden Door” taking on arguably one of the main catalysts of the AEWxNJPW collaboration after years of anticipation. Bryan Danielson being taken out of the much-anticipated match with Zack Sabre Jr. has led to the intrigue of a mystery opponent, which means that a new star like Claudio Castagnoli will most likely debut for AEW and join the Blackpool Combat Club.

With all of these changes, updates, and a build-up that felt rushed at times due to how the scheduling worked, it’s easy for these developments to take up more of the conversation surrounding Forbidden Door than the matches themselves, and when even one of the Buy-In matches will feature a wheelchair-bound Anthony Bowens who no doubt would have been in the match with his Acclaimed and Gunn Club partners if he were healthy, it’s hard not to forget just how cursed this show seems to be.

One important thing to remember is that wrestling fans will still get to see generational talents like Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, and Hiroshi Tanahashi on the same card as familiar stars like the Young Bucks, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Jon Moxley. The years of history between these stars and promotions are still there, the importance of this event is still there, and there should still be plenty of highly-regarded matches.

That being said, a Forbidden Door II absolutely should happen. While this might be curling the monkey’s paw, a second collaborative pay-per-view could allow these promotions to properly visit the dream matches that could not happen this time around. Granted, there’s nothing stopping them from doing a few one-offs once people are healthy – since as promising as the Zack Sabre Jr. vs. mystery opponent match is, seeing Bryan Danielson finally fight modern-day Zack Sabre Jr. should happen sooner rather than later – but there has always been a sense that there are just too many great potential matches for one card, necessitating a second go-around.

Here's hoping for a fun pay-per-view, and that both of these rosters properly heal up.