Though MJF‘s Forbidden Door didn't go exactly as he planned, as Adam Cole was forced to drop off of the card with an illness that left the “Salt of the Earth's” hand-picked challenger, “Filthy” Tom Lawler without an opponent on either the main card or on Zero Hour – he reportedly wrestled Serpentico before the show as a “thanks for coming” gesture from Gedo and Tony Khan – the AEW World Champion still did what he needed to do in the ring against the “Ace” of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Hiroshi Tanahashi, in a fun opening contest.

Taking the ring in front of a 14,000-person crowd pretty evenly split between the two performers, MJF tried early and often to get the match finished with, at one point holding the ropes before his hand was kicked off by referee Bryce Remsburg, but AEW's top guy, unfortunately, found out why Tanahashi got his nickname, as the “Ace” kept coming back despite working injured and even almost secured the win with his signature Dragonscrew-Cloverleaf combination.

Unfortunately for Tanahashi, even the cheers of the crowd weren't enough to “Hulk” him up to a victory, as MJF was able to weasel his way to victory with a Dynamite Diamond Ring punch to the face for the 1-2-3 and a mixed reaction from the fans in Toronto. While Remsburg did try to ask the crowd about the ring, in the end, MJF limped out of the arena with the Triple B around his waist, and even if his victory tweet was scheduled prematurely, the results spoke for themselves in the opening contest of Forbidden Door.