Welcome to the AEW Forbidden Door 2025 PPVPreview presented by GrapPro.com
We will be previewing all matches from the pay per view this week.
To find all AEW Forbidden Door 2025 PPVPreview’s Click Here.
For Forbidden Door 2024 Predictions Click Here.
To find past Predictions and Preview Click Here.
Forbidden Door 2025
AEW Unified Championship
Swerve Strickland versus Kazuchika Okada (c)
When Kazuchika Okada defeated Kenny Omega for the International Championship to become the Unified Champion of All Elite Wrestling, it felt like the company was anointing him. Okada has already been Continental Champion for over 500 days. There’s really nothing left for him to do with that championship. But to add the International Championship? It just elevates his power at this point.
He’s in many ways untouchable, and that’s been the purpose of his character. He’s a wrestling god playing with his food. Time and time again I see people misunderstand him to just being a goof. He isn’t being some comedy goof because he’s lost the ability to wrestle or the passion for it. It’s because his character is literally to act like he’s above it all.
Back in 2024 when he won the Continental Championship I said in No Gods or Kings only Kazuchika Okada that him being Continental Champion will feel like AEW has two World Champions. There were times this happened, but as Unified Champion? It truly feels like there’s two titles above all for the men’s singles division.
I was surprised when his first feud would be with Swerve Strickland after All In Texas, but that’s only because Tony Khan has a tendency to not put top guys against top guys until he feels he needs to. Okada’s first feud with the Continental Championship wasn’t against a Hangman Adam Page or Will Ospreay. It was against PAC. When Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita for the International Championship his first PPV defence was Ricochet and Speedball Mike Bailey. Definitely midcard defences. The Unified? It’s going right to Swerve.
This will actually help it have the energy and prominence as a secondary top championship. It reminds me of back in 1998 in World Championship Wrestling when Bret “The Hitman” Hart was the WCW United States Champion. He feuded with Lex Luger, Sting, Booker T, and Diamond Dallas Page. Soon Roddy Piper won the title, and feuded with Scott Hall, who later feuded with Scott Steiner. These are all top guys in WCW, or guys on their way to the top. By 1999 we had David Flair winning the title, which, well, WCW no longer exists.
That idea though of sort of a championship for the guys not currently in the Men’s World Championship hunt to fight for has always appealed to me, so Kazuchika Okada being Unified Champion fills a similar hole that the 1998 era of the WCW United States Championship did. With Hangman Adam Page as the Men’s World Champion, that opens up a lot of babyfaces without a goal to try and instead knock down the god that is Okada. Will Ospreay, Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston when he returns, and Jay White when he returns would all be good contenders for the Unified Championship.
But for now we focus on Swerve Strickland.
With Hangman Adam Page as AEW Men’s World Champion it’s difficult for him to go after the championship. They just had Swerve be the man who helped Page ultimately defeat Jon Moxley. The fans love both men to the point where I don’t think you could turn Swerve heel at this point to have him go after Page, and a match between the two would be difficult to navigate.
I don’t know if they had plans for Swerve and Will Ospreay to face the Hurt Syndicate, but with Ospreay being banged up, having Strickland go instead after Kazuchika Okada was the perfect way to go.
If there’s anyone who could stand up to a god? It’s Swerve Strickland. He’s proven in the past he can be near indestructible, and take a beating like no other only to come back. Okada doesn’t have a lot of experience facing wrestlers with the style of Swerve Strickland, and it’s going to be a bit tougher for him to keep his composure.
If anyone could end the Unified Championship run of Kazuchika Okada early? It’s Swerve. Even if it’s unlikely? He’s at least one of the most formidable opponents Okada could face for the championship.
