A new report from Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso noted that AEW World Champion CM Punk was originally scheduled to face NJPW’s Hiroshi Tanahashi at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, and get the win.
Punk won the AEW World Title from “Hangman” Adam Page at Double Or Nothing two weeks back. The post-Double Or Nothing Dynamite saw Punk cut a promo on Forbidden Door and ask who his partner was. That’s when Tanahashi came out to the stage for a big reaction to the crowd. Punk held the title up in the air for a brief showdown, indicating that the two would do battle at Forbidden Door. While AEW never announced the match, the plan was for Punk to defeat Tanahashi at Forbidden Door. Apparently they still considered doing Punk vs. Tanahashi, after knowing Punk was hurt, as SI notes that the match was finally nixed due to the severity of Punk’s injury when it was determined he would need surgery.
Punk announced his injury two days later on AEW Rampage, and the company came up with plans to crown an Interim AEW World Champion at Forbidden Door. Last night’s Dynamite saw Kyle O’Reilly win a Battle Royal to earn the right to face Jon Moxley in the main event, but then Moxley defeated O’Reilly to earn his spot in the Forbidden Door main event for the Interim AEW World Title. Moxley’s opponent for the interim title at Forbidden Door will be the winner of Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto at NJPW Dominion on June 12.
Word from the Wrestling Observer is that neither Goto or Tanahashi were originally expected to be a part of the NJPW Dominion event, but they were added due to the Punk injury situation. It was noted that a lot of the decisions and changes were made at the last minute due to Punk’s injury.
It’s believed that the match for the Interim AEW World Title at Forbidden Door will be Moxley vs. Tanahashi. The winner will then face Punk to determine the undisputed champion as soon as he is medically cleared to compete.
AEW noted during last night’s Dynamite that Punk underwent “lower leg surgery” earlier in the day. Punk previously indicated he had some things that were broken, and it had been reported that he had a foot injury, but last night was the first we’ve heard of a “lower leg” injury. This new report from Sports Illustrated notes that Punk had a broken bone in his foot. You can click here for the latest on Punk from Wednesday night.
The inaugural AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view is scheduled for Sunday, June 26 from the United Center in Chicago, IL. Below is the updated card:
Interim AEW World Title Match
Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi or Hirooki Goto
Winner faces AEW World Champion CM Punk at a later date.
Fatal 4 Way for the Inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Title
PAC vs. Malakai Black or Penta Oscuro vs. Miro or Ethan Page vs. NJPW star TBD
IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match
Adam Cole and/or Adam Page vs. Jay White or Kazuchika Okada (c)
Rumored and teased but unconfirmed.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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