smackwrestling. Picks The Winners

AEW

For the fourth year in a row, it’s time to pass through the Forbidden Door, as stars from AEW, NJPW, STARDOM and CMLL all invade the O2 Arena in London, England this Sunday! As is the custom for Tony Khan’s promotion, it’s a hefty card, featuring no fewer than seven championship matches, the long-awaited in-ring reunion of Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, and whatever a Lights Out Steel Cage match turns out to be!

In stark contrast to our recent Heatwave and AAA TripleMania picks, the WINC staff actually had a pretty strong consensus on a lot of these matches when it came time to make our official predictions. For the most part, we see things going a certain way — though there are a few matches that give us more hesitation, especially given recent injury news for the likes of Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland. You never know what’s going on behind the scenes for sure, but that’s never stopped us — let’s get to the picks!

Cope & Christian vs. Kip Sabian & Killswitch: Cope & Cage (94%)

AEW/Ricky Havlik

Sunday will play host to the in-ring reunion of Christian Cage and Adam «Cope» Copeland for the first time in 14 years to face the first of their common foes: Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian; only Wayne announced during «AEW Dynamite» this week that he had sustained an injury, prompting Killswitch (Luchasaurus) to make his return to take «The Prodigy’s» place. 

Nevertheless, regardless of who stands against the reuniting Cage and Cope, there is an overwhelming belief among the smackwrestling. staff that the glory will be all theirs; 94% voted for Cage and Cope to go over. It’s yet to be seen whether Cage and Cope will be the team they once were, especially given that Cage has remained adamant that he will be no different to the way he was leading The Patriarchy. He told Cope during «Dynamite» that theirs was just a temporary arrangement, an exchange to deal with Wayne and Sabian before moving on to FTR. 

So there is a strong chance that they will not have the easiest of times gelling together against enemies within the same stable. In all honesty, especially with the injury of Wayne, it doesn’t seem all too likely that Sabian and Killswitch get the win over the veterans. Stranger things have happened, though, as reflected in the 6% that rooted for Cope and Christian to lose.

Written by Max Everett

AEW TNT Championship: Kyle Fletcher (94%)

AEW/Lee South

Not many of us think Kyle Fletcher is dropping the TNT Championship anytime soon after he defeated Dustin Rhodes in an absolutely brutal, bloody street fight on the July 31 edition of «AEW Collision.» NJPW’s Hiromu Takahashi is a good opponent for Fletcher’s second title defense, his first on a pay-per-view, but 94% of us here at WINC believe Fletcher is getting the victory and holding on to the gold.

There wasn’t much build up for the match, with Fletcher just winning the belt three weeks ago. Following his first title defense, a victory over Tomohiro Ishii, Fletcher issued an open challenge to anyone in New Japan to face him at Forbidden Door, with some fans in the crowd chanting for Takahashi. He answered the call and was revealed as the mystery partner alongside Brody King, Ishii, and Hologram against the Don Callis Family during an eight-man tag team match on the August 13 episode of «Dynamite» and solidified himself as Fletcher’s Forbidden Door opponent.

Takahashi may have the support of Ishii and Hologram during the match, since King is tied up with the AEW Tag Team Championship match, but the numbers game isn’t in his favor when it comes to interference with the Don Callis Family. We’re going with Fletcher to retain here in what is likely to be a solid match.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Four-way match for the AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné (94%)

AEW/Ricky Havlik

Mercedes Moné has held the TBS Championship for more than 450 days and, despite being at a disadvantage in the four-way, our team believes she’ll retain her title at Forbidden Door. The title defense isn’t necessarily a throwaway match, as Moné and Alex Windsor have been at each other’s throats for weeks, while Persephone and Bozilla are there to represent CMLL and STARDOM. Still, it would shock us if Moné’s reign ended so abruptly here.

STARDOM’s Bozilla has never wrestled a match in AEW before, while Persephone has made two previous appearances. While they both could become recurring performers in AEW going forward, it wouldn’t make sense for either one to win the TBS Championship now, with the vast majority of the company’s audience unfamiliar with the wrestlers.

As for Windsor, though she’s been featured fairly prominently since signing with AEW earlier this summer, winning this title so soon into her run would be a significant jump up the card. It might be possible, especially since Windsor is from the United Kingdom, but most signs point towards Moné continuing to be known as the Belt Collector for the time being. Moné’s historic reign deserves a fitting end, and we’d prefer to see her drop the title as part of a more substantial storyline.

Written by Nick Miller

AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada (56%)

AEW/Ricky Havlik

The margin for this match is the narrowest of any on this year’s Forbidden Door, as both Kazuchika Okada and Swerve Strickland are major stars who rarely take losses. Just over half of our staff thinks that Okada will hang onto the AEW Unified Championship on Sunday, very possibly with some help from Don Callis.

Between the two, Okada has been more protected, as he hasn’t taken a singles loss since last year’s Continental Classic tournament. Though Strickland still wins more often than not, his track record as a babyface is slightly more shaky, as he’s taken losses against Jon Moxley and Ricochet this year, as well as wrestling Will Ospreay to a time-limit draw.

Okada is less than two months into his reign as Unified Champion after defeating Kenny Omega at AEW All In. There’s no doubt Strickland would be a great successor, it feels like there’s still plenty to do with Okada as champion. Plus, as someone who’s always preferred Strickland as a villain, another loss could send his character down a darker path once again.

There’s also the fact that Strickland reportedly has a torn meniscus heading into Forbidden Door, and there’s a good chance he’ll be taking some time off following the pay-per-view. For all those reasons, Okada has the edge in our eyes.

Written by Nick Miller

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (88%)

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

It wouldn’t be a Forbidden Door event without the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, the top prize of NJPW, on the line. And Sunday’s show boasts its own encapsulation of the concept with semi-retired ROH legend Nigel McGuinness challenging Zack Sabre Jr. for the title at the O2 Arena in London.

McGuinness returned to the ring for the first time in 13 years during last year’s All In at Wembley Stadium, entering the same gauntlet match as Sabre Jr. had, and likewise going on to lose it. He has since wrestled on four occasions, losing a singles grudge match against Bryan Danielson and a ROH Pure Championship challenge against Lee Moriarty to close out 2024, returning to the ring this year alongside Daniel Garcia at Double or Nothing, and once again losing to FTR. His latest match, and his first victory since returning to the ring, came with a four-way victory over Garcia, Moriarty, and Hechicero, with McGuinness tapping out the ROH Pure Champion.

However, the smackwrestling. staff, for the most part, do not expect him to add another victory or title run to his belt quite yet; 88% predicted that Sabre Jr. would complete the first defense of this relatively fresh title reign of his. He recaptured the title from Hirooki Goto in June, having lost the title to Goto after 120 days in February. But he also participated in the 35th edition of the G1 Climax over the Summer, finishing top of his respective block to qualify for the semi-finals only losing to Shota Umino and Ren Narita. Konosuke Takeshita got the better of him in the semi-finals, avenging his block loss and going on to win the tournament.

Written by Max Everett

Triple Threat for AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (63%)

AEW/socialie

With it being expected that Adam Copeland and Christian Cage will face the winners of this match in their hometown of Toronto, Canada, next month at AEW All Out, 63% of us here at smackwrestling. believe that FTR will defeat the Hurt Syndicate and the team of Brody King and Bandido to become the new AEW World Tag Team Champions and continue their story with the two veterans. Although watching Brodido emerge victorious would be exciting, FTR winning this upcoming weekend gives AEW the opportunity to write the final chapter of their feud with Copeland and Cage, which began last April.

After Rated FTR failed to defeat the Death Riders at AEW Dynasty, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood brutally attacked Copeland after the bell, which wrote him off television for several months. Additionally, at AEW All In Texas, FTR helped Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian betray Cage, but before they could punish the 51-year-old with a con-chair-to, Copeland returned to save his long-time tag team partner. Therefore, an FTR victory at All Out would set up a massive title defense in Copeland and Cage’s backyard, which could be the destination for the tag team legends to finally win gold together again. 

Understandably, there’s an argument to be made that the Hurt Syndicate’s reign should continue, especially because the faction has significantly elevated Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin this year. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if their former faction mate in MJF appears during the match to get revenge on the Hurt Syndicate for kicking him out of the group, and cost them the tag team titles.

Originally, the Hurt Syndicate was only supposed to defend the championships against either FTR or Brodido at Forbidden Door, but when neither team could defeat the other in a Time Limit Draw on «AEW Dynamite,» it was decided that the match this Sunday would be altered into a three-way for the titles.

Written by Julien D’Alessandro

AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (81%)

AEW/Ricky Havlik

It’s not exactly a «Forbidden Door» match, but «Timeless» Toni Storm is set to defend her AEW Women’s World Championship against one of her toughest challengers yet in ROH Women’s Champion Athena. The «Forever» Women’s Champion may be tough, but Storm is used to seriously tough challengers in this championship reign, from winning the title from Mariah May in the Hollywood Ending match back in March, to Mercedes Mone at All In Texas. The tenacity of Storm when it comes to these serious challengers is partially why 81% of us believe she’s leaving London with the gold.

Storm has often retained her title by surprising her opponent with a small package roll-up. That could very well be the case on Sunday, though Athena isn’t going to go down without a fight. While the majority of us believe Storm is winning, we also believe that Athena is going to come out of this match looking strong. She’s coming up on 1,000 days as ROH Women’s Champion, which she would reach at the beginning of September. 

AEW is likely to focus on that accomplishment for Athena, and that’s also why many of us don’t believe she’s going over here. However, if she looks strong in defeat, there’s no reason why she wouldn’t be able to work her way back to Storm to even possibly be the woman to dethrone her in the future. We’re not exactly sure what’s next for Storm after this, but 81% of us here at WINC believe she’s getting the «W.»

Written by Daisy Ruth

AEW World Championship: Adam Page (94%)

AEW/Ricky Havlik

The AEW World Championship scene has been a warzone, with contract shenanigans and attempted arson surrounding the race to claim AEW’s grand prize. The wily MJF is looking to dethrone the irate, tough-as-nails «Hangman» Adam Page in the champion’s first pay-per-view title defense since his gory Texas Deathmatch against former champion Jon Moxley, and while MJF has been an AEW World Champion before, an overwhelming majority of us at smackwrestling. do not believe he will become one again any time soon, with 94% of our staff predicting a Page win come Sunday.

MJF may have triumphed All In’s Casino Gauntlet Match, but he is, interestingly, not using his winner privileges to secure his world title shot. For weeks, MJF has been taunting Page into granting him a world title match without a contract cash-in, and while Page initially stood strong against MJF’s mind games, MJF ultimately forced Page to give him a match after holding a gasoline-soaked Mark Briscoe hostage with a lighter. Now, the AEW World Championship may switch hands by disqualification or count-out — best of all: MJF does not have to cash in his Casino Gauntlet Match contract to compete.

While MJF seems to have the advantage going into Sunday, we just cannot imagine a world in which the wildly popular Page drops the title, even with MJF’s special match rules now in play. If anything, Forbidden Door may see Page retain, using the very same stipulations MJF worked so hard to set. Add in Briscoe and new MJF associates Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona, and we are bound to see a messy match for the title.

MJF may have some tricks up his sleeve, but nearly all of us at smackwrestling. believe our cowboy will overcome them to walk away still the AEW World Champion.

Written by Angeline Phu

Lights Out Steel Cage Match: Team Ospreay (81%)

AEW/Ricky Havlik

Will Ospreay promised he would be back in the ring by Forbidden Door, and on Sunday, he is not walking to that ring alone. Ospreay will headline Forbidden Door in his native United Kingdom, as he, Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and NJPW’s Hiroshi Tanahashi take on Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd, and the Young Bucks in a Lights Out Steel Cage Match. While both teams are stacked with talent, 81% of us at smackwrestling. are backing Team Ospreay, and believe that the hometown hero will lead his team to victory at the O2.

This feud can be traced back to All In’s main event, where Ospreay helped even the odds against the Death Riders to guarantee «Hangman» Adam Page’s victory against the tyrannical, then-world champion Moxley. After a month of medical leave, Ospreay returned to AEW in mid-August to finish what he started, and over the weeks, Ospreay and Moxley have been recruiting AEW’s finest — some of them having issues with Moxley themselves, like Allin — to battle for glory, honor, and pride inside an unforgiving steel cage.

The odds seem stacked in Team Moxley’s favor. Not only does Team Moxley boast former tag and trio champions, but Death Riders affiliates Wheeler Yuta and Marina Shafir are almost guaranteed to play a role in Sunday’s match. It doesn’t help that several members of Team Ospreay are either currently injured, as is the case with Ospreay himself, or have a tenuous past with in-ring injuries. Despite all that, however, the deciding factor in Sunday’s match may lie in the crowd. The motivation for an Ospreay victory in his native UK may prove stronger than any injury or interference. With that, how could you fault the majority of our staff who are backing our local «bruv» in London?

Written by Angeline Phu