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Ahead Of Forbidden Door, Will Ospreay Opens Up On Importance Of New Japan Pro Wrestling (Exclusive)

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Zack Heydorn | Last updated Aug 23, 2025 4:45 PM ET

The proverbial forbidden door will open up on Sunday afternoon when AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling combine for the fourth annual AEW and NJPW Forbidden Door PPV event.

The concept of the event was pitting the best of AEW against the best of New Japan on a super-show PPV and this year, numerous matches cross that threshold for fans.

Much of the AEW roster has competed at Forbidden Door events in the past, but a lot of their participation came when they were on the New Japan side of the ledger. Talent like Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, and others are now in AEW, but spent a large portion of their career as top New Japan champions.

In an interview with The Takedown on SI, Will Ospreay opened up on his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling and discussed just how important it was to his career.

"When I went to New Japan, for me, it was about learning the trade of wrestling. Like, if I was an electrician, you would have an apprentice. You would learn how to wire a house. You'd learn how to wire a kitchen. A lot of the times, it is trial and error, but like, Japan is great because they're patient with you and they understand that you're not going to get it right away -- especially as a foreigner. I did not understand the mannerisms. I didn't understand the language, but they were so patient with me.

Ospreay continued:

"So, then by the time I learned everything about myself, my stock in New Japan was the highest that it could physically get. Could it have got higher? Maybe if I stuck around, but I just I knew what I wanted. I accomplished everything I wanted to do in New Japan. I left on the best flipping terms. I can go back whenever I want to and I wanted to bring what I had over in New Japan, because that's what AEW is kind of founded on -- like Kenny, The Bucks, Cody -- it was that New Japan style."

It's a war for Ospreay at Forbidden Door

Ricky Havlik - All Elite Wrestling

At this year's Forbidden Door event, Ospreay will lead a team of AEW stars against Jon Moxley and his team in what is sure to be a chaos filled Lights Out Cage Match. Ospreay said that he's heading for surgery after the match and he wants to be Will Ospreay in the ring once last time before he does.

AEW Forbidden Door 2025 airs live on PPV from inside the O2 Arena in London on Sunday afternoon. Other announced matches include Adam Page vs. MJF for the AEW World Championship, Toni Storm vs. Athena for the AEW Women's World Championship, Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland for the AEW Unified Championship, and more.