Why AEW Surprisingly Held Will Ospreay Vs. Swerve Strickland At Forbidden Door 2024

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door III is in the history books, with Swerve Strickland walking out of the UBS Arena still in possession of the AEW World Championship after a hard fought win over Will Ospreay in the main event.

Many thought All Elite Wrestling would hold off on a Swerve vs. Ospreay title match until All In in August, but a report from Fightful Select has shed some light on why the bout was held at Forbidden Door.

With Will Ospreay arguably the hottest and most over act in the promotion, many assumed that he would defeat Swerve for the title either heading into or at All In in front of a home town crowd, however Ospreay reportedly pitched to AEW management his desire to put Swerve over, with Ospreay ‘tired’ of seeing Strickland referred to as a placeholder champion before an inevitable Ospreay world title reign.

AEW have big creative plans in place for Ospreay for the rest of the year, and Ospreay allegedly saw Forbidden Door as an opportunity to ‘set an example’ that no one is above losing to the world champion, with Ospreay further wanting to prove that AEW’s long term success will need to be a team effort. Ospreay is noted to have been a big asset to AEW both in the ring and behind the scenes, with the ‘Aerial Assassin’ helping out when needed, including helping other wrestlers put matches together.