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Danielson vs. Okada, Omega vs. Ospreay Announced for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023

Mike Chiari

Two huge headliner matches were made official Tuesday for the second annual AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view on June 25.

AEW announced that its own Bryan Danielson will clash with longtime face of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Kazuchika Okada, while Kenny Omega will put the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship on the line against Will Ospreay in Toronto:

Danielson vs. Okada is a first-time-ever dream match that may prove to be the main event of the show even with no titles being involved.

At the NJPW Dominion event on Sunday, a vignette was shown featuring Danielson challenging Okada to a match at Forbidden Door:

That left the wrestling world buzzing since Okada has been widely regarded as a dream opponent for Danielson ever since he left WWE for AEW in 2021.

Danielson is one of the all-time greats, having held five world titles in WWE and one in Ring of Honor. He has yet to win a world title in AEW, but he has been knocking on the proverbial door since his debut.

Additionally, Danielson is in the conversation with Bret Hart, Kurt Angle and a select few others for the title of greatest technical wrestler of all time.

As for Okada, he is a seven-time world champion in NJPW, and at just 35 years of age, it can be argued that The Rainmaker is New Japan's most accomplished star ever.

Omega vs. Ospreay will be a rematch of their critically acclaimed bout at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom in January, which saw Omega defeat Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.

That marked Omega's first NJPW match since 2019, and it was only the second singles match between Omega and Ospreay, and the first since 2015 when they wrestled each other in PWG.

Ospreay beat Lance Archer in a tournament final at Dominion to secure his rematch with Omega at Forbidden Door.

Both Omega and Ospreay are former IWGP world heavyweight champions, and they are two of the best in-ring workers in the world, meaning they may have what it takes to meet or exceed what they did at Wrestle Kingdom.

Danielson and Omega were both injured and unable to work Forbidden Door last year, but now two of AEW's biggest stars are set to be integral parts of the second Forbidden Door pay-per-view.

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