“Death’s Door” Debuts at AEW Forbidden Door, Tony Khan Credits Mike Mansury for the Creation

Sunday night’s AEW Forbidden Door event saw the introduction of a new steel cage: Death’s Door. It’s a circular structure that surrounds the ring, reminiscent of AAA’s circular cage that TNA used in the early 2010s and called the Steel Asylum. Unlike that cage, Death’s Door doesn’t have a roof, which is probably for the best because people trying to climb it rarely went well.

The cage is locked, the bell has sounded, and the fight is on!

Watch #ForbiddenDoor LIVE on HBO Max PPV pic.twitter.com/kmLPLRNSlV

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 29, 2026

Tony Khan was asked about the new structure during the post-show media scrum, and he credited Mike Mansury with the idea.

Tony Khan on the Creation of Death’s Door

“It was a very cool idea. It was Mike Mansury who asked about putting a round steel cage. I thought it was a really cool concept. So it came out really good and being at Forbidden Door and being a deadly cage, we called it Death’s Door. It was a very cool idea and it looks great and I would love to bring it back. So it was a very good debut for Death’s Door.”

Mike Mansury is currently Co-Executive Producer and a Senior Production Executive for AEW. He previously worked for WWE and was one of the contenders to replace Kevin Dunn until moving to AEW in 2022. It remains to be seen whether or not future editions of AEW Forbidden Door will include the structure.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.