Tony Khan Wanted To Use STARDOM Talent For Forbidden Door But They Were Unavailable

Fightful reports that during a post-show media scrum following AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, AEW CEO Tony Khan said that he wanted to use STARDOM talent for the event but couldn’t due to a lack of availability. STARDOM and NJPW are both owned by the same parent company Bushiroad.

Khan said: “I was interested in using Stadom, obviously they have a close relationship with New Japan, and all the wrestlers from Stadom were pretty much booked and they didn’t have visas. It was a big obstacle. There is definitely potential there. Certainly, Toni is one of the hottest and rising stars in AEW since she arrived in AEW. I thought it made great sense because she’s been a champion in Japan, has great experience at Stardom, and someone who has been on our TV. It was a great match we could build to. t was not a blood rivalry. I was forged in mutual respect and fought it with honor. It was a great wrestling match and it was cool. I thought Toni was the perfect choice given who was on our TV, who was pushed, and knowing that, while it would have been another challenge, in addition to many other challenges, to take people from Stardom and get them over on our TV, it would have been possible to do it, absolutely, but availability is the greatest ability of all in this business and most businesses. In this case, there was no availability. Toni, for many reasons, was a great choice and they had a great match.“