AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door Is Missing This One Major Component
Fans finally know the final AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door card, and while it's full of awesome matches, the number of All Elite originals is truly underwhelming. Homegrown talent like Wardlow fuels the long-term success of any enterprise, be it professional wrestling or otherwise, and heading into this pay-per-view, OG AEW wrestlers are tough to find on the card. Especially if audiences are scanning for those who became known for their work within the company, as opposed to with NJPW or WWE.
There's always crossover talent in the world of professional wrestling. AJ Styles, for instance, gained notoriety with IMPACT before latching on in WWE. Even that company, though, understands the importance of grooming future, bankable wrestlers. The shift towards NXT 2.0 was entirely motivated by that need. The gold and black brand was putting on bangers each and every TakeOver, but they were, by and large, doing it with workers who'd grown their popularity in the indies or in New Japan. WWE didn't turn Adam Cole, Kevin Owens, or Drew McIntyre into stars. They became that elsewhere.
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Creating marketable performers is even more important for AEW, given that their overall media footprint is so much smaller. Yet in the main event of Forbidden Door, on one side is Jon Moxley, formerly of WWE, and Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW's longtime ace. The fatal four-way between Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, Adam Cole, and Hangman Adam Page for the IWGP World Championship also features no homegrown AEW talent. Page might make the cut there, as he was an original part of the All Elite roster and grew from Bullet Club's jobber to world champion with the company. He still wrestled in New
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