On Sunday, June 28th, All Elite Wrestling, in partnership with New Japan, CMLL, and Stardom, held its big event, Forbidden Door. The promotion returned to the SAP Center in San Jose, CA, for the yearly event. The main event of the show saw Will Ospreay challenge Swerve Strickland in the finals of the Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament. The two delivered another absolutely outstanding match, like only they know how to. This came just two years after their last instant classic at Forbidden Door at the UBS Arena on Long Island, NY. However, this match was just the tip of the iceberg.

We also saw the Women’s Owen Hart Cup Finals take place as Mercedes Mone battled Maya World. This was truly a star-making performance for the ladder. Also, Team Briscoe, led by Mark Briscoe, consisting of Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Konosuke Takeshita, and Darby Allin, battled Team DCMJF, consisting of MJF, Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, Jake Doyle, Kazuchika Okada, and Andrade El Idolo, inside a steel cage. If Briscoe’s team wins, he gets a shot at MJF for the AEW World Championship. Also, Cope & Cage defended their AEW World Tag Team Championships against The Dogs, Thekla put her AEW Women’s World Championship on the line against Starlight Kid, Kenny Omega battled Zack Sabre Jr., and so much more. So, what were the top three moments of the night?

3. Andrade El Idolo Turns On MJF

In one of the biggest matches of the night, we saw Team Briscoe battle Team DCMJF inside a Steel Cage. This match had an interesting caveat as we saw the stipulation added that should Briscoe’s team win, he would get a shot at MJF’s AEW World Championship. Team Briscoe’s Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Konosuke Takeshita, and Darby Allin fought like a well-oiled machine. As for their opponents, Team DCMJF’s MJF, Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, Jake Doyle, Kazuchika Okada, and Andrade El Idolo, egos ran rampant. So, it’s safe to say that they were not going to be as cohesive a unit as the babyfaces were. This certainly came into play later in the match.

Following MJF’s reclaiming the AEW World Championship, Briscoe called him out for a shot. MJF refused and belittled Briscoe and his appearance. This essentially became a faction warfare as Lethal Twist and the Don Callis Family joined forces. The Conglomeration came to the aid of Briscoe, and the pieces were all put together. Briscoe announced that Khan confirmed a Steel Cage warfare match for Forbidden Door between the two groups. The teams were announced, and the stage was set. However, with all the egos on the heel side, something was bound to go wrong, right?

That’s exactly what happened. Towards the end of the match, Andrade El Idolo made his choice. Recently, we have seen Andrade and MJF form a bit of a friendship after starting as enemies. Andrade made his decision inside the cage and turned on MJF. While MJF lay motionless on the ground, Andrade gestured that he wanted the AEW World Championship. The fans freaked out and popped like crazy when Andrade turned babyface. So, while it appears MJF may have one other wrestler to worry about for AEW All In (we’ll get to that), he now has to worry about Andrade breathing down his neck. The AEW World Championship scene is heating up.

2. Jay White Returns

In another one of the night’s big marquee matches, we saw Cope & Cage’s Adam Copeland & Christian Cage put their AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Dogs’ David Finlay & Clark Connors. This was the final match before the triple main event. Copeland and Cage have been on a great run lately, but their age has been starting to show. They had another very tough challenge in front of them tonight as The Dogs’ Finlay & Connors were younger and very hungry for their first taste of gold in an All Elite Wrestling ring. However, someone had other plans for them.

Once things really got rolling in this one, The Dogs settled in and controlled the whole match-up practically, up to the very end. They targeted Cage’s injured forearm and looked to have this match won on multiple occasions. Things escalated when Connors and Finlay tried to crush Cage’s forearm with the steel steps. Thankfully, Copeland intervened and stopped it before it could get any worse for Cage. This allowed Cage to make the hot tag a mere moment later. Despite the hot tag, The Dogs were back in control, this time over Copeland. However, the conclusion of this match happened as the referee was knocked out.

With Finlay gearing up to use his shillelagh on Copeland, the lights went out. When they came back on, the Bang Bang Gang was standing at the entranceway. The Gunn’s, Juice Robinson, and Ace Austin were there in full force. Well almost… When the lights came back on fully, you could see Jay White standing right behind Finlay, hitting him with the Blade Runner as soon as he turned around. This allowed Copeland to land a spear on Finlay to win the match. But the bigger match here is that Jay White is officially back and healthy. I’m super excited to see White finally get to work in AEW. Fingers crossed he stays healthy. Welcome back, Jay White!

1. Owen Hart Cup Winners Crowned

A very important tournament concluded at Sunday’s Forbidden Door event, as well. We saw the Women’s and Men’s Owen Hart Cup Finals take place. The winners would punch their ticket to AEW All In in Wembley Stadium for a shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship and the AEW World Championship, and we were officially down to four competitors, two men and two women, who looked to earn that spot. For the women, it was down to Mercedes Mone and Maya World. While Mone making the finals was certainly no surprise, it was awesome getting to see World make it to the finals and get her dream match against Mone on such a grand stage.

Mone and World went for nearly 25 minutes. World knew exactly how important this match was for her, which is why she came out of the gate so hot. She looked for multiple pinfalls early and tried to take Mone off her game. Everything Mone through at World, she had an answer for, early on. This was a truly amazing match. It was indeed a star-making performance for World, and one that put her on the map in the AEW women’s division as a singles competitor. In the end, Mone hit a brutal backstabber and locked in the Statement Maker to win the match. Now, we gear up for her vs. Thekla for the AEW Women’s World Championship. That one will be good.

As for the Men’s Owen Hart Cup, we saw Will Ospreay battle Swerve Strickland. This match was an amazing callback to their match at Forbidden Door a mere couple of years back. This was bloody, brutal, and just had it all. The two went on for nearly 30 minutes before a winner was decided. This was a big deal from the entrances, as each man had a DC-inspired entrance. Ospreay came out as Bane, and Swerve as Lobo. In the end, after an absolute war, Ospreay hit multiple Paradigm Shifts and a Tiger Driver ’91 to win the match. Now, we will officially be getting Will Ospreay vs. MJF at Wembley. That’s going to be a good one. This very well could mark Ospreay’s coming-out party for AEW, as he could have his crowning achievement here.