Matches announced to see who will face PAC at Forbidden Door for new AEW Championship
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) announced two new matches to determine the company's representative to face PAC and two other AEW stars at Forbidden Door for the brand new AEW All Atlantic Championship.
It was announced on Dynamite (June 8) that AEW would debut a new title to celebrate the company's international success, with the inaugural champion crowned at Forbidden Door (June 26).
The match to determine the first champion will be a four-way, including a wrestler from NJPW. It's confirmed who the four men in the running are: Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Clark Connors, and Tomoaki Honma.
At the June 20 New Japan Road event in Tokyo, Ishii will take on Kanemaru, and Honma will face Connors. The winners will advance to the next New Japan Road event the following night, where the winner will move on to Forbidden Door to fight for the AEW All Atlantic Championship.
The winner will join PAC, who beat Australian representative Buddy Matthews to advance. The other qualifying matches will see Canada's Ethan Page take on Bulgaria's Miro and Mexico's Penta Oscuro taking on Malakai Black of the Netherlands.
The tournament is shaping to be one of the most competitive of the year, but who will be the AEW All Atlantic Champion? Stay tuned to both AEW and NJPW to find out!
The match will be the third time PAC will challenge for AEW gold
Despite his momentum being halted by the pandemic, PAC has had a lot of success in AEW. He hasn't held gold in the company yet, but Forbidden Door will be his third chance at gold in AEW.
The first was on April 8, 2021, when Death Triangle challenged The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Team Championship. Despite an athletic contest, Matt & Nick Jackson retained.
The second came at Double or Nothing 2021. PAC faced Kenny Omega and Orange Cassidy in a triple threat match for the AEW World Championship. Once again, PAC was unable to claim gold on the night.
Will the third time be lucky for the former NXT Champion? Only time will tell!