Rocky Romero explains how the Forbidden Door was opened.
During an appearance on AEW Unrestricted, Rocky Romero shared how the Forbidden Door pay-per-view ultimately came together.
“I think the whole thing, from concept to execution, was probably 10 months or so, I wanna say. It was almost probably a year. I think the way it happened was, me and Tony had been texting back and forth, and then I was just like, ‘Tony, maybe we just do like a really cool event together, where it’s New Japan and AEW, and maybe there’s some crossover matches, but maybe it’s separated where AEW does a couple matches of their own and New Japan does a couple of their own, but it’s just like a supershow kind of fun event, you know. He was like yeah, and then he started coming up with match ideas right off the bat. Some of the concept was still there, like the original idea of Okada and Hangman against Jay and Adam Cole was kind of built from that day one, that first conversation ten months ago.
“So it obviously formed into the four-way, but originally those guys were Gina be together, so it’s kind of funny that some of the ideas that he originally had thought of right off the bat and just kind of throwing out there actually stuck, and it actually happened, which was cool. But yeah, that’s kind of how it started, and then we just kind of put it on the back burner. Then I ended up, I think I talked to Chris Harrington one day at one of the tapings, and Chris was like, ‘So I guess this is kind of moving.’ He’s like we got a couple of dates, could you go back to your people and check them dates. Obviously that’s the biggest deal, right, is getting the schedule of two major companies like that and trying to figure out a date where this thing actually works. So we went back and forth with that, secured that, then it was like okay, we’re like planning this thing in like 10 months, 11 months, a year or whatever. So we went back and forth, we secured the date, everything was good.”
Romero said things hit a standstill and some behind the issues led to discussing contracts and actually putting the show together. He noted that injuries contributed to a whole new host of issues, but the event ultimately took place and ended up being one of the most talked about shows of the years.
“Then the last piece of the puzzle was the talent and putting everything together, so that kind of came like a whirlwind because obviously AEW was coming off of a big pay-per-view, their own pay-per-view, then going into Blood & Guts so there was a lot going on there, and then New Japan as well had their second biggest show of the year, Dominion, so that had just ended. So the whole thing was like a whirlwind on both sides, all their storylines, trying to connect everything with Tony and trying to go back and forth between New Japan and Tony, and get it all done. But it ended up working out. Then of course obviously, people started getting injured, a couple people had fever, it was crazy. It was literally, every day something would be happening. Tony’s either texting me or calling me, or I’m calling him and I’m just like you’re not gonna believe this. He’s like, ‘No, no’. It was like, ‘Don’t even call me anymore’ [laughs.]
“That week was rough, but to see how much fun the show was and how great the show was, and how smooth it was and just seeing all the fans talk about the show and what an awesome event it was, we knew it was gonna be okay because you have this collection of amazing talent, the best talent in the world, coming together in two great companies that know how to put on a show. We come together and we knew it was gonna be a home run either way. We just had to get through it, and we did. And now it was one of the most talked about wrestling events of all time, and here we are.”
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