AEW is still the house of Swerve Strickland.
The AEW World Champion defended his title against Will Ospreay in a hard-fought match in the main event of the Forbidden Door 2024 PPV from UBS Arena in New York.
Both the competitors got special entrances for the match. Will Ospreay entered first paying tribute to the legendary Hayabusa with a mask during his entrance.
Strickland then got a special introduction from rapper Jim Jones who came out with the AEW Title and handed it to Swerve when he appeared.
The match was every bit as brutal as expected with both the stars missing no opportunity to take things to the extreme. This included a crossbody Ospreay delivered to Swerve over the top rope very early in the bout, taking the champion outside.
The ending of the bout saw Ospreay accidentally knocking out the referee with a Hidden Blade. Don Callis then appeared at the ringside to hand his client a screwdriver, before being tackled by Prince Nana.
Ospreay thought about using the screwdriver on Nana but then threw it away. The distraction allowed Swerve to recover and he hit Will Ospreay with a House Call.
A new referee showed up to continue the match and Strickland then delivered a second and third house call to finally put Will Ospreay down.
What’s Next For Will Ospreay?
Will Ospreay appears to be moving away from the world title picture for the moment as his next feud has already been teased on AEW Programming.
After an opening segment between Ospreay, MJF and Daniel Garcia on this week’s Dynamite, both MJF and Garcia were shown to be watching tonight’s world title match very closely.
The tease at Forbidden Door only further confirms that AEW is building towards an MJF vs Will Ospreay match for the upcoming All In PPV from London, with Garcia playing a crucial part in this rivalry.