A Japanese wrestling legend made his shocking appearance at AEW Forbidden Door 2026 following a major inter-promotional title match. The veteran in question, Hiroshi Tanahashi, arrived to support a New Japan Pro-Wrestling up-and-comer, who was seemingly at risk of being attacked by The Death Riders.
Earlier this month at NJPW Dominion in Osaka-Jo Hall, Shota Umino captured the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title in a three-way match also involving Drilla Moloney and defending champion Andrade El Idolo. The 29-year-old could not celebrate his victory unscathed, however, as he was blindsided by Gabe Kidd, who seemingly severed The Roughneck’s ties to The Death Riders through his former mentor, AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley.
Days later, Shota received a message from PAC, who invited the budding star to defend his IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against him at Forbidden Door 2026. Umino did not hesitate to answer the challenge, and showed up in the SAP Center in San Jose, CA to face The Man That Gravity Forgot this Sunday at the pay-per-view. The former AEW All-Atlantic Champion proved to be a formidable challenge for the NJPW representative, but the latter eventually did succeed at retaining his belt.
Post-match, while Shota celebrated his victory, Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir arrived to join their teammate PAC at ringside. The One True King of All Elite Wrestling then slid inside the squared circle to confront his once-protege face-to-face. Although the face-off did not immediately break into physicality, it did appear to be tense- making it all the more shocking when NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi unexpectedly made his entrance.
The former IWGP Tag Team, Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion, who also currently serves as the President of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, arrived to a thunderous ovation, prompting Moxley to leave Umino untouched and make his way to the back alongside his stable-mates.
Notably, the last time he was in action in AEW, The Ace had teamed with The Golden Lovers, Will Ospreay and Darby Allin to defeat The Death Riders and The Young Bucks in a Lights Out Steel Cage match at Forbidden Door last year.
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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee
