AEW star and former champion Ricochet has taken aim at a World Champion from Japan for refusing to defend his title at Forbidden Door 2026. The veteran high-flyer’s wording, moreover, seemingly alluded to a controversial remark from Triple H from a couple of years ago.
Later this month, AEW will join forces with its partner promotions, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Wonder Ring Stardom and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre to present the fifth edition of Forbidden Door. The event is expected to feature prominent talent from all of the aforementioned companies, with multiple big time crossover matches already having been announced, including Starlight Kid challenging Thekla for her Women’s World Title, and Zack Sabre Jr. returning to All Elite Wrestling to battle “The Best Bout Machine”, Kenny Omega.
However, despite capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Callum Newman at NJPW Dominion this past Sunday, NJPW’s rising top name Yota Tsuji has refused to defend his recently-won strap at Forbidden Door, arguing that the title has not been booked and presented on AEW programming with the respect it is due. The 32-year-old’s post has now elicited a response from Ricochet, who took to X/Twitter some time earlier to fire back:
“Running from the grind.”- posted Ricochet.
The former All Elite Wrestling National Champion’s wording could also have been a reference to Triple H’s remarks from 2024 when he criticized certain unnamed talent who elected against signing with WWE in favor of picking more lucrative and personally beneficial contracts with other promotions, a move which The Game saw as them avoiding “the grind.” Speculations at the time hinted at Will Ospreay being the likely target of his comment, which even led to the “Billy Goat” taking a shot at the WWE Creative Head on AEW Dynamite.
AEW’s Will Ospreay also responded to Yota Tsuji
Ricochet was not the only All Elite name to respond to Yota Tsuji’s declaration that he plans to boycott Forbidden Door 2026. Will Ospreay took to X/Twitter recently to call out the New Japan up-and-comer, accusing the latter of displaying his own insecurity and inviting him to prove the superiority of his brand by showing his mettle against the best of AEW like The Aerial Assassin himself had done before.
“Or maybe have some pride in representing your company as the top lad. When I held any IWGP championship I wanted to travel the world calling out the best to show them all New Japan is the better. Obviously his home market is Japan & he has done great job in the top spot to me this screams “ insecure” The roster clearly isn’t as driven as the guys I was once surrounded by. Just big belly boys wanting to keep playing “Free Play” Grow a sack, fill it with some n*ts, call out the BITW & show the world how good New Japan is…. Just my thoughts.” – wrote Ospreay.
Ospreay will have his hands full at AEW Forbidden Door with Swerve Strickland in the finals of the 2026 Men’s Owen Hart Tournament.
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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee
