The Forbidden Door has been the talk of the pro wrestling fan base since the PPV was announced. Before it became the name of NJPW and AEW’s upcoming crossover show, going through the “forbidden door” referred to AEW and NJPW talents appearing at each others’ events; KENTA, for example, shocked the wrestling world when he appeared on an episode of AEW Dynamite. Ever since then, NJPW stars appearing on AEW television, and vice versa, has become more and more common.

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Some AEW wrestlers are already very familiar with New Japan and would be making a return rather than a debut if they ever appeared at an NJPW show. Some of their runs in New Japan were more successful than others, but thanks to the Forbidden Door, none of them are definitively over at the moment.

10 Chuck Taylor

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With all due respect, Chuck Taylor’s run in NJPW was essentially much ado about nothing. He joined his tag partner Trent Beretta as a part of the faction Chaos and competed in a few World Tag League tournaments. Though he and Trent had a lot of fun together, and the Best Friends were well-liked by fans, Chuck Taylor never captured any titles or made much of an impact.

9 Adam Cole

Adam Cole With The Bullet Club

Adam Cole can light up a crowd no matter where he goes, and NJPW was no exception. He was brought into Bullet Club by The Young Bucks and occasionally appeared at NJPW shows as a result of the partnership between New Japan and Ring of Honor. Cole’s status as a member of Bullet Club and ROH World Champion certainly garnered some attention from Japanese fans, but Adam Cole was never in NJPW to have any significant title feuds or victories.

8 Hangman Page

Hangman Page

His time in NJPW was extremely pivotal in Hangman’s career. Like Adam Cole, he was brought into the Bullet Club by The Young Bucks. Though he never held any titles in NJPW, he competed in the G1 Climax and had a very compelling feud against "Switchblade" Jay White, for the IWGP US Title. If it weren’t for Page’s time in Bullet Club, it’s very unlikely that we’d have our lovable cowboy as we know him today.

7 Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal & Ricochet

Matt Sydal’s aerial style and technical prowess have helped him consistently wow audiences across the world. He had a particularly strong run in NJPW, where he and his tag partner Ricochet amazed New Japan fans with their high-flying stunts. Together, the two of them became two-time IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions and won the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament.

6 Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho was one of the more high-profile wrestlers to come over from the US and compete in NJPW. He had feuds with big names like Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. While some of his matches were great, others, mainly his match against Okada, were far less than stellar.

A redeeming factor for Jericho’s NJPW run is that it gave us the infamous term “Forbidden Door,” which was coined by Hiroshi Tanahashi in a promo against the Painmaker.

5 Trent Beretta

via zalaphoto.com

Trent spent most of his time in NJPW as the tag team partner of fellow Chaos member Rocky Romero. The two of them, known together as Roppongi Vice, became four-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champions and won the 2016 Super Jr. Tag Tournament.

Trent also had some impressive singles showings in his NJPW career, most notably his match against Kenny Omega for the IWGP US Title.

4 Lance Archer

Lance Archer

Suzuki-Gun’s resident Murderhawk Monster has shown his power on more than one occasion in an NJPW ring. He started as a tag team specialist in New Japan, teaming alongside Davey Boy Smith Jr. as part of the Killer Elite Squad.

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After Smith departed from NJPW, Archer continued to compete as a singles wrestler for Suzuki-Gun. He became IWGP US Heavyweight Champion before leaving for AEW and managed to capture the title again in late 2021.

3 Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley NJPW

Jon Moxley sent shock waves throughout the pro wrestling business when he was announced as Juice Robinson’s mystery opponent for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. He won the title in his debut match for New Japan and ran roughshod on the company while continuing to be the talk of the wrestling world. He even found a protege along the way in Shota Umino. Though the COVID-19 pandemic hindered his run, Mox is set to pick up right back where he started once he’s able to return to Japan.

2 The Young Bucks

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It was during their run in NJPW/ROH that the Bucks’ reputation as one of the best tag teams in the world really started to take shape. They joined the Bullet Club while it was under the leadership of Prince Devitt (now known as Finn Balor) and wreaked havoc on the jr. heavyweight division. To this day, they hold the record for most IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title reigns with a total of seven championship reigns. They’re also one-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.

1 Kenny Omega

kenny and kazu

Kenny Omega’s run in NJPW was historic, to say the least. He was the third leader of Bullet Club, the inaugural IWGP US Heavyweight Champion, and the first gaijin (foreign wrestler) to ever win the G1 Climax Tournament. He also put on some of the best pro wrestling matches in the company’s history, most notably his matches against Kazuchika Okada.

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His run was so incredible that it left very little to be desired, except perhaps a tag team title run with a certain Golden Star. Fingers-crossed, we’ll get to see Kenny and Ibushi achieve that goal together somewhere down the road.