Independent Star Reveals Year-Long Goal To Wrestle At Recent AEW Show

AEW

British independent star Michael Oku has opened up about his AEW Forbidden Door appearance, stating that it was a year-long goal to get there.

While Michael Oku had wrestled a non-televised dark match for AEW in August 2025, the former RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion made his televised AEW debut in the Forbidden Door Zero Hour pre-show.

Oku wrestled in front of his home-country crowd at the The O2 in London, England, teaming with Kevin Knight and Speedball Mike Bailey against Ricochet, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona.

Speaking with The FiveMarks, Michael Oku revealed that getting on the card for Forbidden Door 2025 was a goal he had been working towards since the previous August.

He explained:

“I looked at it as a goal, 100%. When they announced that it was at the O2 Arena, it was kind of coming out that it was at the O2 Arena around the time of last year’s All In, I said ‘Okay, I’m not on this Wembley Stadium show, I’m gonna aim to be at the O2 Arena for Forbidden Door.’

“Everything that I did from August 2024 to August 2025 was working my way towards that goal. I try to set vague goals in wrestling, just because that way you don’t get disappointed, but that was the one where I was like ‘No, I could be on this show, and I feel like I should be on this show, and I’m gonna prove that it makes sense for me to be on this show.’

“Even having said that, when I found out I’d be wrestling, it was still a bit of ‘Oh, okay, alright, here we go. Wow, it’s actually happening.’ It was a combination of the surprise as well as it being the goal. “

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Michael Oku recently credited a current AEW star for making the Forbidden Door match a success, click here to read more.

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• AEW
• Michael Oku
• Forbidden Door
• goal

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