AEW

A top star wants to face CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli.

This Sunday, June 25, AEW and NJPW will present the second annual Forbidden Door event where stars from the two promotions will clash for an epic show.

One of the top matches on the card will see MJF defend the AEW World Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, “The Ace” shared his thoughts on the showdown with Maxwell Jacob Friedman. He said:

“I feel very honored to challenge for the AEW title. Just imagining myself becoming the AEW world heavyweight champion is pretty exciting.“

When asked for his thoughts on the AEW World Champion specifically, the former eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion answered:

“I have no respect for him. But I will say that for someone so young, he’s got a lot of self-belief and conviction.”

If Tanahashi is able to dethrone MJF, he envisions some major dream matchups are in his sights in the future.

Naming his dream opponents from All Elite Wrestling as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli, Tanahashi stated:

“Castagnoli is a great wrestler. I know that he used to team with Shinsuke Nakamura, and that was an emotional link for me. I’d love to have a single match against him.”

“I want to wrestle CM Punk since I couldn’t do it last year. I have wrestled Bryan Danielson once before when I was younger. But with him being one of the top wrestlers in the U.S. and the world right now, I’d love for us to go again.”

All three men Tanahashi wants to face will also be in action at this Sunday’s show. CM Punk will face Satoshi Kojima in an Owen Hart Men’s Tournament Quarterfinal Match. Bryan Danielson will headline Forbidden Door in a first time ever dream match against Kazuchika Okada.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and Jon Moxley will team with Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino to face Eddie Kingston, Tomohiro Ishii and The Elite’s Hangman Adam Page and The Young Bucks in a ten-man tag team match.

For the full lineup for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, click here.

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• Claudio Castagnoli
• Bryan Danielson
• Hiroshi Tanahashi
• cm punk

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