Backstage Resistance Forced AEW to Change Title Match at Forbidden Door

The Forbidden Door pay-per-view will see the AEW Tag Team Titles in a three-way elimination match. However, it appears there’s more to this match than meets the eye.

Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter talked about the elimination match for the AEW Tag Team Titles at Forbidden Door, where Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin will defend their titles against FTR and Bandido & Brody King.

Meltzer noted that the real story behind it was that AEW wanted to move the titles to FTR in order to set up a program with Adam Copeland and Christian Cage on September 20 for All Out. However, Lashley and Benjamin were not willing to lose directly to FTR.

Because of this, AEW considered two different ideas: booking a three-way match to work around the situation and still transition the belts to FTR, or running an injury angle with Benjamin so the titles could be shifted that way. The elimination match detail was never promoted on television but was listed as such on AEW’s social media.

“Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin vs. FTR vs. Bandido & Brody King in an elimination match for the AEW tag titles. So the real story is this. It was known some time back that they wanted the titles on FTR to do a program with Adam Copeland & Christian, starting on 9/20. Lashley & Benjamin weren’t up for losing to FTR. Two ideas that floated around in recent weeks were to either do a three-way to get around that and get the belts to FTR, or have Benjamin do an injury angle and FTR would get the belts that way. The elimination match aspect was not mentioned on television at all but they did list it as such in social media.”

If FTR wins the tag team titles at Forbidden Door, it will set them up for one of AEW’s biggest tag team feuds of the year against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage at All Out. So we’ll have to see if that will end up happening since it’s clear that’s AEW direction right now at least.

Do you think AEW handled the situation well with the elimination match? Sound off in the comments.