Zack Sabre Jr. Set to Face Kenny Omega at AEW’s Fifth Annual Forbidden Door PPV

By: Ian McCord

On the June 10th episode of AEW Dynamite, it was announced that the upcoming Forbidden Door PPV will feature a clash between two former World Heavyweight Champions, Zack Sabre Jr. and Kenny Omega, facing off in their second-ever singles match.

Their first singles meeting took place during the 2018 G1 Climax, during Omega’s run as IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Omega would defeat ZSJ with a roll-up in just over 15 minutes in a match that was voted four and a half stars by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling star ZSJ is a changed man in the years following his first match with Omega. Since then he has become one of NJPW’s top stars, winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions and also headlined Wrestle Kingdom 19 at the Tokyo Dome in 2025.

Since the inception of the Forbidden Door PPV in 2022, Zack Sabre Jr. has been a fixture of the crossover event, representing NJPW by competing in high-profile matches at every event.

At the inaugural event in 2022 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, ZSJ lost to a debuting Claudio Castagnoli, who replaced Bryan Danielson after the American Dragon had to back out of his originally scheduled match with ZSJ due to injury.

In 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the TMDK Frontman took part in a four-way match for the AEW International Championship, facing off against Orange Cassidy, Katsuyori Shibata, and Daniel Garcia. Cassidy would ultimately retain his championship in an entertaining match.

At the 2024 event in Elmont, New York, Sabre defeated Orange Cassidy by submission, and a year later in 2025 he retained his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating the legendary Nigel McGuinness at The O2 Arena in London, England.

Ahead of Omega and ZSJ’s match at Forbidden Door, Omega will take on his opponents TMDK stablemate, Bad Dude Tito, at AEW Collision: Summer Blockbuster on June 13th.

This year’s Forbidden Door is set to take place in San Jose, California on June 28th, featuring stars from AEW, NJPW, CMLL, and STARDOM. At the event, Zack Sabre Jr. looks to see whether Kenny Omega is still the best wrestler in the world and attempts to avenge his loss to The Cleaner from eight years ago.