Update on AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view buys
An update is available on how AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door has performed on pay-per-view.
In the July 6, 2026 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that he does not currently have an estimate for pay-per-view buys, but the numbers he has seen indicate that Forbidden Door is trending to be AEW’s lowest-performing pay-per-view of 2026 so far.
Meltzer wrote:
“I don’t have a PPV estimate past some numbers that we have indicate the lowest of 2026, but this has also been a great year. The key distributor these days is HBO Max and we were told the numbers were comparable there to Dynasty, which did around 145,000 buys, so this would likely be a little bit lower since other distributors were down.”
Meltzer also wrote that a potential reason for the show trending below other AEW pay-per-views this year was the lack of an AEW World Championship match. AEW World Champion MJF was involved in the 12-person steel cage match on the show, leading a team of Don Callis Family members against a team led by Mark Briscoe.
Meltzer continued:
“As far as a reason, my gut is the lack of an AEW world title match is the main culprit as MJF would have meant more in a singles match than in a 12-man match to build up a title match.”
MJF later defeated Briscoe in a title match to open the July 1 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Meltzer also noted that the pay-per-view was up against NXT Great American Bash and a Sunday night baseball game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. However, it was not up against a primetime World Cup game.
This week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available here for subscribers.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.