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A former world champion has received some criticism for his performance at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event, but Tony Khan has firmly shut down the negativity.
The star in question is none other than Hiroshi Tanahashi. At the Forbidden Door event, the Japanese legend went toe-to-toe with AEW World Champion MJF in a singles match. The bout lasted just under 16 minutes, with the Salt of the Earth emerging victorious.
A section of fans have criticized Tanahashi for his performance in the match. Speaking on Busted Open, Tony Khan stated:
"I think the vast majority of fans who follow the sport closely know that (Hiroshi) Tanahashi’s a legend, that it’s amazing that he’s fighting through these injuries and doing the best he can and yeah, he’s got bad knees and every once in a while, he might have a slip as he tries high-flying moves. But in the end, he had an amazing fight on Collision, he had a great match, Tanahashi versus Swerve (Strickland) and he had a great match with MJF at the pay-per-view. Not everything Tanahashi does is the same as it was 10 years ago or 15 years ago." (H/T: EWrestlingNews)
Tony Khan also commented on a particular entrance song for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II
The AEW President clearly thinks highly of his roster, as he was willing to spend an enormous amount of money for just one song.
Speaking at the event's media scrum, Tony Khan stated that the Final Countdown song for Bryan Danielson's entrance cost almost as much as a wrestler's contract.
"It's a very expensive song, 'Final Countdown'. I had been working on it for a while leading into the pay-per-view because I believed it would be a big moment and it would give the match something special. It was as expensive as a wrestler's contract but it was worth it," said Khan. [H/T: Cultaholic]
As of now, the song will not be used for Danielson's entrance again unless Tony Khan works out another deal.
What do you think of Hiroshi Tanahashi's match at Forbidden Door? Sound off in the comments section below!
