The August 24 Forbidden Door tag match—Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs. Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian—was set up with a clear purpose. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said the match is meant to position the team for a potential AEW World Tag Team Title challenge.
According to Meltzer, the original idea was to give Copeland and Cage a decisive win before they could be booked for a championship match. The goal was to avoid the perception they hadn’t earned the shot.
“I guess the idea was is that they could do the first match and give them a win because it may be a championship match. So then you cannot complain that they haven’t even gotten a win and they’re getting a championship match. So they are getting a win because that may be a championship match. It may not be. But the original plan, I can tell you for sure, the original plan was for them to get a win to build to a championship match. That may not happen. A win… okay.”
Wayne and Sabian were chosen as opponents to fit the storyline, with weeks of promos against Christian setting up the match as a grudge bout.
“Well, I mean, a win and it’s a grudge match. It’s not like Nick and Sabian haven’t been cutting promos on Christian for weeks and weeks. It’s not like it’s just some match out of nowhere. It’s a match for them to get a win because they can pin Kip and it’s fine and it’s, you know, hopefully it’s not a long match.”
If plans hold, the Forbidden Door win would lead to Copeland and Cage challenging FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championships at All Out in Toronto on September 20.
Meltzer also pointed out the value of the match for Wayne and Sabian, even if they aren’t expected to win.
“It’s a big one for Nick. You know, that’s a big one for Kip too, because it’s like they usually don’t get these kind of opportunities against guys of this caliber. And, you know, I mean, they’re not going to win, but it’s a good shot for them to put up a real good showing and have a good match with two smart guys that they’re in with.”
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