Yota Tsuji has moved to clarify comments made ahead of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door that were interpreted as a threat to boycott the event, insisting that was never his intention.
According to Fightful, the IWGP Heavyweight Champion had previously suggested he might sit out Forbidden Door given how the title had been treated at AEW over the years, pointing to the championship being defended in four-way matches or against opponents he felt had not earned a shot at it. Tsuji has now said those remarks were not a boycott, but rather a specific objection to how the title has been booked on the crossover show, and he confirmed he will wrestle a non-title match in AEW.
WrestleZone reported that Tsuji framed his concern strictly around championship handling rather than a refusal to appear for AEW, saying his issue was with the circumstances of past title defenses rather than the event itself. eWrestlingNews similarly noted that Tsuji had expressed frustration over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship being defended in multi-man matches at previous AEW shows, a point he reiterated while walking back any suggestion that he would skip Forbidden Door entirely.
411Mania reported that Tsuji said he is happy to compete in a non-title match in AEW, further separating his willingness to work with AEW from his stated concerns about how the IWGP Heavyweight Championship itself has been defended on Forbidden Door cards.
The comments come ahead of the June 2026 AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, though the sources do not specify an opponent, date or match stipulation for Tsuji’s planned appearance beyond it being a non-title bout.
