PARKS’S TAKE: At Forbidden Door, Shirakawa and Vaquer arguably outshined the men from outside of AEW

The booking of AEW’s Women’s Division has been oft-criticized through the years, and at times rightfully so. At Forbidden Door, however, the women brought in from elsewhere, Mina Shirakawa and Stephanie Vaquer arguably out-performed their male counterparts from other companies when you combine their in-ring performance as well as the build-up they contributed to each of their individual matches.

Shirakawa had the advantage of being the non-AEW Forbidden Door participant most utilized on television in the lead-up to the PPV. Her participation in the Mariah May/Toni Storm storyline and the intrigue it created added a lot to the Storm vs. Shirakawa match. A veteran of the Stardom promotion, Shirakawa’s wrestling credentials would not be questioned. And her match with Storm had some of the most crowd interest at Forbidden Door.

She played the role of interloper well, especially for someone who didn’t really cut any promos. AEW wisely supplemented her appearances with video packages to help introduce the broader AEW audience not only to her previous work, but to her previous relationship with May, since that was a key plot point. Sending all three out together after the match was not the result I expected but it tied a neat bow onto Shirakawa’s appearances.

Vaquer’s situation was tougher since she wasn’t on AEW TV as much as Shirakawa. I liked the story where Vaquer sent her tag team partner, Zeuxis, to AEW in order to soften up Mercedes Mone for their PPV match. Vaquer did get a win over Lady Frost on Collision the week before Forbidden Door, so the AEW audience did get to see her in action.

Naturally, the feud was more about Mone regaining the title she felt she was robbed of, the New Japan Strong Women’s Championship, at the time held by Vaquer. It wasn’t so much about Vaquer herself. Perhaps the most noteworthy part of this feud was Mone showing up at Arena Mexico to get into a brief brawl with Vaquer. Their match at Forbidden Door was really good as Mone continues to make a case that she’s one of the best big-match performers in wrestling, and Vaquer showed American fans that she more than belongs in the ring with a talent like Mone.

When Forbidden Door season rolls around, there’s a lot of fantasy booking around the men and who they may face from other companies around the world. This year, the women proved they deserve to be a large part of that conversation as well.

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