SANADA Issues IWGP Title Challenge For AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door, Jungle Boy Accepts

The card for the second annual AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door continued taking shape on Wednesday's edition of "AEW Dynamite," this time by planting seeds for a match for NJPW's top title. About halfway into the show, AEW aired a promo from current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA, who announced that he was issuing an open challenge to anyone on the AEW roster to try to come and take his title on June 25 in Toronto. Later in the broadcast, the challenge was accepted by Jungle Boy.

"I am the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion," SANADA began. "On June 25, I plan to show the world the strength of an IWGP Champion. At Forbidden Door, there will be an open challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. I look forward to seeing who steps up. AEW roster, I'm waiting for your reply." All of that was in Japanese with English subtitles, but his parting comment was spoken in English: "See you next time."

SANADA won the IWGP world title from Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis on April 8 in Tokyo. Leading up to the title victory, he had left Tetsuya Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japon stable to join the newly-formed Just Five Guys and radically changed his look, from blond and scruffy to clean-cut with short, black hair. He last defended his title on June 4 at Dominion in Osaka, defeating Yota Tsuji, who had just returned to Japan from his "learning excursion" abroad.

Jungle Boy, meanwhile, is coming off an unsuccessful four-way challenge for the AEW world title at Double or Nothing.