One star from a major promotion wasn’t able to make his planned AEW appearance.
Last month, the AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door crossover PPV took place inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. In the weeks leading up to the event, NJPW stars appeared on Dynamite and Rampage to hype up Forbidden Door.
Will Ospreay and other members of NJPW’s United Empire faction also made appearances. One notable name left off the shows, however, was Francesco Akira.
Why Francesco Akira Didn’t Appear on AEW TV
Francesco Akira had an interview with Cultaholic and when the topic of missing out on Forbidden Door and the weeks prior was brought up, Akira revealed that visa issues were to blame.
“There was [A plan to appear], but unfortunately we’re working on my visa stuff now, because I’ve never been to the U.S, but I just joined New Japan.“
Francesco Akira on missing out on Forbidden Door month
“There’s a process you need to do before getting to America. I think Forbidden Door was one of the greatest shows of the last ten years to me. Every match delivered, especially the United Empire matches.
“We’re working on it, I would love to come to America, especially for STRONG and defend [these] championship[s] too with TJP in America.”
With the amount of jaw-jacking Will Ospreay has done towards Kenny Omega, many are convinced that we have not seen the last of him or United Empire on AEW programming. This would be great news for Akira.