Leave it to Kyle O’Reilly to turn a 12-man steel cage match into a retro gaming experience.
At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, O’Reilly and Mark Briscoe found a creative — and decidedly old-school — way to punish the Don Callis Family inside the steel cage. The duo produced an original Nintendo Entertainment System and put it to use as a weapon, beating their opponents with the controllers before taking things a step further. O’Reilly and Briscoe then used the NES cord itself to clothesline Kyle Fletcher, wrapping the vintage hardware into the chaos of the match in about the most memorable way possible.
The spot immediately stood out as one of the more inventive moments of the night, blending the anything-goes environment of a cage match with the kind of creative prop work that tends to define memorable multi-man brawls. Cage matches at joint AEW-NJPW events have historically leaned into spectacle, and this one was no different.
O’Reilly has long been known for his technical in-ring skill, but he has also shown a flair for the theatrical in brawling environments. Teaming with Briscoe — himself no stranger to creative weaponry — against the Don Callis Family gave both men a natural outlet for that side of their game. Fletcher, one of Callis’s most prominent associates, ended up on the receiving end of the NES shot in what will likely be a highlight-reel moment from the pay-per-view for years to come.
It is not every night that a 1983 home gaming console becomes a legitimate part of a professional wrestling match, but Forbidden Door has a way of producing exactly that kind of unforgettable imagery.
Reporting and match coverage produced by the PW Exclusive team. Articles under this byline are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed before publication — see our editorial standards for how we work.
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