Shota Umino Wants to Restore IWGP’s Standing at Forbidden Door After Yota Tsuji’s Boycott Comments

With AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on the horizon, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and its place within the crossover event has become a genuine point of tension — and Shota Umino has stepped into that conversation with strong feelings about how the title has been handled.

Umino’s comments come on the heels of IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji floating the idea of boycotting Forbidden Door entirely. Tsuji’s concern centers on the way AEW has historically treated the championship, pointing to instances where it was put on the line in multi-man matches or defended against opponents who hadn’t legitimately earned a shot at the belt. For a title that carries the prestige of the IWGP lineage, those booking decisions struck Tsuji as disrespectful — a suggestion that AEW views the championship as secondary to its own titles.

Tsuji is not currently booked for the Forbidden Door card. Umino, however, appears to share his frustration and has indicated he wants to play a role in changing the narrative around how the IWGP title is perceived in an AEW setting. The sentiment is clear: the belt deserves to be treated with the same seriousness it commands in New Japan.

The back-and-forth adds a compelling layer of real animosity to what is already one of the year’s most anticipated crossover events. Whether Umino gets the opportunity to make good on his intentions at Forbidden Door remains to be seen, but the conversation itself signals that NJPW’s talent isn’t content to simply show up — they want the championship treated accordingly.