AEW President Tony Khan has revealed that visa issues have significantly impacted plans for this weekend’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view, with several international stars currently unavailable to compete.
Speaking during a media call promoting the event, Khan admitted the situation has been one of the biggest challenges heading into the show. “Yes, that has been a massive challenge for this event.”
He explained that multiple wrestlers from around the world were originally factored into AEW’s plans but have been unable to travel while their visa situations are being resolved. “There are a number of wrestlers that were factored in, coming from countries all over the world, that I’m looking forward to having return who are not here and available right now.”
Despite those setbacks, Khan praised the depth of AEW’s roster. “It speaks to the great depth of the AEW roster that we’ve been putting on tremendous TV every Wednesday and Saturday, doing four hours of what I believe is very strong television, and that we have such an exciting pay-per-view card without a lot of those great stars being available.”
Khan specifically named several Mexican stars currently affected by visa issues. “There are a number of stars in Mexico right now, some great wrestlers that I would love to have here who have not had their visas in recent weeks. That would include Beast Mortos, Komander, and Hechicero.”
He added that additional talent are also waiting on visa renewals. “We’re also going through visa renewals with a number of other wrestlers down there that I haven’t mentioned yet.”
The visa challenges have extended beyond Mexico. “We’ve also had challenges with a number of other international wrestlers. I was hoping to have Gabe Kidd here, and Gabe Kidd is another wrestler going through the renewal process.”
Khan did, however, offer encouraging news regarding one absent champion. “One wrestler I expect back very soon, who left recently and is a huge part of AEW, is the National Champion, Mark Davis…”
He concluded by expressing optimism that Davis could return before several of the other affected wrestlers. “I would expect Mark back possibly sooner than some of the other people I named, but hopefully all of those people will get everything worked out soon.”
