Last night’s match between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door will go down as one of the best matches in the company’s history but there is some criticism over Don Callis being thrown out and then being allowed back at ringside to interfere without any repercussions from the referee. Bully Ray, Mark Henry, and Dave Lagreca discussed this today on Busted Open Radio.
“Without a doubt that was a piece of art last night,” Bull said about the match. “That was that was a thing of beauty. A thing of beauty as a joy forever. My man John Keats said that.” Bully continued, “From the entrances to the look on Ospreay’s face, from the moment we seen him to Kenny eating up the hometown crowd or the Canadian crowd. The use of blood, the flag, outside interference, the referee, the way Will Ospreay took Kenny Omega’s head and drove it into the announce table. The way Kenny Omega took the announce table. The stairs, the this [and] that [and] the other thing…everything came together in that match. Everything I could have possibly wanted. I legitimately found myself watching the match as a kid again, mouth open. Oh my God, what’s gonna happen next? They registered correctly, they sold correctly. You want to say that there was maybe a couple of gratuitous kick outs on huge moves. Okay, fine. It’s called creative license and throwing that one out the door. There was one time and the match three quarters of the way in that I said they blew the people up, they might not be able to get them back. I was genuinely concerned for Ospreay and Omega because I thought maybe they went too far. Too far meaning that the people were just emotionally shot. And then Kenny kicked out on one?”
Dave Lagreca said the fans were taken to the next level when Omega kicked out at the count of one after taking the One Winged Angel from Ospreay. Bully seemed to agree and said, “And the only thing I can possibly compare it to is Hogan kicking out at one and being on his knees and starting to do the shake. Because Kenny got the same reaction. And if I can compare a talent to Hulk Hogan and the reactions that Hulk Hogan would get, you must be doing something right. So I can’t say enough good things about the match.”
Bully said that there was one thing that took away from the match that prevented him from comparing it to the Mona Lisa. Bully said, “Don Callis, the use of Don Callis. The referee throws Don Callis out of the match, correct? You get a great response from the crowd. Yes? It’s built in that when you throw a heel like Don Dallas out, you’re gonna get a great response. What did they do to Saraya, and to Ruby Riott (Soho) in the match right before Kenny, and Will? Lagreca: [They] threw them out.” Bully: Problem number one. You should have never wasted the throwing out of the people on the floor on Saraya and Ruby [Soho]. Because you came back and you did it in the match right after that match. Back to Back throwing out of the people on the floor. Now, did that affect the reaction of Don calles being thrown out? Sure it did.”
Bully continued, “But that’s not the real real issue. Referee looks at Callis [and] says you’re out of here because you’re causing too many problems on the floor. Don Callis about 20 minutes later, comes back down to the ring. And what did the referee do?”
Mark Henry: “Nothing.”
Bully: “Why?”
Henry: “Like I mean, it just totally takes his power away. And then, you know, they said on the announce table, well, he’s gonna get fined. I don’t want to hear that sh*t. I was like if he came down there with a towel. Like, I’m going to throw the towel in then now I feel like, okay there’s a reason for him to come back. And then you do it and then it’s over. But man, like, he came back like nothing never happened.”
Bully: “Dave, he came back. And why was he allowed to be at ringside?”
Bully continued, “So in the body of the match, the announcers talked about the leniency of the refereeing during this match following maybe more of a Japanese refereeing style where they’ll lay off a bit kind of like red shoes would do. So Paul Turner is laying off a bit but Callis comes back down. Immediately, Paul Turner should be threatening to disqualify Will Ospreay. I never got this sense of urgency from the referee like no way in hell are you coming back down here and blatantly dismissing a judgment call that I make. You force me mentally out of the story. I’m so immersed in what is going on, and now I see a manager come back that got thrown out. I’m immediately saying, Okay, why is the referee not throwing them out? You’ve taken my attention and you forced it on something that it should never be forced on. Now, Don Callis actually gets physical in the match by holding on to Kenny Omega right?”
Bully went on to compare this to when an umpire throws out a manager in a baseball game. In baseball, the manager is not allowed to return. He also said that AEW needs to work on maintaining the credibility of their referees. He also said that he was ready to call it the greatest match he’s ever seen until Callis returned without explanation.
You can listen to the entire conversation below, which includes their review of the entire pay-per-view.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Busted Open Radio can be heard on SiriusXM’s Fight Nation (Channel 156), Monday through Saturday from 9 am to Noon eastern.
