The Post-Match Barroom Brawl

Pull up a barstool. Pour yourself a double of whatever cheap whiskey is on the bottom shelf. Let’s talk about last night in San Jose.

If you thought the SAP Center was going to host a polite wrestling showcase, you are smoking something. Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland did not just wrestle. They had a flat-out street fight that left the canvas stained in red and the fanbase ready to riot.

By the time the bell rang, Ospreay was holding the Owen Hart Cup. He secured his ticket to Wembley for All In. But the real war is happening right now on your social media feeds.

Wrestling fans are currently divided into three distinct camps. They are tearing each other apart. If you want the full rundown of every single match, check out the complete AEW Forbidden Door results.

Let's look at why this match has the wrestling world ready to throw hands. We also saw Mercedes Mone make her mark, which you can read about in the women's tournament recap.

But the men's final was where the real chaos erupted. This match will go down as one of the craziest main events in SAP Center history, as Wrestling News reported.

The Workrate Zealots: Six Stars in the Dirt

First, you have the workrate purists. These are the guys who live for high spots, kickouts at 2.99, and physical destruction. For them, last night was a masterpiece.

And look, it’s hard to argue with the sheer physical spectacle. Ospreay got powerbombed on the ring apron early on. He was busted open immediately, dripping blood all over the place.

Then Ospreay sent Swerve face-first into the corner of the steel steps. It was a brutal spot. Swerve started bleeding like a faucet.

The spot where Swerve hit Ospreay with a chest kick off the announce table was insane. Then Ospreay hit a Styles Clash onto the announce table. It was wild, dangerous, and beautiful.

The internet enthusiasts are screaming that this is the match of the decade. They point to Ospreay countering Swerve with a Spanish Fly. They point to the springboard cutter.

To these fans, Ospreay is the undisputed best in the world. He took Swerve's best shots and survived. Now he heads to Wembley as the hero AEW needs.

One poster on the major boards argued that this match set a new standard for tournament finals. They wrote that the sheer physical toll both men took showed exactly how much the Owen Hart Cup means.

Another commenter on social media claimed that Ospreay's ability to transition from a Spanish Fly counter directly into a powerbomb and a Styles Clash is proof that he operates on a different athletic plane. For these fans, the blood and the high spots were a vintage display of fighting spirit.

The Skeptics: Finishers Mean Nothing Anymore

Now let’s pour some cold water on this hype train. The second camp of fans is furious. They are the ones who think this match was everything wrong with modern wrestling.

They have a very strong case. At what point does a finisher actually finish a match?

Let’s look at the late-match booking. Swerve avoided a Hidden Blade, the referee almost got knocked out, and Swerve hit a low blow. Dirty tactics, classic heel behavior.

Then Swerve hit the Vertibreaker. The Vertibreaker is one of the most protected moves in wrestling history. Ospreay kicked out at the two count.

Why? Why are we kicking out of a Vertibreaker after a low blow? That should be the finish of any match on the planet.

But it got worse. Ospreay then hit Hangman Page’s Buckshot Lariat. Swerve kicked out.

Ospreay hit a DDT. He hit a Death Ryder. He hit the Tiger Driver.

It felt like a video game where someone just spammed the finisher buttons. When you use five different finishers in the span of three minutes, you cheapen all of them.

A prominent critic on the forums pointed out that this sequence destroys any sense of match logic. They posted that when Ospreay kicks out of a low blow followed immediately by a Vertibreaker, it completely kills the credibility of Swerve's offense.

Another user complained that Ospreay using Hangman's Buckshot Lariat and Moxley's Death Ryder just to set up his own Tiger Driver was lazy. They argued it makes the moves of top stars look like minor inconveniences. For them, the match sacrificed drama for empty spectacle.

The Booking Contrarians: The Predictable Wembley Rocket

Then we have the booking nerds. They aren't arguing about the workrate; they are arguing about the business.

Their main complaint is simple: this was too predictable. AEW has been building Ospreay as the chosen one since he signed. Winning the Owen Hart Cup to main event All In was the obvious path.

But did we need to sacrifice Swerve to get there? Swerve is one of the most over guys in the company. Giving him a loss here, even a protected one, stalls his momentum.

Some fans are pointing out that Ospreay didn't need the tournament win. He is already over enough to challenge for the title whenever he wants.

The contrarians argue that hotshotting Ospreay to the main event feels forced. It makes the rest of the roster look like secondary players.

A long-time forum user noted that Swerve had been doing the best character work of his career. They argued that halting his ascent just to feed him to the Ospreay machine is a classic case of booking the destination instead of the journey.

On the message boards, another poster wrote that AEW is repeating its old habits of relying on a single top star. They argued that steamrolling through Swerve despite a low blow and a legendary finisher makes the rest of the locker room look weak. This, they claim, hurts the long-term credibility of the entire roster.

The Verdict: A Masterpiece with a Glaring Flaw

Alright, let’s settle this. Who has the right take?

The enthusiasts are right about the effort. Both men worked their tails off. They took real physical risks to entertain the crowd.

But the skeptics have the stronger argument when it comes to the story. Wrestling needs rules to make sense. Finishers need to mean something.

Kicking out of the Vertibreaker after a low blow was a mistake. It made Swerve's offense look weak. It made the referee bump feel pointless.

If you want to build Ospreay as a superhero, that's fine. But you don't do it by making the rest of the move-sets look like gentle suggestions.

The match was still great. It was a physical war that kept the SAP Center crowd screaming.

But it could have been legendary with a bit of restraint. Sometimes, less is more.

AEW is heading to Wembley with Ospreay in the main event. It will be a massive show. But let’s hope they learn to protect the finishers before they get to London.