Jay White’s AEW return almost came down to the wire, but Tony Khan says everything lined up exactly when it needed to.
During the AEW Forbidden Door media scrum, Khan revealed that White was only officially cleared this week before making his comeback at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view. AEW had clearly been hoping to get him back for the pay-per-view, but it was not a done deal until the clearance came through.
“Jay White just officially got cleared this week, so this was something we were hoping he was going to get cleared for. He just got cleared, and this is just huge excitement.”
White returned during the AEW World Tag Team Championship match, where Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defended against David Finlay and Clark Connors. The champions retained, but White’s appearance was the real eyebrow-raiser, especially with the Bullet Club history attached to Finlay and Connors.
Tony Khan said AEW had been building toward the possibility of White returning, and once he was cleared, the timing worked out perfectly.
“So, this was something we were hoping for, warming towards, and working for, and it came out and worked perfectly.”
White had been out for a long stretch after suffering a broken hand against Kevin Knight on AEW Collision in 2025, with a shoulder issue also extending his time away. AEW later wrote him off television with a Death Riders attack, and his injury wiped out major creative plans, including a planned heel turn tied to Jon Moxley’s group.
Now Switchblade is back, and AEW suddenly has another major name in play. Whether Khan picks up any of those old plans or sends White in a new direction, the big thing is clear: Jay White got cleared, AEW got its surprise, and Forbidden Door gave him the perfect stage to return.
What do you want to see Jay White do now that he’s back in AEW? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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