The betrayal and subsequent retirement of AEW’s Bryan Danielson on September 7, 2024, at All Out at the hands of his Blackpool Combat Club teammates set forth something risky. After such a historic and entertaining career, the sacrificial lamb that was the American Dragon sent a message through its roster and fanbase. Of course, it wasn’t overnight. It wasn’t supposed to be. The Death Riders, throughout their highs and lows, forced the entire roster to change.
Even the tag team division, trios division, and women’s division had to change or else be lost in the shuffle. Once Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and the newly acquired Pac and Marina Shafir unveiled their ruthless side, there was no going back for anyone.
Not only did it end the meandering run of the Blackpool Combat Club, but it also worsened and then strengthened the product. Either directly or indirectly, the roster stepped up due to this reinvention.
The Mission
Complacency was no longer the order of the day. Impunity would hold no power here. Wrestlers in AEW had to be tough. They didn’t have to like leader Jon Moxley’s methods, but they did need to abide by his end goal. Any perceived weakness must be purged to be all elite. That was the purpose for Moxley hiding the Men’s World Championship in a briefcase for months on end: to beg someone unwavering and defiant enough to take it from them.
To them, it didn’t matter if you joined them, just so long as you had grit and tenacity. For instance, the Death Riders’ courtship of Kris Statlander and Daniel Garcia resulted in different outcomes for both. Statlander rejected them, but she did so defiantly, appeasing Moxley; she wasn’t going to back down, and she was going to fight for everything she had.
She’s evolved in such a short time since then, outright calling out Marina Shafir and Wheeler Yuta to challenge for her Women’s World Championship. She’s not done with them.
Garcia, meanwhile, had had enough of mediocrity and chose to align with the team. He shed his identity so no squanderings would follow him; he’d rather bathe in crimson than tread water. To abscond with his relationship to Matt Menard and Nigel McGuinness, he bled himself of these people who sincerely cared for him but couldn’t deliver him to the upper echelon.
Even in loss, the Death Riders recognized who stood among others. They might not have the World Trios Championship or Men’s World Championship, but the goal stayed the same.
The Byproducts
Even if they hadn’t interacted with the Death Riders, members of the roster from men’s, women’s, and tag/trios took notice. Since then, they upped their game. MJF temporarily aligned with the Hurt Syndicate, whereas Ricochet found allies in Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona of GOA. The Conglomeration resumed operations, working as a close-knit unit (whether Roderick Strong liked it or not). Even Eddie Kingston and Hook grew close to watch each other’s backs.
Something that’s gone quite missed, however, is the return of Jurassic Express, and how they tied into the Death Rider story. During the post-match of the All Out 2024 main event, the same one that saw the Death Riders betraying Bryan Danielson, Jack Perry, and Luchasaurus, had a quiet moment in the ring.
No words, just a quick parting; Perry was embroiled in Elite shenanigans, whereas his former dinosaur friend remained with The Patriarchy. Fast-forward to All Out 2025, and the duo were reunited. They learned not to trust anybody, in an understated story running concurrently in the background of the Death Riders.
FTR’s war with Adam Copeland was also a result of the Death Riders. Their exhaustion at the Rated-R Superstar’s multiple failures in usurping the band of outlaws boiled over to a ruthless beatdown and an alliance with Stokely Hathaway.
Skye Blue and Julia Hart’s pact with Thekla brought about brutal offense as they became the Triangle of Madness. Stemming from Thekla’s bloodthirsty war with Queen Aminata, the trio was reminiscent of the Death Riders’ approach to the current landscape of AEW.
The Death Riders banded people together against them. Either join a group of babyfaces or a collection of baddies. To date, the safest choice is the ever-expanding Don Callis Family.
Highs and Lows
The advent of the Death Riders immediately instilled hype among fans. Their antics in subsequent appearances left an expectancy of chaotic proportions. Instead, the show plodded along. The reputation of the members was temporarily sullied. The run-ins and disqualifications grew to be too much to ignore.
Orange Cassidy initially showed much promise from All Out to Worlds End in 2024, favoring black denim instead of blue. By the time Adam Copeland challenged the group in early 2025, it seemed as though he’d put an early end to the group. He did not.
Once Swerve Strickland set his sights on the Death Riders around Dynasty, however, they began to show some steam. This is approximately where most on the roster started to alter their style or character to become someone worthy of challenging the team.
The Opps even defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Jon Moxley for the AEW World Trios Championship! Unfortunately, Samoa Joe couldn’t put Moxley away at Dynamite: Beach Break, but he came close.
The Death Riders saga heated to a hot boil, culminating when Hangman Adam Page violently defeated Jon Moxley with the help of many at All In: Texas. Since then, the Death Riders have focused on wrestling talents they hadn’t wrestled as much before, if at all (and also Darby Allin).
Where Should the Death Riders Go From Here?
Now that the Death Riders have a following of fans excited to see them, they’re going to be a fixture for some time. There’s a clearer direction that fits the characters of all its members. There’s a shelf life, for sure, and now there’s a longevity. In this, the Death Riders have, for the time being, avoided the trappings that Blackpool Combat Club found themselves in. The BCC lost its way, with the team shifting between heel and face with no definite mission.
They were beating ass, which is fine, but they were beating ass aimlessly. So, the Death Riders fixed that, and in doing so, fixed the current roster. Thankfully, they did so by giving the BCC a bittersweet swan song.
The Death Riders have altered the trajectories of fellow wrestlers, beckoning them to get mean, not to pull any punches, and to buckle up in all seriousness. Nobody needs to join; they need to assimilate so the company’s identity can be built on nothing but the best. Nothing but the elite. It has to be this way, and no other way, else they wind up as futile and hollow as the BCC became.
And that’s great! But what we need to see is that these talents, in particular, especially fresh, new, and young workers, rise. In a period where pro wrestling is, for some reason, hesitant to pull the trigger on future stars, this is imperative. Make the future now.
This is especially urgent, considering that Moxley’s defeat at the hands of Darby Allin at WrestleDream saw him noticeably shaky when it comes to the submission prodigy that is Kyle O’Reilly on the October 22 episode of Dynamite. Moxley’s starting to ironically lose focus, going so far as to abandon Claudio Castagnoli on that same Dynamite.
Conclusion
The Death Riders have improved vastly in 2025, fooling some into thinking they were as great as they are now, the whole year. That hasn’t been the case. From late 2024 to 2025’s Dynasty, online fans asked for the angle to stop. It wasn’t until the people who were on their level rose to the occasion and others found their purpose that the angle clicked.
To keep the Death Riders hot and relevant, they need to stay as ruthless and violent, no matter what stubborn naysayers may say. This grit and the elite athleticism are the variety that AEW was built on as it found its identity. In fact, AEW should use that, push the envelope, and give these detractors a babyface to root for to stop them.
Lastly, I think AEW should go all in on using Giuseppe Verdi’s “Dies Irae”. It’s a staple in cinema, from The Lion King, The Seventh Seal, and The Shining. It adds terror, an end of days. That same horror can bolster the Death Riders’ appeal, hearkening to something ancient and forbidden. Something that must be stopped.
Here’s to a few more exceptional years of the Death Riders.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – WikiMedia Creative Commons – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on the Death Riders and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube
