On May 15, Gabe Kidd made a shock appearance on the Beach Break episode of AEW Dynamite. As AEW World Champion Jon Moxley battled with the sizable challenger, Samoa Joe, inside a steel cage, Kidd snuck in, cloaked in a black hoodie.
Joe’s resilience, power, and strategy cut off Moxley’s strengths. Not even his fellow Death Riders could help, as Powerhouse Hobbs and Willow Nightingale suffocated them from their leader. Kidd was the ace in the hole.
Sliding in the briefcase that Moxley hid the belt in, Kidd urged him to strike true. This foreign object knocked Joe out cold, leading to a successful retention for Moxley.
Afterwards, Kidd joined The Death Riders in celebration and the subsequent beatdown of Samoa Joe and Kenny Omega until Nightingale, Hobbs, and Swerve Strickland charged to the scene. The enraged team of babyfaces issued a challenge for an Anarchy in the Arena Match at Double or Nothing 2025, as the Death Riders, Kidd, and uneasy allies in The Young Bucks gazed back in response.
For followers of Kidd’s career in NJPW, they will undoubtedly have questions. What could this mean for Bullet Club? What is Kidd’s status? Could this affect any dynamics of Death Riders?
Join me as I explore this new development.
Who is Gabe Kidd?
Spring saw Kidd’s NJPW contract near an end. He had an impressive 2024, with 2025 poised to be an even bigger year.
His Wrestle Dynasty match with Kenny Omega and New Beginning bout with Yota Tsuji put him on multiple radars to rapturous reviews. He defeated AEW’s own Eddie Kingston for 2024’s Resurgence (putting him out of action for months on end), and his latest matches in NJPW were high-profile spectacles.
Consistently in conversations, he delivers as a brawler who can draw heat from blood and passion through profanity-laden promos. His persona mimics that of his real-life mental health struggles from 2021-22, which can either lead to discomfort or empathy, depending on who you are.
What may seem a simple gimmick does something unique: it forces fans to feel. It’s not always going to be pretty.
The cursing may either turn some away or make people laugh, and his style of wrestling can satiate that primal itch for effective violence. But when you watch Gabe Kidd, you’re in for something that will resonate in some form.
The Future of Bullet Club
Kidd’s role in the Bullet Club War Dogs faction was a huge part of the faction’s appeal. He felt every bit the outlaw that the group historically prided itself on.
The loudmouth arrogance and angry, pouty face felt like it belonged. In the new age of the group without Fergal Devitt, Tama Tonga, AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Jay White, Kidd’s place in the group felt natural.
Since Kidd had been working as a free agent, it was only a matter of time until he made a splash outside of NJPW. His final year added so much to Bullet Club, from his loss to Tomohiro Ishii at April’s Windy City Riot to the Bullet Club civil war in the steel cage at Wrestling Dontaku, he’s left memorable performances to go out with a bang.
If his team-up with mates David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gedo against the Young Bucks and Good Brothers is anything to go by, that was a fun farewell. And it wholly fits in with the developments at Beach Break. It’s totally feasible that, storyline-wise, Nicholas and Matthew Jackson extended an offer related to the Death Riders for an alliance that could give Kidd a big run in his career.
How Would Gabe Kidd Fit in AEW?
Kidd is one of those talents who would need heavy censorship. I’m sure he holds profane language the likes unknown to much language, that’s how foul his mouth is. And his style is a heavy brawler type that would put him along the likes of Jon Moxley, Samoa Joe, and Eddie Kingston.
His entry could be a big thing if this storyline is carried out the right way. Coming in at such a high-profile angle will instantly put him on the map.
For those who don’t watch NJPW or British wrestling promotions like RevPro, this is a godsend. Thrusting into a special match type like Anarchy in the Arena in a pay-per-view would instantly elevate Kidd.
Following Anarchy in the Arena, Kidd’s booking must justify his spot and performance. Either he could be the greatest heel since MJF, or he could fall quietly into the background.
Is Gabe Kidd Officially All Elite?
Something important to mention is that it hasn’t been officially announced that Gabe Kidd is on the AEW roster. He hasn’t been given the All Elite graphic.
There’s every chance he could show up on the next show to deliver his brand of strong style. He may be simply making a guest appearance to add to the spectacle filled with carnage and disorder.
Yet, Kidd’s fellow War Dogs might not take kindly to his aligning with The Young Bucks after just losing to them recently at Resurgence. Shifting his morals to work with people he’d spent so much time insulting and mocking the AEW brand could be his way of implementing the change that Moxley wishes to see in AEW. Perhaps they’re not so different after all.
Does Gabe Kidd Fit in With The Death Riders?
For approximately a year, more or less, Kidd hasn’t shied away from his thoughts on the promotion. Dedicated to the Lion Crest of NJPW, the Brit has insulted AEW and its talent, seeing them as though they were beneath him (in far less kinder words). With how Jon Moxley operates the Death Riders, their mission against the current state in AEW aligns brilliantly.
Moxley’s vision is built on disdain for how complacent he’s seen the talent be in AEW. He’s equally cruel in his verbiage and even crueler with his penchant for chaotic and unscripted violence.
In ways, Moxley could be a future vision of the young War Dog. To Kidd and Moxley, the AEW roster must abandon its standing mediocrity.
Brutality is the Death Riders’ game. They are unforgiving, brash, and unpredictable. Kidd not only fits that mold; he savors it.
You can’t keep a leash on him, and you can’t muzzle him. Left to ride, he will bare his fangs.
To his opponents: pray his bark is worse than his bite.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on Gabe Kidd, Death Riders, AEW, 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 Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content is available on their YouTube channel.
