| Death Riders | |
|---|---|
_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Stable | |
| Leader | Jon Moxley |
| Members | Wheeler Yuta Claudio Castagnoli Marina Shafir Pac |
| Name(s) | Blackpool Combat Club Death Riders |
| Billed heights | Moxley: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Yuta: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Castagnoli: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Shafir: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Pac: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Combined billed weight | 985 lb (447 kg) |
| Former member(s) | William Regal (manager) Bryan Danielson |
| Debut | March 6, 2022 |
| Years active | 2022–present |
TheDeath Riders are avillainousprofessional wrestling stable that performs inAll Elite Wrestling (AEW),New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), andRing of Honor (ROH). The stable consists of the leaderJon Moxley,Claudio Castagnoli,Wheeler Yuta,The young bucksPac andMarina Shafir. Moxley is theAEW World Champion in his record-setting fourth reign, while Castagnoli, Yuta and Pac are the holders of theAEW World Trios Championship in their first reign.
Formed in 2022, the group was created under the nameBlackpool Combat Club (BCC) and the first members wereWilliam Regal as the manager,Bryan Danielson andJon Moxley, who were later joined by Yuta and Castagnoli. During the time as BCC, Moxley won the AEW World Championship twice and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship once, Castagnoli won the ROH World Championship twice and Danielson, the AEW World Championship. Yuta also won the ROH Pure Championship three times.
On November 6, 2024, the stable turned on Danielson and was joined by Pac and Shafir, changing the name to Death Riders. Moxley defeated Danielson to win his fourth AEW World Championship.s.
Bryan Danielson andJon Moxley had their first interaction together in December 2007 when Danielson defeated Moxley at Mad-Pro Wrestling's (MPW) Rise Up event inChillicothe, Ohio.[1][2] This match was later referred to by Moxley in a February 2022 promo when the two began feuding with each other in AEW.[3] They next met in August 2010 atHeartland Wrestling Association's (HWA) Road to Destiny event before Moxley challenged Danielson atDragon Gate USA a month later.[4][5] Danielson, who was employed byWWE under thering name Daniel Bryan at the time, defeated Moxley during both matches. In 2011, Moxley signed with WWE and was renamed Dean Ambrose; he wrestled in itsdevelopment territory,FCW, which later becameNXT. He became a successful member ofThe Shield after his main roster debut, and would wrestle Bryan in various matches throughout the 2010s. Both men became successful world champions for WWE before reverting to their respective names after leaving WWE (Moxley in 2019 and Danielson in 2021) with both men joiningAEW. During that period, prior to the Blackpool Combat Club's establishment,William Regal was also employed by WWE as a wrestler and general manager for NXT; during this time, he helped to train and teach both Danielson and Moxley, and even feuded with Moxley.
On the February 2, 2022 episode ofDynamite, Danielson told Moxley that he wanted to form a tag team,[6][7] which Moxley accepted on the condition that they wrestle each other first.[8] Danielson was defeated by Moxley atRevolution on March 6, after which the two began brawling. Regal, once a mentor to both men, made his AEW surprise debut to break up the fight and force them to shake hands.[9] The two formed a team with Regal acting as their manager, later being named the Blackpool Combat Club (BCC) in honor ofthe English town where Regal began his career.[10][11]
On the April 8 episode ofRampage, Moxley defeatedROH Pure ChampionWheeler Yuta in a non-title match. After the match, Regal offered Yuta a handshake, and subsequently invited him to join the group, which Yuta accepted.[12][13] AtDouble or Nothing on May 29, the BCC teamed withEddie Kingston,Santana and Ortiz to face theJericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho,Jake Hager,Daniel Garcia,Angelo Parker, andMatt Menard) in anAnarchy in the Arena match, but lost.[14]
AtForbidden Door on June 26,Claudio Castagnoli—who defeated Regal in his final match nine years prior—joined the BCC and made his surprise AEW debut as Danielson's handpicked replacement due to the latter suffering an injury, defeatingZack Sabre Jr. Later in the main event, Moxley defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi to win theinterimAEW World Championship.[15] The BCC would then team up again with Kingston, Santana and Ortiz, and beat the Jericho Appreciation Society in aBlood and Guts match at theeponymous event.[16] AtDeath Before Dishonor on July 23, Castagnoli defeatedJonathan Gresham to capture theROH World Championship.[17]
On the August 24 episode ofDynamite, Moxley quickly defeatedlineal AEW World ChampionCM Punk to win his record-setting second AEW World Championship,[18] but lost it back to Punk atAll Out on September 4.[19] On the following episode ofDynamite, Yuta lost the ROH Pure Championship to Daniel Garcia, thus ending his reign at 159 days.[20] Moxley and Danielson were inserted in theAEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions to crown a new AEW World Champion as previous champion CM Punk was stripped of the title.[21] AtGrand Slam on September 21, Castagnoli lost the ROH World Championship to Chris Jericho, while Moxley defeated Danielson in the tournament final to win the vacant championship, becoming the first ever three-time AEW World Champion.
AtFull Gear, Moxley would lose the title toMJF after Regal secretly handed his signaturebrass knuckles to MJF to punch Moxley with while the referee was distracted, betraying the group and aligning himself with MJF. Just 11 days later, MJF betrayed Regal and severely injured him with the brass knuckles. Following this, it was reported that Regal was set to leave AEW; in-storyline, Regal revealed that he betrayed the BCC to teach them their final lesson, which was to never trust anyone.[22] His last appearance was a pre-taped segment aired on the December 7 episode ofDynamite.[23]
On the March 8, 2023 episode ofDynamite, Danielson announced that he would be going home to be with his family after his loss to MJF atRevolution. After Castagnoli and Moxley defeatedThe Dark Order membersJohn Silver andAlex Reynolds, the three remaining BCC members continued their assault and attacked Dark Order membersEvil Uno andHangman Page, turning the stable fully heel for the first time.[24] Danielson returned on the March 29 episode ofDynamite, seemingly to convince his BCC teammates to stop their attack onKenny Omega, but he instead joined them in attacking Omega and turned heel. On the May 10 episode ofDynamite, during a steel cage match between Omega and Moxley, Omega's managerDon Callis betrayed Omega by stabbing him with a screwdriver and allowing Moxley to win.[25]The Elite (Omega, Page, andThe Young Bucks) challenged the BCC to anAnarchy in the Arena match at theDouble or Nothing event on May 28, which the BCC won after assistance by Callis andKonosuke Takeshita, who attacked Omega during the final moments of the match, allowing Wheeler to get the pin on Omega.[26] AtForbidden Door, the BCC teamed with Takeshita andShota Umino in a losing effort against the team of The Young Bucks, Page,Eddie Kingston andTomohiro Ishii, while Danielson defeatedKazuchika Okada by submission, despite suffering an arm injury that sidelined him for 3 months. The Blackpool Combat Club's feud with The Elite ended atBlood & Guts on July 19, where Moxley, Castagnoli and Yuta teamed up with Takeshita andPac, in another loss to The Elite in a Blood and Guts match following Pac and Takeshita leaving the match.
Following their feud with The Elite, atAll In on August 27, the BCC teamed with Santana and Ortiz to face Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo and Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) andOrange Cassidy in a Stadium Stampede match, but they lost. At All Out on September 3, Danielson made his return from injury as a face and defeatedRicky Starks in a No Disqualification Strap match, Castagnoli and Yuta defeated Kingston andKatsuyori Shibata in a tag team match, while at the main event, Moxley was able to win theAEW International Championship from Cassidy. AtGrand Slam on September 20, Castagnoli lost the ROH World Championship to Kingston in a Winner Takes All match that also put theStrong Openweight Championship on the line. After the match, Claudio finally shook Eddie's hand after years of animosity between the two, showing a sign of respect and a face turn, while Moxley lost the AEW International Championship to Rey Fénix. On the September 30 edition of AEW Collision, the Blackpool Combat Club turned face when they teamed with FTR and were defeated by Big Bill and Ricky Starks and Aussie Open in an All-Star 8-men tag team match. On the November 25 edition of AEW Rampage, Yuta defeated Shibata to win the record 3-timesROH Pure Championship.
On April 12, 2024 atWindy City Riot, Moxley defeatedTetsuya Naito to win theIWGP World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first wrestler to become a world champion in WWE, AEW, and NJPW, in what NJPW promotes as the "Global Grand Slam Champion".[27] On the April 27 episode ofAEW Collision, Castagnoli unsuccessfully challengedSwerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship.[28] Moxley successfully defended his championship againstPowerhouse Hobbs,[29]Ren Narita,[30] andShota Umino,[31] before being challenged by bothKonosuke Takeshita to an Eliminator match atDouble or Nothing on May 26,[32] andEvil forDominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall.[33] Danielson, meanwhile, joined Team AEW against The Elite for the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.[citation needed] At the event, Moxley pinned Takeshita to win the Eliminator match; however, The Elite defeated Team AEW when Danielson was pinned byJack Perry.[34]
Yuta, who'd been sidelined with an injury since February, returned to action in AEW on the June 5 edition ofAEW Dynamite.[35] On June 9 at Dominion, Moxley defeated Evil to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship before being challenged by Tetsuya Naito for a rematch atForbidden Door.[36][37] Moxley would lose the championship back to Naito on June 30 at Forbidden Door, subsequently going on hiatus following this loss. That same night, Danielson began his participation in theOwen Hart Foundation Tournament with a first round victory overShingo Takagi.[38][39] Danielson defeatedPac at Dynamite:Beach Break on July 3,[40] then "Hangman" Adam Page on July 10, to win the tournament and earn a match against Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship atAll In. Also on July 10, Castagnoli competed in aGlobal Glory Four-Way match to earn anAEW International Championship match at All Out, however Pac won the match.[41] On July 31, Danielson addressed speculation on his intentions to wind down his career, declaring that if he failed to win the AEW World Championship from Strickland at All In, he would never wrestle again.[42] On the August 21 episode ofDynamite, Castagnoli challengedKazuchika Okada for theAEW Continental Championship; the match ended in a 20-minute time limit draw.
On August 25 at All In, Yuta and Castagnoli teamed with Pac in theFour-way London Ladder match for theAEW World Trios Championship, which they won. Later that same night, Danielson defeated Strickland to win the AEW World Championship for the first time.[43] On the following episode ofDynamite on August 28, Danielson announced that as long as he was AEW World Champion, he would remain a full-time AEW wrestler, and that his full-time career would end as soon as he lost the championship.[44]
While Danielson and the BCC resumed feuding with The Elite, Moxley, who returned from hiatus on the August 28 episode ofDynamite,[45] initially did not appear with his BCC allies and instead began a feud withDarby Allin, while forming an alliance withMarina Shafir in the process.[45]
On September 7 at All Out, after Danielson retained the title against Jack Perry, Castagnoli and Moxley attacked Danielson while feigning celebration and attempted suffocation with a plastic bag, kicking him out of the group.[46] After turning on Danielson, Moxley took over leadership of the BCC with Pac and Shafir as the newest additions.[47]
On September 25 at Grand Slam, Moxley would defeat Darby Allin with Allin's guaranteed AEW World Championship match on the line.[48] On October 12 atWrestleDream, Moxley defeated Danielson to win the AEW World Championship for the record-setting fourth time and ending Danielson's full-time career.[49] On the November 6 episode ofDynamite, the BCC officially rebranded to the Death Riders, a nod to Moxley's nickname in NJPW as well as the name of his finisher.[50][51][52]
| * | Founding member |
|---|---|
| L | Leader |
| M | Manager |
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_(cropped).jpg)
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| Member | Joined | |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Moxley | *L | March 6, 2022 |
| Wheeler Yuta | April 8, 2022 | |
| Claudio Castagnoli | June 26, 2022 | |
| Marina Shafir | September 7, 2024 | |
| Pac | ||
| Member | Joined | Left | |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Regal | *M | March 6, 2022 | December 6, 2022 |
| Bryan Danielson | * | March 6, 2022 | September 7, 2024 |
As of April 7, 2025
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)