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Jon Moxley Says Forming The Death Riders Is His Proudest Achievement
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AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley is immensely proud of what he has built with The Death Riders. Moxley rebranded the Blackpool Combat Club during the second half of 2024, booting out former stablemate Bryan Danielson from the faction and adding PAC and Marina Shafir to it. The Death Riders have since dominated the proceedings on AEW television, with Moxley enjoying a long reign as AEW World Champion last year. He is currently in the midst of his reign as Continental Champion. The faction added Daniel Garcia to its ranks along the way.
Moxley recently appeared on AEW Close Up, where he opened up about his motivations behind forming The Death Riders, adding that it’s the proudest achievement of his career. Below are the highlights:
Jon Moxley on The Death Riders
“I don’t think there’s anything I’ve ever done that I’m more proud of in my career than what we’ve built with The Death Riders. Death Riders means nothing; it’s just words put together. I like it because it’s kind of that wrestling Japanglish because there was some kind of commercial with a jacket from Goodwill that said Death Riders that I think was like the motorcycle guys who ride around inside the big steel ball at the carnival, which I’ve never done. So I have no idea what it means or where it’s come from, but in Japan, they started calling me the death rider. It’s a word that means nothing but to me, it means something now.”
Moxley on his motivations behind forming The Death Riders
“I don’t think I would be here if not for these people. I don’t know what I would be doing. I would have been in jail at this point if not for this group of people. You know, like, a couple of years ago, I’m looking around and I still look around to this day, I’m like, ‘I’m surrounded by clowns everywhere.’ And I listen to people talk, and I’m like, ‘Do you even know what you’re talking about? Are we even talking about wrestling? I don’t think you even know what you’re talking about.’
“Sometimes, I think George, the sound guy over here, is the only guy who has a clue what’s going on around here, and I said to myself, ‘This culture, this attitude doesn’t represent me. I don’t represent it. I’m not gonna get pulled in this direction.’ You can’t change people, but you can build. So, I just decided that I would build the culture on my own. And it started with just me. ‘Okay, who’s next to me? Claudio is next to me, whom I would trust with my life. He’s been my right-hand man for years. Wheeler, who is basically an adopted child of me. PAC, who is a professional through and through. You know, these are the kinds of people that I start with.”
Please credit AEW Close Up and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.
