Jon Moxley won the AEW World Championship at WrestleDream in October of last year by defeating his former Blackpool Combat Club comrade Brian Danielson, essentially retiring the American Dragon. Moxley, who renamed the BCC the Death Riders, then locked away the championship belt in a briefcase and has tried to keep the title off of television ever since. Fans have been foaming at the mouth for someone to take down Mox and restore the title’s prestige ever since. The question is: who will be able to overcome the numbers game of the Death Riders and pull it off?
Fans have seen a host of their favorites try to wrest the title from Jon Moxley. Mox has successful title defenses against the likes of Swerve Strickland, Adam Copeland, Orange Cassidy, Samoa Joe, Jay White, and Hangman Page. After many close calls and plenty of outside interference, Mox is still the champ.
Next up for Moxley is Hangman Adam Page again. Page was involved in a Fatal Four-Way match for AEW’s top prize at World’s End back in December against Mox, Cassidy, and White. That match ended with Death Rider stablemates Marina Shafir, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli interfering and handing their leader the victory. Sunday night at Double or Nothing, Page beat Will Ospreay to win the 2025 Owen Hart Cup tournament final to earn the next shot at Mox. Will he pull it off and complete his redemption storyline?
Just because Hangman is next, does not mean he will be the next champ, especially now that the Death Riders have a loose alliance with The Elite and Gabe Kidd. Hangman also still has unresolved issues with Swerve Strickland…oh, so many issues. All those factors would lead one to believe that Page will not be the man to dethrone Mox and claim his second title reign.
Who else might it be? AEW had set up a storyline where Orange Cassidy failed in his first attempt because he wasn’t ready. OC said he lacked the leadership skills to galvanize the AEW roster behind him to fend off the Death Riders. Bringing him back in now after a two-month absence would be an interesting story arc. Unfortunately, it seems he sustained a pectoral injury at some point, and any potential plans there are now off the table.
Adam Copeland and Samoa Joe both lost their attempts due to interference, and both would have claims that they deserve rematches. Cope, however, will have his hands full with FTR when he returns to action from injuries sustained in their attack on him. Joe, on the other hand, is now one-third of the AEW Trios Champions, so his plate will probably be full defending those belts with The Opps.
Swerve Strickland was also screwed out of a victory over Jon Moxley by The Elite at Dynasty, so it looks like he will probably be engaged with them for a while in some fashion. Kenny Omega would make a great challenger for Mox, but he, too, is engaged in a war with his old friends in The Elite. Most likely, Swerve and Omega will find themselves in some sort of alliance to that end. AEW creative has been hinting for a while that Omega would face Kazuchika Okada for the Rainmaker’s Continental Championship.
Two other big names that have expressed their desire for a title shot are MJF and Will Ospreay. MJF just joined the Hurt Syndicate, so he has some backup if he were to go up against the Death Riders. With both Mox’s crew and MJF’s new friends being heel factions, now may not be the time for MJF to get his shot at the title. Look for that to come against whoever finally does beat Moxley. Ospreay, on the other hand, would be the logical next opponent after Page. Will he be the next chosen one?
When considering heels that may have a chance, Tony Khan could pull the trigger on a faction war between the Don Callis Family and the Death Riders. Khan has pushed Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita hard over the last year. Both would make excellent challengers to Mox, and either matchup would be a high-impact one. Callis has a whole cast of characters to use to negate the Death Riders: Lance Archer, Mark Davis, Trent Beretta, Brian Cage, Rocky Romero, and Josh Alexander. If any faction had the firepower to break the Death Riders’ death grip on AEW, it is this one.
Rounding out the field, there are two forgotten wrestlers who have strong connections to Jon Moxley. The first is Eddie Kingston. The Mad King has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Moxley and the DR. He has at times been the best of friends with Mox, but he absolutely hates Castagnoli. His last big run ended shortly after he challenged Mox’s then BCC stablemate Danielson for the AEW Championship. It was not long after he lost that match that he would suffer a serious leg injury–one he is anticipated to return from in June. Will he choose Team AEW or Team Death Riders? Will Tony Khan send him to RoH instead? Stay tuned.
The other forgotten wrestler is the one from whom Moxley stole the title shot against Danielson. It is the same man that the Death Riders threw down a flight of stairs. It is the man that Mox’s new allies, The Elite, hung upside down above the ring and kicked the heck out of with thumbtack-covered sneakers. That same man survived being hit by a bus in New York City and returned to wrestling a month later. That same man just finished successfully climbing Mount Everest and is headed back to AEW. That man is Darby Allin.
So, who will it be? Who will finally dethrone Jon Moxley and end this terrible storyline he has going with the Death Riders terrorizing AEW? My money is on Darby Allin. AEW has wanted to pull the trigger on this one for a long time. The man deserves it, too. There is no stunt that Allin will not do for AEW. He has plunged from the top of ladders through plates of glass and caskets, been thrown down a long flight of stairs, and jumped out of balconies. He even pitched being hit by a car, but Tony Khn would not risk it at the time. Allin carried the company through the pandemic when 70% of the roster wasn’t available.
Ospreay and MJF will get their championship runs eventually. Heck, MJF will probably be the one to take the title off of Darby. Right now, though, Darby Allin winning is what is best for AEW.
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