Former AEW Champion Getting NJPW Title Shot At Forbidden Door

A coveted NJPW Championship will be on the line against a member of AEW’s Death Riders stable.

The AEW stable known as the Death Riders consists of the group leader Jon Moxley, along with veteran wrestlers Claudio Castagnoli, Pac, Marina Shafir, Daniel Garcia, and Wheeler Yuta. While Garcia and Yuta are on the younger side, Castagnoli and Pac are veterans who have proven themselves loyal to Moxley for many years.

Pac has been with AEW since the company launched in January 2019, after a successful yet frustrating run in WWE as Neville.

During his AEW career, Pac has held the All-Atlantic Championship (since renamed the International Championship) and has been an AEW World Trios Champion twice.

At the upcoming AEW Forbidden Door PPV on June 28th, Pac is looking to add New Japan’s IWGP Global Title, held by Shota Umino. After Pac issued the challenge, Shota Umino responded, saying he’d defend the title against him.

“The IWGP Global title is just that — global! I am ready to fight anyone anywhere in the world. PAC, I’ll see you at Forbidden Door, and I will prove that NJPW is the best!” (H/T SEScoops)

In past years at the AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door PPV, several NJPW titles were defended at the show. This year, the only one that will be defended (as of now) is the IWGP Global Title.

The updated lineup for AEW Forbidden Door looks like this:

• Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals:  Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland – Winner Receives AEW World Title shot at AEW All In London.
• Steel Cage Match 6-on-6: MJF, Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, Kazuchika Okada, Jack Doyle & Andrade El Idolo vs. Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Darby Allin & Konosuke Takeshita (Briscoe gets a shot at MJF’s AEW World Championship if his team wins.)
• Women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament Finals: Mercedes Mone vs. Maya World or Athena – Winner Receives an AEW Women’s World Championship Match at All In London
• Kenny Omega vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• AEW Women’s World Championship: Thekla (c) vs. Starlight Kid
• AEW Continental Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Bandido
• AEW World Tag Team Championships: Adam Copeland & Christian Cage (c) vs. The Dogs – David Finlay & Clark Connors
• IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Shota Umino (c) vs. Pac

Pac is in action on the June 20th episode of AEW Collision, which was taped after Dynamite this week.

Jon Moxley Reveals If There’s A Meaning To AEW’s Death Riders Name

During a recent interview, Death Riders leader Jon Moxley addressed the group’s name, saying there’s really no meaning to it.

“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 comes from, but in Japan they started calling me The Death Rider, and started calling – it’s a word that means nothing. But to me, it means something now.”

Even though the Death Riders’ name doesn’t mean anything specifically, Moxley has spoken about what the AEW stable means to him.

“I don’t think I would be here if not for these people. I don’t know what I would be doing. I might be in jail by this point if not for this group of people.

You know, like a couple years ago, I’m looking around and I still look around to this day and 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.”

Claudio Castagnoli also recently spoke about the Death Riders by saying they aren’t actively looking for new wrestlers to join the group, but they are open to it if the right person comes along.

Also Read: Absent AEW Star Confirms Being Part Of Jon Moxley’s Death Riders Stable