8 Times AEW's Tony Khan Was A DISASTER-TIER Booker
2. The Death Riders
Jon Moxley running a stable of droogs who are fed up with the AEW roster dropping the ball felt great on paper. The Death Riders were not meant to entertain or satisfy audiences. They are a concept born in grit and the integrity of "the sport of professional wrestling", designed to bring pain and misery to fans.
This is great in theory but The Death Riders have spent much of their lifespan draining audiences. Moxley winning the AEW world championship from Bryan Danielson at WrestleDream 2024 and putting it in a briefcase so it wouldn't be visible only lasted 9 months, but it dragged for so much of that timespan that it felt much, much longer than that.
The argument can be made that heels are meant to anger audiences. The world title being freed by 'Hangman' Adam Page at All Out 2025 was a moment that unified fans everywhere, and Moxley's struggles since that moment have been intriguing because of their tone and persona. The counter to this is that a disgruntled audience is bad for business, no matter what way you look at it, and The Death Riders have been a slog for AEW fans for almost the entirety of their lifespan.