As AEW gears up for Revolution 2025, Adam Copeland sat down with Sports Illustrated’s Jon Alba to discuss his highly anticipated AEW World Heavyweight Title match against Jon Moxley and his thoughts on the Death Riders storyline.
Fans have heavily criticized the Death Riders’ faction, calling it a lackluster angle with unclear motivations. Copeland admitted that, at first, he also found the storyline confusing.
“Well, for me, it was just confusing at first. Like, I didn’t fully understand what was happening. So I wanted to try and figure that out along with the audience.”
However, Copeland saw an opportunity to shape a clearer narrative—one where he systematically takes down Moxley’s faction.
“The story can be you take them out, because it’s always the numbers that they have the advantage with. Okay, let’s do something about that. Let’s tell a story there. And more than anything, the beginning of the thing is, ‘Okay, you attacked all of my friends on television, right? Okay. So, yeah, I’m coming back. Time to step in and give this a shot.’”
Copeland emphasized his layered storytelling approach, ensuring that fans remain invested leading up to the match.
“Anything I’m involved in, I try to at least add some layers to it. And when putting the things together, going, ‘Okay, here’s the package for the match.’ You got to build in beats for that package to sum everything up, so if you watch that two minutes right before the match, you’re caught up.”
He believes this method enhances anticipation:
“You get those beats, those tentpoles throughout that you can just insert in a package and get everybody caught up before they watch the actual match. But still, that to me is what hooks me.”
The AEW Revolution pay-per-view will take place on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, where Copeland will attempt to dethrone Jon Moxley and finally put an end to the Death Riders faction.
