Huge upset shocks Death Riders ahead of AEW Dynasty

The Death Riders are set to defend their World Trios Championship at AEW Dynasty 2025 this Sunday. On the go-home edition of Dynamite ahead of the pay-per-view, however, one-third of the trios champions, Claudio Castagnoli, suffered a huge singles loss to one of the three stars he will face in Philadelphia - Adam Copeland.

The Swiss Cyborg and The Rated-R Superstar had vengeance on their minds on the April 2 edition of AEW Dynamite, with Castagnoli eager to punish Cope for putting him and his stablemates out of commission en route to last month's Revolution pay-per-view. On the other hand, the WWE Hall of Famer looked to seek retribution against Claudio for disrupting his World Title Street Fight against Jon Moxley two weeks ago.

Castagnoli went after Copeland immediately, and both stars pushed each other to their limits. The Swiss Superman appeared to have the match won at one point after delivering his Giant Swing on the former TNT Champion, but the latter survived and continued mounting comebacks. Nothing could keep Cope down for the count - not even a Neutralizer.

Finally, Castagnoli attempted to hit a conchairto on Copeland out of frustration, but the referee disrupted the proceedings, allowing The Ultimate Opportunist to nail his opponent with a low blow. Another spear eventually sealed the deal for the Rated-FTR member.

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It remains to be seen if Cope and FTR will be able to dethrone Claudio, Wheeler Yuta, and PAC for the AEW World Trios Titles this Sunday at Dynasty—or if the event will witness The Top Guys turning their backs on their friend and ally.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Angana Roy