Who are The Young Bucks: An All Elite Wrestling primer

The Young Bucks are arguably the best tag team in the world, and they look to lead All Elite Wrestling into mainstream success as co-Vice Presidents and talents.

The journey of Matt and Nick Jackson set the table for the wrestling world to welcome in All Elite Wrestling as the new top alternative to WWE. Tag team wrestling struggled to break out in the WWE bubble in the aftermath of the TLC era of Edge and Christian, the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz. No one would have predicted the Young Bucks would become the next iconic tag team of a generation for the industry when watching them start their first chapter wrestling on national television.

Matt and Nick created a buzz by stealing the show at Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla enough to land contracts with TNA Wrestling during the regime of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. TNA treated the Young Bucks with minimal respect and the duo had only a handful of memorable matches. Aside from a couple of classic matches with the Motor City Machine Guns, their TNA highlights include dancing for the lip-syncing Tara during a musical performance and suffering a loss to Eric Bischoff.

A drastic decision led to the Bucks requesting their release from TNA as Matt revealed he contemplated leaving the wrestling business for a stable job when struggling to afford dinner one night. The welcome back to the indie world was cold as ROH showed zero interest in utilizing the Young Bucks due to Jim Cornette not believing they were worth the money to fly in from the West Coast to the shows in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.

One big break was all Matt and Nick needed to break out of the funk by signing with New Japan to become part of the Bullet Club. Despite major names like Finn Balor, AJ Styles and Kenny Omega leading the group, the Young Bucks were the ones that served as the bridge for North American fans.

ROH started booking Matt and Nick again, along with PWG and other hot indies, as their momentum from NJPW representing the Bullet Club helped the faction find new levels of success stateside. The working relationship between ROH and NJPW featured the Jackson brothers consistently in the tag title picture for both promotions.

Matt and Nick started to utilize this buzz in the form of their social media presence, with humorous tweets adding more fan support for them. The launch of the Pro Wrestling Tees store website has seen the Young Bucks at the top of the sales from beginning and through today, with more merchandise sold than the likes of Steve Austin, CM Punk and other legends each year.

The momentum of the Bucks and the Bullet Club would see Matt and Nick brilliantly create their own sub-faction within the Bullet Club, known as “The Elite,” with Kenny Omega. All three wrestlers were beloved by their fan base, and it inspired the weekly hit YouTube show, Being the Elite. The success of BTE is what played the biggest role in All In coming to fruition.

Tremendous viewership numbers for the online series, wrestling fans consistently discussing the angles on social media and fans at live ROH shows reaction to the established moments provided the stage for something new. Cody Rhodes joined the team and united with the Bucks to create the All In event in Chicago in September 2018. This entire Elite project would help launch the careers of Marty Scurll, Adam Page and Flip Gordon to top levels on the independent circuit.

All these chapters on the Young Bucks’ journey built the stage, brick by brick, for the creation of AEW. The independent wrestling spirit of Matt and Nick, along with their real-life struggles showcased that fans wanted to see the hunger of that forgotten wrestler on the big stage outside of WWE. And then, with All In hitting a home run, selling out tickets nearly instantly and proving a financial success on pay-per-view, and the overwhelming support from the fan base inspired Tony Khan to invest in AEW.

The free agency of the Young Bucks was a huge topic throughout 2018. Many wrestlers would have stayed in ROH and New Japan due to the fear of not wanting to ruin a good thing. Most would have taken the generous offer by WWE to make a living working for the only stable top mainstream promotion. Matt and Nick instead decided to go “all in” on All Elite Wrestling, and put all their chips on the table for the chance to create a new place for wrestling to thrive.

Without the Young Bucks, Omega is likely not as big of a star in North America as he is in Japan. Without the Young Bucks, Cody potentially doesn’t break out in such a fast and significant way after leaving WWE. Without the Young Bucks, Page might still be struggling to make the card of ROH shows with little fan support. Without the Young Bucks, fans don’t give the benefit of the doubt to All In to sell out the show within minutes.

Without the Young Bucks, we don’t have the proof that wrestling was ready for a new promotion to make a mark. Without the Young Bucks, All Elite Wrestling never exists. Matt and Nick will attempt to remind old fans and show new ones why AEW exists with a highly-anticipated match against Pentagon Jr. and Fenix at Double or Nothing on May 25.