Tag: matt jackson

Matt Jackson: ‘I love Adam Cole so much,’ says he’s getting better every day

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Matt Jackson indicated that former TNT Champion Adam Cole has been making positive strides in his quest to get healthy.

On the latest episode of Being The Elite, Matt Jackson responded to a fan’s tweet asking if there was an update on Cole’s health.

“I love Adam Cole so much. He is the sweetest man I think I’ve ever met. Not in the business, but in life. And I think every day he’s improving and he’s getting better,” he said. “And I think he’s one of the most talented, gifted, charismatic wrestlers that ever was and a much better human being. Shout out to Adam Cole. We all talk about you all the time in the locker room.”

Brandon Cutler and Matt’s brother Nick Jackson sent Cole their well wishes too.

Cole was forced to vacate the TNT Championship in July 2025 after suffering a concussion among other undisclosed health issues. Shortly after he announced he was stepping away from in-ring competition indefinitely. 

Matt Jackson: FTR are ‘a true titan of tag team wrestling’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Young Bucks believe FTR have already solidified themselves as all-time greats of tag team wrestling.

At Revolution this past weekend, the latest chapter in the Young Bucks-FTR feud played out with Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler retaining the AEW Tag Team titles. Matt Jackson spoke with Undisputed after the match and had high praise for his rivals.

“FTR, that’s an all-time great tag team,” Jackson said. “There are champions and there are dynasties. Much like the Boston Celtics, whose colors they wore at Revolution, FTR represents a dynasty. A team that’s been around for so long and dominated at such a high level for so many years…

“Dax and Cash, they’re a true titan of tag team wrestling. Does their greatness eat at me and bother me sometimes? Sure. But it also makes me better and pushes me to want to be the best. I’m sure we haven’t had our last encounter, one way or another.”

Revolution was a bucket-list moment for Jackson with the pay-per-view taking place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where he and his brother Nick grew up going to wrestling shows. They wore Los Angeles Lakers-inspired gear and brought their children and other family members out with them as they made their entrance.

Having family so heavily involved in the match was an idea the Bucks came up with to help differentiate this from their other encounters with FTR.

“This was different from the other times we feuded,” Jackson told Undisputed. “We’d already explored the idea of our styles clashing, and the story of which team is truly the best team in the world, in previous matches. We thought, ‘How can we make it different and more personal this time?’ We decided family would be the subject matter. There’s nothing more personal than your relationship with your mom, dad, brother, sister, and your kids. It’s well known me and my brother are family men with family values, so we thought, ‘Let’s use that!’”

The Bucks and FTR have each held the AEW Tag Team titles three times. Harwood & Wheeler’s ongoing reign kicked off in November 2025 when they won the belts from Brody King & Bandido.

Young Bucks discuss bucket-list AEW Revolution moment

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At AEW Revolution, The Young Bucks got to cross something off of their bucket list.

Sunday’s pay-per-view included an AEW Tag Team title match where FTR retained over The Young Bucks. It was a big moment for Matt & Nick Jackson with the two wrestling at Crypto.com Arena for the first time. Formerly known as the Staples Center, the venue is where the Bucks went to see pro wrestling when they were growing up in Southern California.

In a new video uploaded to the Being the Elite YouTube channel, Nick Jackson said Crypto.com Arena was one of only two venues remaining on their bucket list of places to wrestle at. All that’s left is Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“We went to many wrestling shows prior, years ago in this same exact building. WrestleMania 21, I want to say. And that was 20-something years ago,” Nick Jackson said before the PPV.

“And to do it all tonight with our kids, their cousins, our family. We have 30 people coming here tonight. It’s going to be a big, emotional day,” Matt Jackson added. “I think we may be a mess. Maybe the most emotional day of our career, possibly. I have nerves that I don’t normally have. I always have butterflies, but they’re fluttering around a lot today. So it’s going to be a big night for us.”

The Young Bucks brought their children and other family members to the ring when they made their entrance at the PPV. They had special gear for the occasion, using the Los Angeles Lakers’ color scheme while FTR dressed in Boston Celtics colors.

AEW’s post-Revolution episode of Dynamite will also take place from California, with the Save Mart Center in Fresno hosting Wednesday’s show along with a taping for AEW Collision.

Matt Jackson reacts to Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With the retirement of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Matt Jackson feels like the wrestling world lost its best babyface.

Jackson, one half of The Young Bucks, reacted to Tanahashi’s retirement in a new interview with Undisputed. He praised the 49-year-old NJPW legend as one of the greatest babyfaces the industry has ever seen and someone who was impossible to root against.

“The business just lost its best babyface,” Jackson said. “He was marvelous. One of the true greats to ever do it…To me, Tanahashi represents heart, soul, and fighting spirit. He has such likability. He might be the truest babyface to ever compete.”

Tanahashi helped lead NJPW out of the dark ages and into a new period of business resurgence in the 2010s. The Young Bucks got to play a part in that era as well, joining Bullet Club and being featured as one of NJPW’s top foreign acts. Matt Jackson reflected on what it was like to work with Tanahashi when they shared the ring for the first time in 2015.

“I still remember that first time,” he told Undisputed. “I was shocked how delicate he was to me in the ring, taking true care of me, but being so believable in the process. Then I’d hit him one time in the ribs and he’d sell it, grabbing, clutching, and pacing around the ring, like I’d shot him or something, making me look like a million bucks. I was just a young man, still on the rise, and he was so unselfish. I try to make it a point to treat younger talent the same way.”

Tanahashi still remains a crucial figure in NJPW despite his in-ring retirement, serving as the real-life president and CEO of the promotion.

The period of time The Young Bucks spent in NJPW helped grow their popularity and lead to the formation of AEW. On Dynamite last week, Matt & Nick Jackson teamed up with Jack Perry for a six-man tag team victory over Ricochet & The Gates of Agony. There was then a post-match angle where The Young Bucks were laid out by the Don Callis Family.

Young Bucks name most underrated wrestler in AEW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Matt & Nick Jackson are huge believers in their AEW colleague Josh Alexander.

The Young Bucks teamed up with Alexander on Dynamite this Wednesday, winning a trios match against Scorpio Sky & Top Flight. In an interview with Adam’s Apple following the match, the Bucks were asked to name the most underrated wrestler in AEW. Nick Jackson responded with praise for Alexander.

“Man, we teamed up him with him [Wednesday] night on TBS, Josh Alexander,” Nick said. “He’s unbelievable.”

Matt Jackson also praised Alexander and added that people should be paying attention to Sky and Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin).

“Josh Alexander, he’s awesome,” Matt said. “Even the guys we wrestled [Wednesday] night, Top Flight and Scorpio Sky, I think people need to check out these guys more. They’re awesome.”

Alexander was a star for TNA Wrestling before arriving in AEW this April as a member of the Don Callis Family. He was a two-time World Champion during his TNA run.

The Bucks & Alexander will be partners again this Saturday at AEW Full Gear in Newark, New Jersey. The pay-per-view card includes a trios match with The Young Bucks & Alexander facing Jurassic Express & Kenny Omega. It’s billed as a million dollar match, continuing the storyline of The Young Bucks trying to reclaim their fortune after losing their on-screen EVP positions.

Young Bucks: ‘Of course’ we want Chris Jericho to stay in AEW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Young Bucks are hoping that Chris Jericho will make the decision to stay with AEW when his contract comes up.

While speaking with Adam’s Apple ahead of Full Gear, The Young Bucks addressed the rumors that Jericho could be set to leave AEW and return to WWE at the start of 2026. Adam’s Apple asked if there’s anything the Bucks can do in their behind-the-scenes executive role to help get Jericho to stay.

“He’s a founding father. so of course we want him to stay,” Nick Jackson responded.

“I love Chris Jericho,” Matt Jackson said.

“We’re not sure where he’s at head space-wise right now,” Nick said. “I know he’s, like, on a break. And he’s trying to figure it out on his own. And sometimes you gotta let a wrestler like that figure it out on his own.”

The Bucks and Jericho were key pieces in helping make AEW’s 2019 launch a success. Jericho served as the inaugural AEW World Champion, but he could now be set to return to WWE for the first time since 2018 if rumors prove to be true. Jericho has not confirmed anything regarding his next move — leaving the door open to either stay with AEW or go back to WWE.

Jericho, who has been on a break from AEW programming since April, recently made headlines when he praised TNA Wrestling and said the company looked like the second-biggest promotion in the world at Bound for Glory.

Tony Khan has continued to speak highly of Jericho, saying he hopes to have him back in AEW.

Young Bucks address whether Being The Elite is fully returning

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It’s still up in the air as to whether Being The Elite will be making a full-fledged return.

After a long period of dormancy, the Being The Elite YouTube channel was revived at the end of August. The Young Bucks have continued to post regular content since then but have not made any official announcement as to what their plans for the channel are. Thus far, they have uploaded shorter-form content rather than full episodes.

“We’re playing it by ear,” Matt Jackson told Undisputed in a new interview. “We’ve been very careful not to publicly say it’s back officially or even call what we’ve aired as episodes. We’re referring to it all as BTE content.

“It’s getting a positive reaction, for sure. We don’t want to overpromise, but we’re definitely having a lot of fun with it.”

The channel has nearly 500,000 subscribers on YouTube but has not uploaded a full BTE episode in more than two years. Dating back to the pre-AEW days, the vlog series played an important role in helping The Young Bucks connect with fans and grow their popularity.

AEW’s WrestleDream pay-per-view this Saturday will feature a tag match between The Young Bucks and the newly reunited Jurassic Express. Both teams are AEW originals and former tag champions.

“It’s kind of crazy that AEW has now been around long enough to already have a rich history with acts that feel, in a way, nostalgic,” Matt Jackson said about the matchup. “Jurassic Express just feels warm, fun, and familiar. When their music hits, it just brings out the kid in everyone.”

Jackson added that the match is happening at a time when he and his brother Nick feel like they’ve found their spark again.

“We have really found that spark again, that love of the game,” he said. “It’s been a year where we’ve really dug into our old bag of tricks and gone all out, so it only makes sense to go out there and kill it with two AEW originals. We all take great pride in our matches together.”

Matt Jackson: All In will ‘probably be my biggest wrestling legacy’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Young Bucks are proud of how far All In has come since they and Cody Rhodes promoted the first event in 2018.

For the first time since that inaugural show, All In returns stateside this Saturday. What started as a self-promoted event by The Elite has now become AEW’s biggest annual pay-per-view, twice being held at Wembley Stadium in London and now taking place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

All In has already solidified its place among the most historically important shows in wrestling history — and The Young Bucks know it will always be a key part of their legacy.

“From running that first event several years ago in Chicago, when getting 10,000 people into an arena sounded impossible, to seeing it grow into an annual stadium show, where this year we’ll have 20,000-plus fans in attendance, it really does blow my mind,” Matt Jackson told Uncrowned.

“I’m humbled to have had the pleasure to take part in this movement from the very beginning. To be able to say not only was I there, but I helped it all happen, that’ll probably be my biggest wrestling legacy. I get to perform on the show I helped create, in the company I am a founding father of, a company that has succeeded so much more than even I could have ever imagined, company that forever will be called Elite, long after I’m gone.”

Saturday’s event will see Matt and his brother Nick Jackson take on Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay in a tag team match. If The Young Bucks win, neither Strickland nor Ospreay can challenge for the AEW World Championship for the next year. But if Strickland & Ospreay win, The Young Bucks lose their on-screen titles as executive vice presidents.

The Young Bucks told Uncrowned that they have enjoyed working their EVP titles into their TV personas, with Nick saying that “people actually think we’re bad human beings because we play these characters pretty dang good.” Matt feels they still have a lot left to explore if they win on Saturday.

“It really has been incredibly fun leaning in on all the things people accuse us of being. I remember back in the beginning, arguing with someone that going public about having a major job title in the company is probably a bad idea if we want to be cheered ever again as wrestlers,” Matt said.

“So using it in this way all these years later has definitely made the most sense. It’s for sure helped us garner more heat, and given us a new tool to work with the last couple of years on screen. I think there’s so much left to explore too, shall we have that opportunity to do so.”

All In’s pre-show will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern on Saturday with the main card then starting at 3 p.m. AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page, AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Mone, and International Champion Kenny Omega vs. Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada are the three top matches set for the show.

Daily Update: Mariah May, Matt Jackson, Mark Cuban

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest Headlines

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • Full coverage of Double or Nothing including length of the show and why, the main event finish and who knew, the long-term booking, how things can be adjusted time wise, PPV early estimates, going head-to-head with WWE and the current WWE strategy and is it working or will it backfire, and what was unique in business regarding interest levels for this show, and match by match coverage.
  • What did readers think of Double or Nothing and Battleground.
  • John Laurinaitis joins with Janel Grant in the lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE. We look at the strategy, why the timing doesn’t make sense on the surface and what it shows about the belief of where the case is going, as well as Laurinaitis credibility as a witness, his past, and an amazing timeline look where the dots have never been connected before.
  • Saturday Night’s Main Event, the long-term of John Cena as champion, Cena’s last match, what match did the highest number, injury notes, Jesse Ventura and more.
  • WWE spoils a world title change in Mexico, the WWE strategy in Mexico, Alberto shoots a major angle, Worlds Collide matches and how business looks and more.
  • Salman Hashimikov, the unlikely IWGP champion, and the story of one of the best heavyweight amateur wrestlers in the world who had a short pro wrestling career, but a lot of major main event matches with legends.
  • Full coverage of NXT Battleground
  • The sad plight of BJ Penn
  • Best of the Super Juniors
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the shows of the past week, with demos, segments, how the shows are holding up, Netflix numbers and more
  • More on AEW talent at Arena Mexico
  • The Copa Juniors Cibernetico in Arena Mexico
  • MLW title matches at Arena Mexico
  • Nanae Takahashi retires
  • Lawsuit against Billy Jack Haynes by family of his murdered wife
  • The sad story of Shannon Spruill/Daffney
  • Unique independent matches
  • A crazy angle gets two police officers legitimately suspended
  • The Jim Ross Award
  • Why things changed at AEW PPV as far as distribution
  • Why Josh Alexander signed with AEW
  • Keith Lee update
  • Ticket sales for upcoming AEW, WWE and TNA shows
  • Another lawsuit filed against TKO
  • Cain Velasquez talks Dana White’s help
  • More on future WrestleManias
  • Update on UFC & WWE rights negotiations that will happen later this year
  • WWE main roster call-ups expected and where
  • Comparing the Raw ratings from January to last week while taking sleight of hand manipulations out
  • WWE stars in TV shows

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Trick Williams vs. Mike Santana TNA World Championship main event from NXT last night.
  • Mariah May celebrated her NXT arrival with cake, balloons, and flowers.
  • WWE has not identified May by name yet, indicating that a name change is likely. The YouTube video of her debut is titled “SHE’S HERE! The NXT Women’s division just became more glamorous,” and the description is “One of the biggest free agents in the world comes to NXT to confront NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne.”
  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Santino Marella praised his daughter Arianna Grace for how hard she worked to get hired by WWE:
    • So her first tryout, she was not ready, and she didn’t get hired. Then the switch went off, she packed up, moved to Orlando. She was training at multiple schools, busting her ass, got in great shape. And then when she received another tryout, she just blew them away. She was the talk of the tryout, and she got hired from that, she was just in shape, and this time she was ready. So it was no freebies. When you’re a second-generation talent, the idea of receiving a freebie is a horrible thing to be accused of. Some people will also understand that you’re going to be given an opportunity, but it’s up to you to capitalize on the opportunity. I remember talking with Cody when he was younger, that was one of the worst things you could say to him ever, was you’re only here because your dad. So he became super hard working to eliminate and remove the potential for someone to even say that. I think he’s done a great job, working so hard that no one could say that to him anymore.
  • Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins were on KTLA in Los Angeles this morning promoting Saturday’s Money in the Bank PLE.
  • Liv Morgan & Dominik Mysterio took part in a Sneaker Shopping episode for Complex.
  • NXT Champion Oba Femi joined Sheamus on this week’s edition of Celtic Warrior Workouts.
  • CM Punk was featured on a new episode of WWE Tattooed.
  • Sports Illustrated interviewed Roxanne Perez.
  • Big E will be making an appearance at Pancheros Mexican Grill in Somerset, Massachusetts on Thursday, June 12. He’ll be “greeting customers, signing WWE merch, taking pics with fans, and helping raffle off a year’s worth of Panchero’s burritos and WWE memorabilia.”

Other Wrestling

  • Matt Jackson said The Young Bucks would be interested in buying California indie promotion PWG (which has been on hiatus since 2023) if it was for sale:
    • Me and Nick have talked about a lot of things. We’ve talked about buying PWG. We’ve talked about starting our own indie. We’ve talked about a wrestling school. I don’t know. In the next few years, though, if we’re going to do something, it’ll probably happen in the next few years.
    • Let me also clarify, I don’t even know if PWG is for sale. So I don’t know why I said that. But if it was for sale, I would make an offer. So – Super Dragon, hit me up.
  • Lio Rush mourned the death of his dog Brixton:
    • This has been extremely hard for me to process. If you know me, you know how much he meant to me. If you don’t know, this dog was more than a dog. In fact he was more human than most humans I know. He was my kid, my brother, he was my friend, my protector. He’s been here with me through it all. Everytime I think I’m strong enough, I break down in tears thinking about all the memories and all the moments we had. From hotels, to road trips, to moving across the country multiple times. We’ve done it all and see it all together. I loved Brixton so much and everyone who came across him had so much love for him. Rest in peace brix. You’ll never be forgotten.
  • Yuka Sakazaki will compete at Tokyo Joshi Pro’s show in Dallas on the Sunday (July 13) of All In weekend.
  • AEW wrestler Anthony Bowens has been named the honorary grand marshal of Dallas Pride Parade 2025.
  • TNA Wrestling celebrated today being the 21th anniversary of the first episode of Impact:
    • Exactly this moment 21 years ago today, the first episode of #TNAiMPACT was broadcast on Fox Sports Net. Thank you to every single person who’s watched any of the 1089 episodes that have helped make TNA iMPACT! one of the longest running wrestling television shows in history.
  • Businessman Mark Cuban made a $10,000 donation to a GoFundMe campaign in support of indie wrestler Jeff Cannonball, who has been diagnosed with ALS at just 38 years old.
  • Shawn Talks Wrestling interviewed former NXT talent Javier Bernal.

Matt Jackson says ‘someone high up in AEW’ reached out about BTE revival

Posted on by Ian Carey

Matt Jackson discussed the possibility of Being the Elite returning during a Q&A session on the travel YouTube channel he shares with his wife, Dana.

Jackson said he’s been approached by “someone high up in AEW” about bringing back the popular YouTube show. He also mentioned there have been discussions about creating BTE: The Movie, although he sounded skeptical about such a project.

“We’ve actually discussed putting in real money and doing a movie… I don’t know,” he said on the show.

“I’ve actually been contacted recently by, I won’t say who it was, but someone high up in AEW about bringing it back, and I don’t know.”

Jackson then mentioned the idea of creating a documentary from the unused footage they’ve collected over the years of doing Being the Elite.

“It would be fun to do a documentary on everything too because there’s so much footage, hours and hours and hours of unused footage. Brandon has a whole library that nobody even is aware of.”

“Me and Nick told Brandon for years, just shoot everything. Anything and everything. Even the things that are really taboo, like putting matches together, wrestlers who don’t have their masks on, we have all that stuff. Hours and hours and hours of that, because I always knew that one day we would probably do some type of documentary on everything, on our lives, a proper documentary on our whole career. That’s one project I would love to do before it’s over. We’ll see. I don’t know, I have a lot of big dreams.”

Being the Elite episodes stopped airing in the fall of 2023. In November of that year, they were replaced by episodes of Being the Dark Order. It’s been nine months since the last video was posted on the channel.

Jackson and Dana’s full Q&A where they discuss their trip to O’ahu is available below:

Young Bucks AEW return update

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It looks like The Young Bucks will be back on AEW television soon.

Matt & Nick Jackson have been off TV since dropping the AEW Tag Team titles to Private Party in October 2024, but Dave Meltzer reports that they were backstage at a recent Dynamite episode and plans for their return are in the works. When that return will be happening remains to be seen.

Meltzer wrote in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

While they haven’t returned yet, missing several California dates already, The Young Bucks were backstage at the show in Oceanside, CA, and there are plans being worked on for a return although we don’t know when, but it’s not like they’re in that place where so many AEW talents to go disappear.

There was a storyline last October where The Young Bucks said they would be working from home amid all of the chaos that the Death Riders were causing in AEW. During their absence from AEW TV, Matt & Nick Jackson returned to NJPW for a couple of matches and had a brief IWGP Tag Team title reign.

The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) are the current AEW Tag Team Champions after winning the belts from Private Party. Lashley & Benjamin have a title match set for AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view in Los Angeles this Sunday, defending against The Outrunners.

Matt Jackson and his wife Dana Massie have launched a travel show on YouTube called “Never Not Jet Lagged” with the first episode premiering today. It covers their recent trip to Osaka, Japan.

Daily Update: WWE NXT notes, Naomi, Matt Jackson

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Highlights:

  • A complete look at  WWE & UFC business, the numbers, the trends, prospectus for 2025, why profits were so low, Saudi Arabia, media rights, crazy gates, boxing, , new TV shows and more.
  • The return to WWE of Dwayne Johnson, why it happened, where it has the most effect, the Rhodes angle and more.
  • Vince McMahon legal updates, latest arguments in the Grant case, as well as notes from the shareholder lawsuit against WWE and members of the board or letting McMahon back in the company, charges about the investigation and lots of new news regarding the board of directors actions from the day of the first Wall Street Journal article until the McMahon return.
  • Osamu Nishimura passes away, one of the smoothest wrestlers of modern times
  • Ryan Nemeth’s lawsuit against AEW, Tony Khan and CM Punk, legitimacy, silliness, claims and more details on those claims
  • Preview of Elimination Chamber and AEW Revolution, odds, cards and consumer demand
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the major U.S. wrestling shows
  • What is notable about Torneo Escuelas
  • Stardom has excellent PPV show
  • Fantastica Mania notes
  • Promotion sues a fan
  • Queen of the Ring notes and history form that period
  • Death of Portland announcer Don Coss
  • Lawsuit involving WWE Hall of Fame settled
  • Woman star has health issue
  • Major injury updates
  • WBD business
  • Lots of new AEW matches
  • Advance ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
  • More on UFC & WWE 2026 business prospects with new deals coming in
  • Why the TKO stock price dropped greatly
  • Dark Side of the Cage notes
  • More on discontent with WWE employees
  • Goals of the WWE/UFC/PBR weekend in Kansas City
  • Stephanie McMahon update

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Tony D’Angelo vs. Shawn Spears main event from NXT, where Spears defeated D’Angelo to become the new North American Champion.
  • Spears cut a post-show promo backstage after his title win.
  • Cassie Lee (former WWE wrestler Peyton Royce) was in attendance at NXT to watch her husband win the North American title.
  • Kelly Kincaid returned to her role as a backstage interviewer for NXT last night, appearing for the first time since she and Elton Prince welcomed their first child into the world in September 2024. Kincaid formerly went by the name Quinn McKay in ROH.
  • Lilian Garcia, who filled in for Mike Rome as the ring announcer on NXT this week, made an Instagram post reflecting on the experience:
    • I wasn’t expecting to ever be able to announce @wwenxt and yet it happened!! …What an absolute blast announcing all the incredible NXT talent, my SmackDown gals @chelseaagreen & @pipernivenwwe AND yes….The Hardy Boys – @matthardybrand & @jeffhardybrand!! After all these years, that was SURREAL INDEED!!
    • Life has a crazy way of shelling out surprises. Last night was a good one!! Thank you NXT for having me and all the love! You guys were awesome!!
  • Due to coverage of President Donald Trump’s address to congress, NXT did not air live in New York City, Chicago, or Indianapolis last night. A replay will be shown in those markets this evening.
  • Following the angle where she was beaten down by Jade Cargill at Elimination Chamber, Naomi wore a neck brace while attending a screening of “Queen of the Ring” in New York City last night. Naomi plays Ethel Johnson in the movie, which is a Mildred Burke biopic.
  • Trish Stratus, Lita, Madusa, Jazz, and Daria Berenato (Sonya Deville) were among the others who attended the “Queen of the Ring” screening, along with AEW’s Kamille, Athena, Skye Blue, Deonna Purrazzo, Julia Hart, Queen Aminata, and Prince Nana.
  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, AJ Styles was asked about potentially facing John Cena one last time during Cena’s retirement tour:
    • I don’t know. I don’t make those decisions. I would love to have it, for sure, it’d be fun. Honestly, I think that there’s something about, I can’t explain it, why him and I gel so well together. I don’t know what it is, because we’re definitely not the same in any kind of way. It just works. The first time I got in the ring with him it was like, Wow, dude, that was cool. So, yeah, I would love the opportunity to work with Cena again.
  • IYO SKY & Dakota Kai joined Sheamus on the latest episode of Celtic Warrior Workouts.
  • In their countdown of the 50 greatest matches in WrestleMania history, WWE ranked John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 23 at 43rd.

AEW/Other Wrestling

Young Bucks: Creative changed ‘4-5 different times’ before dropping AEW tag titles

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Before ultimately dropping the titles to Private Party, plans for The Young Bucks’ most recent AEW Tag Team Championship reign changed a few different times.

Matt & Nick Jackson’s third reign with the belts ended when they lost to Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) on the October 30 episode of Dynamite. While appearing on the Tunnel Talk podcast, Nick Jackson said he and his brother were originally supposed to lose the titles to a different team months before that. The creative direction changed 4-5 times before The Young Bucks faced Private Party at WrestleDream. After that, it was clear to everyone that Kassidy & Quen should be the next champions.

Both Young Bucks said they’re happy things worked out the way they did because Private Party are deserving of the spotlight and were ready for a big push. Private Party have been with AEW since 2019, and this is their first title reign in the promotion.

“This last run we just had, we were supposed to drop those titles months and months before we actually dropped them, but creative changed I would say 4-5 different times in the last like six months,” Nick said. “At one point, we were going to lose the belts to a certain team. And then a month later it changed to another team. And then, I remember Private Party came up to us actually and they mentioned about wanting to do like a long-term program with us. And we were like, ‘Well, sorry man, Tony [Khan] just gave us the layout of what we’re doing and that’s not in the cards.’

“And something changed and we ended up wrestling them in a match [at WrestleDream]… but we tore the house down. As soon as we got backstage, we knew, ‘Oh alright.’ It’s in Tony’s eyes. He was like, ‘I think we have something, I think we have something.’ And Matt and I thought the same exact thing. We were like, ‘We’ve got to pivot. We’ve got to change our plans again.’ And that was like the fourth time changing plans for those titles to be dropped. We were happy though because we wanted to put those guys over. They deserved the spotlight. It’s been five years now, so they were ready for a big push. And I’m just glad Matt and I got to give them that last shove before we left.”

There’s an angle where The Young Bucks have been away from AEW television since their loss to Private Party, but Matt & Nick are expected to feud with Jon Moxley’s Death Riders faction once they return.

For the first time since 2019, The Young Bucks will wrestle for NJPW when they compete for the vacant IWGP Tag Team titles at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5.

Matt Jackson: Will Ospreay is ‘clearly the best in-ring wrestler on the planet’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks believes Will Ospreay has “clearly” established himself as the best in-ring wrestler in the world right now.

The AEW Tag Team titles will be on the line when The Young Bucks defend against Ospreay & Kyle Fletcher on the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite tonight. To promote the match, Matt Jackson spoke with Undisputed and had high praise for their opponents.

“When we first met Will many years ago, we called him a wrestling prodigy. He was young and inexperienced but so far ahead of everybody else,” Jackson said. “And it all came so easy to him. We’d whisper to each other about how he was probably going to end up being the best wrestler in the world one day, but how we couldn’t let him know that because we didn’t want that to go to a young man’s developing brain. We didn’t want to feed his ego [laughs]. Now, all these years later, and he’s clearly the best in-ring wrestler on the planet. And I’m not sure it’s even close.”

Jackson compared working with Fletcher to facing Adam Cole or Kyle O’Reilly when they were younger.

“Fletcher is fantastic,” he said. “He is one to watch. He’s picked up the TV wrestling style so quickly and effortlessly. Wrestling him is intimidating in the same way it was when we first met and worked with a young, sharp Adam Cole or Kyle O’Reilly type. Like that feeling of, ‘We better have our working boots on tonight or this kid is going to lap us out there.’ So, it definitely keeps us on our toes and makes us stay young.”

Ospreay & Fletcher earned this title shot by winning a tag team Casino gauntlet match on Dynamite two weeks ago.

The Young Bucks have been champions since April and are on their third reign with the AEW Tag Team titles.



Young Bucks update: AEW repackage, KTB Wrestling trademark

Posted on by Ian Carey

The Young Bucks’ sabbatical from AEW will likely result in them returning as heels and possibly as part of a heel stable. 

Following the Bucks’ loss to Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho at Full Gear, Brandon Cutler announced on social media that the brothers “will be taking some time away from wrestling.” They have not been featured on their own YouTube show in several weeks either. Cutler would later state that the Bucks had “officially finished up with Being The Elite” as well. 

Our own Dave Meltzer addressed Matt and Nick Jackson’s status in today’s edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

“They look to be doing a heel group with Brandon Cutler,” Meltzer wrote. He also noted that Colt Cabana has been talked about for the group but his involvement is not certain.

“The idea is for them to take some time off and come back as heels with major impact,” Meltzer continued. “It’s in the beginning stages and there’s no known time frame on when they will pull the trigger on it and they will return.”

The Bucks recently filed to trademark the terms KTB Wrestling (Killing the Business Wrestling) and Superdick Party, although Meltzer writes that “KTB is not part of the AEW stable idea and right now is for outside AEW projects.”