Arguably the biggest tag team in the world today, The Young Bucks are the marmite of pro wrestling – dividing fans as to if they are elite or egregious in-ring. Here, we will back The Bucks and list some of the reasons Matt and Nick Jackson are some of the greatest in wrestling today.
Superkick Party!
Probably the biggest criticism against The Young Bucks is how their overuse of the superkick has made the move seem a non-finish – devaluing it. This is a particular point of content for old-timers and wrestling traditionalists as the former punctuation piece for Shawn Michaels, Chris Adams and Lance Storm is now a common-place move.
However, for those who can actually have fun and don’t take wrestling too seriously, the move is enjoyable. Seeing a high quantity of superkicks in a small amount of time is largely effective and impressive. A spree of such kicks can be entertaining, but little is more fun than seeing unexpected or surprising superkick. Whether it is their mid-air kick on Sammy Guevara in February 2020 in the tag team battle royal or on Jon Moxley in April 2021, in an unseen heel turn. These have now become a Bucks trademark.
Athleticism
Bombastic high-flyers, Matt and Nick are a huge act behind the ‘flippy s**t’ genre of wrestling. Whilst their unneeded athleticism is excessive to many fans, their stunts still have a special aura to them – bewildering and impressing fans with unique flips and dives.
A recent example of their fluid agility was in their 5-star rated match on AEW Dynamite in a bafflingly athletic bout against 2/3 of Death Triangle in Pac and Rey Fénix. Filled with Canadian destroyers, poisonranas and top rope offence. The feats of athleticism The Bucks can pull off will always make them a dynamic team to watch, here trying to one-up their opponent through preening heel acrobatics.
Competing in the Stadium Stampede, jumping off ladders and falling through tables – their athletic nature sometimes brings people to incorrectly call The Bucks ‘spot monkeys’ (which we’ll get to later). Yet, even if they were – which they are not necessarily – there is nothing wrong with that as many great wrestlers and matches have made their legacies from these kinds of encounters.
More Than Just Moves
The Jacksons are underrated storytellers of the modern-day, proving they are more than just moves.
The Young Bucks’s ongoing story with ex-Bullet Club stablemates Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers is one of the most intriguing and exciting in AEW as it shows the confliction of the duo. A conflicted group wanting to stay with the friends who got them to where they are but also wanting to do the right thing, for many weeks, they teased where they truly stood. Eventually, however, they chose to betray the light and join their mates in The Elite.
The Bucks are also great emotional storytellers, telling the tale of their feelings in their faces. Whether it is agony, confliction or smarminess, Nick and Matt are masters of subtlety in terms of reactions.
Charisma
One thing The Bucks are certainly not short on is charisma. Whilst not as visually spectacular in physique as fellow AEW stars such as Brian Cage or Jungle Boy, they make up for it in their character.
With typical wrestling attire, they have gear as if out of a child’s imagination which perhaps represents their transition from young wrestling fans to adult representations of their personas. With larger-than-life tassels and flairs, the duo has flamboyance in abundance. A representation of many gimmicks on the Indy’s, it has now become a more prominent fashion choice in large part due to the group formerly known in TNA as Generation Me.
Whether heels or faces, the group always seem to have their character down as either disgustingly excessive acrobats or hearted heroes willing to pull out all stops.
Bullet Club
As referenced earlier, the twosome was an integral part of the success of Bullet Club and The Elite. Alongside top stars such as Adam Cole, Prince Devitt (the future Finn Balor) and AJ Styles – the faction took over New Japan Pro Wrestling for a great deal of time. One of the coolest factions in wrestling, they were one of the biggest merch sellers for years as well as the biggest group in wrestling. With a simple black and white modus operandi, they became a modern-day NWO as a group of villains hated, but also so ‘in’.
Being members of the grandest group in wrestling, it was an exciting concept at the time, made even more so as there is still a stage for them to truly rule the world in All Elite Wrestling. With the knowledge of how revolutionary the stable was, it leaves fans drooling for the possibility of the faction making an impact elsewhere.
Being The Elite
In an attempt to further their popularity and entertain their fans, The Bucks alongside stablemates created Being The Elite.
A weekly YouTube show, this non-canon show has progressive storylines but is devoid of the official wrestling company. Popular amongst fans, it has now opened up to a larger selection of recurring characters including other AEW employees. Giving not-so-commonly used talents storylines and greater character arcs, these days it is more removed from The Bucks than the days of old. Young Bucks are often the titleholders of the resident belt. In the modern-day, some of the current stars include Brandon Cutler, Dark Order and Sammy Guevara.
A show of absurd wackiness, it has been going on since 2016 with over 200 episodes. An addition to AEW’s identity as a company, it runs for about 10 minutes, combining comedy, entertainment and insight. All of this from the creative mind of Matt and Nick Jackson.
Hatred For Cornette
Easily the most divisive wrestling personality in the world today, former manager and booker Jim Cornette has made a hugely successful second career through shoot interviews and his podcasts over the last 20 years. Naturally, this controversy has made him a figure of hatred for many fans.
It is well-documented that one of his pet peeves is the overuse of gymnastics and acrobatics in wrestling – a style popularized by the Jackson duo. Many insults and threats have been exchanged between the sides, with The Bucks having worked in many companies Cornette used to. A heated autograph signing saw Cornette allegedly state “we have the only angle that’s working everyone”, with the Jacksons then stating they would never work with him again. To this day, there is still a large amount of dispute between the rivalling opposition.
Although this is all up for opinion, it commonly seems The Bucks have the moral high ground, standing up for unprovoked attacks on themselves and their peers. This means there will always be some foes to fight for justice against the commonly-hated Cornette.
Reaction To Being Sued
The Bucks have nothing if not a snide and smarmy sense of humour and coolness. This was further proved by a supposed suing of the duo by WWE, in a story that’s just funny.
WWE threatened the Indie-darling with a $150,000 lawsuit for their usage of the ‘Too Sweet’ hand gesture originally used by the NWO. Yes, the WWE was suing other wrestlers for using a taunt not created by them, but by WCW nonetheless.
In response to this, the Jackson 2 released merchandise saying ‘Cease and Desist’. Furthermore, they also started to censor their use of the hand pose in a satirical fashion.
