The Young Bucks aligned with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega on AEW Dynamite last week. In the process, they superkicked off a new chapter in their remarkable careers.
In an interview with Mike Beauvais of TSN in Canada, Matt Jackson reflected on the AEW World Tag Team Champions’ villainous turn and explained how it’s symbolic of the changing way that the fans perceive them.
“Maybe this is a little bit of reality and maybe this is a little bit of character, but it’s like when you’re that unsigned band and you’re working hard on the underground scene and you’ve got this great cult following and then finally that band that everybody is rooting for, they get picked up and they sign to that major label,” said Matt Jackson.
He continued by saying that some fans might not view them the same way because they’re not the underdogs anymore, and they don’t feel like the same Young Bucks that took the wrestling world by storm several years ago.
“While they’re still putting out great music and probably selling more music than ever, I feel like sometimes those bands feel fraudulent and don’t feel like their former selves. Maybe they’ve lost that edge or maybe they’ve lost that confidence – that feeling of people rooting for you because you’re no longer the underdog.
In some ways, the Young Bucks are like a punk rock band that takes on a position of authority with a major record label. Likewise, Jackson built off his musical metaphor by linking the Young Bucks’ position as AEW executives to their current perception.
“Especially with us, because we’re executives at this company – we’re executive vice-presidents of AEW – and we told everybody that we helped put together the tag-team division, so it’s really hard for people to look at us as those same punk-rock Young Bucks that we were years ago, the ones that spat in the face of tradition – the ones that broke all the rules,” said Jackson. “It’s hard to break the rules when you’re the ones making the rules now.”
Fittingly, Jackson explained how the storyline of Don Callis criticizing the Young Bucks for losing their edge will play out in the months that follow.
“I think Don, what he’s trying to do is he wants to bring out those old guys – the ones with the attitude, the ones that would superkick anything living and breathing – the renegade Young Bucks,” said Jackson. “Maybe now we see more of a commercial, Mickey Mouse Young Bucks with smiles on our faces and we’re not as edgy.”
Jackson also explained that the grittier version of the Young Bucks have been apparent at times, but the Jackson brothers never got the chance to go all-out with it.
“We never really committed to it,” said Jackson. “I think if you watch Dynamite on Wednesday, you’re going to see a full commitment. You’re going to see the Young Bucks that you might have seen 10 years ago or even a newer version of those guys.”
Fans will have to wait and see what this new evolution for the Young Bucks will unfold.
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