Young Bucks vs. FTR II Was Originally Planned For Later Date

Nick Jackson: Young Bucks vs. FTR II Was Planned For Later Date, We Convinced Tony Khan To Move It Up

The Young Bucks wanted to ride the wave of momentum that FTR was on after SuperCard Of Honor.

In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, the Young Bucks reflected on their match with FTR on the April 6 episode of AEW Dynamite. Nick Jackson said that the match with FTR was actually planned for another show in late April, but they managed to convince Tony Khan to move it up.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen until later this month,” Nick said. “We wanted to ride the momentum of the FTR vs. The Briscoes match because we knew they’d have a classic, and we convinced Tony to let us have it in Boston.”

Matt and Nick then went on to break down how they set up the match, explaining how they wanted to make sure this match far exceeded the response of their first encounter at Full Gear 2020.

“The one thing that put a small damper on the first meeting was having it during the pandemic,” Nick said. “We always knew we wanted to do a rematch, it was just a matter of when and how—and we knew it had to be a packed arena. I knew the match was going to be great when FTR’s music hit and they were the most over guys in the building that night. Everything clicked from there.”

“The four of us wanted to have a completely different match than the first,” Matt added. “The role reversal really made it interesting and gave us a new dynamic to play with. They say opposites attract, and this might be proof of that. We love to explore all different types of styles and genres in the ring. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out. But sometimes, like this match, it does.”

Matt went on to explain how the first match felt like a love letter to wrestling, but this was more of a technical showcase. He said that this rematch took awhile to get to, but feels like getting some distance and building things up is why the fans reacted so positively this time.

“I remember after we did the first match, the four of us all agreed that we should take a breath and not touch for a while. We were all so mentally and physically drained, trying to live up to the pressure and hype of what people anticipated. I don’t think any of us intended on it taking 18 months to get to the rematch,” Matt explained, “but maybe that’s why the arena was as electric as it was.”