The Young Bucks on AEW character change: ‘We love to make fun of ourselves’
The Young Bucks discussed reinventing themselves and making themselves the butt of jokes during a recent interview.
Matt and Nick Jackson spoke to Justin Barrasso of The Undisputed ahead of their match against Brody King and Bandido on tonight’s episode of Dynamite. Matt Jackson noted that it’s a match Tony Khan specifically wanted to see.
“Bandido and Brody vs. Young Bucks is specifically a match Tony Khan wanted to see, so we refuse to disappoint,” said Matt Jackson.
He continued:
“We’re on a massive winning streak right now. And I’m not talking about wins and losses in the ring. I mean in the way that everything we’ve been blessed to be part of this year has been strong. The segments since returning in April have mostly been home runs in our eyes, so we just really want to keep up the momentum.”
Nick Jackson added:
“We love to make fun of ourselves. If you can’t be the butt of a joke in this business sometimes, you probably picked a bad profession. We also like to reinvent our character work and that’s exactly what this has given us. We’ve learned from guys like [Chris] Jericho who always changed with the times, and we take pride in it.”
Matt Jackson:
“My mother-in-law and kids specifically, when they tell me how embarrassed they are for me, I can’t help but laugh when I tell them that this was our idea. We’re born to play these types of roles. Many wrestlers in the business prefer not to take on these types of stories, which immediately makes us more interested in doing them.”
In storyline, the Young Bucks lost their positions as AEW EVPs due to a stipulation in their match against Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland at All In. They also discussed that match during the interview, with Matt Jackson noting that he thanked both of his opponents for bringing out that kind of performer in him.
“I thanked both men after the match for ‘bringing out that guy again. I knew he was still in there somewhere.’ Swerve mentioned it being a personal goal of his to get us to start having that type of fun again. It’s been a glorious time since being back, thanks in large part to him.”
The Young Bucks defeated The Outrunners on last week’s edition of AEW Dynamite in a quarterfinal match in the Tag Team Eliminator tournament. The following night on Collision, King and Bandido defeated The Gates of Agony to also advance to the semifinals. The winner of tonight’s match will face FTR in the finals, who defeated JetSpeed in the quarterfinals and The Bang Bang Gang team of Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn in the semifinals.
Matt and Nick Jackson’s full interview with Justin Barrasso is available here.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.