Young Bucks Says ROH & NJPW Didn’t Want To Give Them Booking Power
As two of four Co-Executive Vice Presidents in AEW, The Young Bucks have control over what makes television and what doesn’t. The power to have input into the company was a big factor in Matt & Nick Jackson joining AEW and turning down offers elsewhere.
Speaking on AEW Unrestricted, the brothers discussed Tony Khan’s ambition and trust when it came to giving them more to do than just wrestle.
“[Tony is] so ambitious. We were at the Fulham arena [Craven Cottage] and it sits like 50,000 people and he’s like, ‘We’re going to fill this one day with people for a wrestling show.’ And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ This guy thinks big. I liked that,” said Nick.
Matt continued, “We have always thought big and have always bet on ourselves. ‘This guy is a dreamer, I like that.’ He has big aspirations. He doesn’t want us to be just wrestlers, he wants us to be more than wrestlers. Nobody else could offer us that.”
The Young Bucks, Cody, and Kenny Omega all had contracts that expired with their respective employers at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019. The foursome talked with ROH, NJPW, and WWE about new deals, but only Khan put total faith in them.
“At that time, no one trusted us. We were wanting to become writers/bookers. Just more than wrestling. But no one wants us to do this. New Japan didn’t want it. Ring of Honor didn’t want it. [Tony Khan] wanted us from the bat for this thing,” said Nick.
Cody had previously stated he discussed a booking position during his negotiations with ROH, though nothing came to fruition. Joe Koff discussed Cody’s comments with Fightful, which you can read by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
