It wasn’t nearly as hot a topic as the decision to air security camera footage of CM Punk & Jack Perry’s scuffle backstage at All In: London was a few weeks before, but closing out the April 24 Dynamite with The Young Bucks taking out AEW owner/president/creative head Tony Khan generated some debate in the wrestling community.
AEW got a ton of attention from the segment (especially after Khan sold it at the NFL Draft while working one of his other jobs… until he compared WWE to Harvey Weinstein, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion). The immediate ratings results weren’t ideal, and that fueled arguments about whether this was the hot, reality-based angle AEW needs or a jump-the-shark moment.
Matthew & Nicholas Jackson of The Bucks unsurprisingly believe kickstarting The Elite vs. AEW program was a winning move. Matt explained why during a mostly in-character interview with SI.com’s Justin Barrasso:
“It felt dangerous and rebellious, and it broke our own rules that we set in the beginning. And it was big. I was told it was a complete curtain sell-out, and the locker room gasped when it went down.
“Afterward, my phone lit up like a Christmas tree. It was probably the most feedback I’ve ever received for anything I’ve ever done, so I know it worked.”
Younger brother Nick also weighed in on The Bucks having more power as authority figures on-screen as a result of taking out Khan:
“We already take the heat and the blame for anything that ever goes wrong. So we might as well be the ones running the show.”
Even though Matt described attacking as something he’d “fantasized many times” since meeting his boss (“I can remember many times watching him talk during production meetings, and my mind would wander to beating the hell out of him, so you can imagine how great it felt to give Tony Khan a Tony Khan Driver”), the Bucks do begrudgingly give TK credit for selling his injuries at the NFL Draft:
“I’m surprised he had the balls to show up on TV after we humiliated him like that,” said Nick Jackson. “But I give him credit for it.”
“Seeing him appear at the NFL Draft with the neck brace on was something even I had to respect,” added Matt Jackson. “Maybe he’s tougher than I thought.”
Entertaining though it may be, the jury is still out on whether The Bucks’ brand of cheeky worked-shoot material is what AEW needs to become more than a “challenger brand”. We’ll see how much Matt’s phone blows up after Double or Nothing on Sunday, which they’ll main event along with Perry & Kazuchika Okada against Team AEW’s Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin & FTR in an Anarchy in the Arena match.
You can read the rest of the Jacksons chat with Barrasso here.
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