The Young Bucks reveal their discussions with NJPW and ROH.
At the end of 2018, The Young Bucks became two of the hottest free agents in wrestling history. The duo fielded offers from WWE, ROH, and NJPW before partnering up with Tony Khan to form All Elite Wrestling. The Bucks spent years in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling, winning multiple tag team championships and building themselves into the stars that you see today. And ROH and NJPW could have kept the duo, and prevented AEW from seeing the light of day, if they could agree on a dual contract for Matt and Nick Jackson.
"You know what's sad? New Japan and ROH could have easily come together and offered us the contracts they wanted, but they just didn't do it," Nick laments in an interview with Bleacher Report. "New Japan never saw the value in Matt and I. They never paid us good. We would have had to work with New Japan for another two decades to even get close to retiring, and the style they demand is backbreaking. Ring of Honor paid us a lot better than New Japan. We could have probably retired there, but we would have to work probably another decade with them. We pitched it to both of them: Why don't you guys get us a dual contract? And they just didn't get it done. We would have easily stayed, and there would have never been an All Elite Wrestling if they would have met what we wanted, but it didn't get done."
The Bucks openly griped about NJPW pay in the past, saying they wouldn't be working the 2018 World Tag League due to never being offered a spot and poor pay. While it may have taken them decades to retire off ROH and NJPW pay, the duo reportedly turned down seven-figure deals from WWE during their free agency period.
Matt and Nick will defend the AAA Tag Team Titles against the Lucha Bros on May 25 at AEW Double or Nothing.