NJPW had a chance to get on board with AEW from the day the promotion launched.
Ahead of Triplemania XXX: Monterrey, Matt and Nick Jackson (The Young Bucks) spoke with Hugo Savinovich of Lucha Libre Online about the recently announced AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door event which is set to take place in Chicago on June 26.
The Young Bucks, who were a mainstay on New Japan programming prior to the launch of AEW in January 2019, say they told them from day one that they should work together and that they'd still love to do their shows. After feeling like the promotion "big-leagued" them, along with a number of former WWE talents, Matt and Nick are amused to see everyone wanting to be part of the company they created now that the dinner table has been completely set.
Matt Jackson: "You know what's crazy is we told New Japan day one, 'Hey, we're doing this thing, come hang out with us. Come work with us. We'd still love to do your shows.' They kind of kayfabed us, kind of big-leagued us a little bit in the beginning. They were waiting until that entire dinner table was completely set, then 'Oh wait, now let's go.' So it's just funny when you see -- and all the WWF guys that joined AEW now too, they didn't want to join AEW at first because they were like, 'I don't know if this is real. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We remember who took the leap with us in the very beginning, day one. It was us who set the dinner table, so it's funny now that New Japan, all these WWE guys, they all want to be a part of this thing that we created."
Nick Jackson: "You know who trusted us was AAA. Since day one."
AEW has signed a number of former WWE talents over the past couple of years including (but not limited to) Bryan Danielson, Toni Storm, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, Tony Nese, Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, Ruby Soho, Andrade El Idolo, and CM Punk.
AEW's FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) are the reigning AAA World Tag Team Champions. Kenny Omega also held the promotion's Mega Championship for over two years before vacating it in November 2021.
On April 30 at Triplemania XXX: Monterrey, The Young Bucks will face Rey Fenix and Hijo del Vikingo in a match that they promise will upset all of the old-timers. Fightful will have results from the event immediately following its conclusion.
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