The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) steadily prepare for this Sunday’s AEW All In pay-per-view in London, where the brotherly duo will challenge FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) for the company’s tag team titles.
Ahead of the rubber match the Bucks spoke with Sports Illustrated to discuss the history between the two teams and how they both find themselves on the biggest stage AEW has ever had. Matt Jackson begins by reflecting on their previous encounters with FTR, with the record tied at 1-1.
The stakes really couldn’t be any higher. We’re tied at one win a piece, we’ve had two matches prior that are critically acclaimed, and now to complete the trilogy, we’re performing in front of the largest paid audience in history for a wrestling show.
He continues…
I love a challenge. I’m most excited for the opportunity to feel what it’s like to perform at an event of such magnitude. It might be the culmination of everything we’ve ever worked for, and how I complete every future story I tell to my future grandkids about where my career climaxed.
Nick Jackson jumps in and discusses the first Young Bucks and FTR match at Full Gear 2020. He says that he caught COVID about a month prior and was dealing with some severe breathing issues for many months.
Not many people know this, but I had a really bad case of Covid a month or two before that first match, and I had trouble breathing for a long time. Cardio-wise, it took me a while to get healthy, so that match was probably the hardest match I ever had to get through. The second match I felt a lot healthier, but it was on TV so we didn’t get a lot of time. What excites me most is having that extra time and having a beat to be able to tell the best story that we possibly can.
Matt Jackson compares the FTR and Young Bucks rivalry to the famous Boston Celtic and Los Angeles Laker rivalry in the NBA.
It’s like the Celtics and the Lakers. It’s a rivalry between the very best dynasty teams, but there’s an undeniable respect that is present. Any competitor who sees another competitor as a threat, aren’t inviting them over for a cup of coffee. At least not now, while we’re in the middle of it. Maybe one day when we’re all old men, we’ll sit down, reminisce and realize how much we all actually have in common. But for now, they’re the enemy and they’re after the things I want. And one of those things are the tag team titles, and the other is to be labeled the greatest tag team of this generation.
Nick Jackson adds that having a tag team match this high-caliber is exactly what they envisioned when they helped launch AEW back in 2019.
This is exactly what we envisioned for the tag team division in AEW. Having generational talent and having them be able to hold the division at the highest standard and of course we’re competitive and we see that and it drives us to be better.
The AEW tag team title match won’t be the only title on the line at All In. The latest card for the event can be found here.