The Young Bucks Recall When Opinion Changed About Joining WWE, Top Flight’s Reaction After Being Offered AEW Contract

In a recent interview on Wrestling Observer Radio, the Young Bucks discussed when their opinion changed about wanting to join WWE, how Top Flight reacted when they were offered AEW contracts, and much more. You can read their comments below.

Nick Jackson on the Young Bucks growing up WWE fans: “That was our first goal. That was what we wanted to be was WWE wrestlers. It’s funny – we were such big fans, and I remember I got in really bad trouble at school once because I didn’t know at the time since I was 7 years old – I told my teacher to “suck it” and I did the crotch chop. The teacher was like, ‘You can’t do that, what are you doing? Go to the principal!’ My parents had to explain to them that I’m just a wrestling fan, and I don’t understand what that actually means. We were huge WWF fans and that’s all we ever wanted to do. It just changed.”

On why their opinion changed about wanting to become WWE wrestlers: “I remember the first time we were extras – it was probably in 2007 or so – and just being in that environment, it just felt so different and weird and it’s nothing we envisioned that we really wanted. I remember leaving that day, and I told Matt, ‘Man, I don’t actually like this feeling. I don’t know if I want to be a WWE wrestler anymore.’ Just because of the environment back there. So, the course of what we wanted for our career changed, but at the time, that’s all we ever wanted to be was WWE wrestlers.”

Nick Jackson on Top Flight’s reaction to being offered AEW contract: “I just said this the other day – there’s nothing better than making someone’s life and seeing it happen right in front of you. For example, last week when we told Top Flight that hey you guys can go quit your day jobs, you’re signing here full time. And seeing their eyes light up – those are the moments that make me feel like this is so worth it. I don’t care how hard this is because seeing things like that, it’s so fulfilling, and it’s almost even better than winning the championships.”

Matt Jackson: “I remember Darius told us, and I don’t think they understood exactly what we were saying. This means you’re gonna make a lot of money and you’re gonna have a guaranteed salary and you’re gonna have a check every two weeks. Darius goes, ‘I work at a grocery store.’ And I go, ‘Not anymore you don’t, buddy.’ And Dante – he’s working at a gym and it’s been really tough obviously because of COVID – we told him the same and tell them you no longer need to work there. I said, ‘You guys are set now.’ All it took was them having the courage to reach out and send me a direct message on Instagram. So, the fact that for whatever reason I gravitated toward this one message, and it was like finding a needle in a haystack…..I clicked their video and within 30 seconds I’m blown away by their aesthetic and their look and the way they do tag team combinations. I’m just like, ‘Wow, these guys are great.’

“So, immediately I told Christopher Daniels – our head of talent relations – to book these kids for Dark and let’s get a closer look at them. A week or two goes by and they show up and they had everybody looking at the monitor that night. We watched them, and we were blown away. I went to Tony [Khan] immediately and said that I want to work them……we knew, we were gonna wrestle these guys and hopefully we can have another Private Party type moment where we can sort of make a team in a night, and it just feels like it worked because people were blown away by them just as much as we were. I’m really, really excited to see where these guys go two or three years from now.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.