Wrestling / The Young Bucks

SUPERKICK PARTY!!! (Nick on the left, Matt on the right)

The Young Bucks are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of real life brothers Matt and Nick Jackson (real names Matthew and Nicholas Massie) from the suburbs of southern California. Trained by Marty Jannetty and Ron Rivera, they stand out due to their ever-constant boyish looks and mannerisms and their colorful attire, as well as their aerodynamic wrestling style, being known for their use of superkicks (dubbed the "superkick party") and high flying moves in their matches. They are most known for their appearances in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerilla, though they have also competed in Dragon Gate (both Japan and USA) and CHIKARA, and from 2013 to 2019 they were also mainstays of New Japan Pro-Wrestling as members of its top heel faction, the Bullet Club, from which they subsequently branched out as The Elite alongside Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes. From 2010 to 2011 they had a short run in TNA under the team name Generation Me, using the ring names Max and Jeremy Buck respectively, where they were best known for their matches against the Motor City Machine Guns.

They and fellow Bullet Club member Cody Rhodes made headlines by promoting the spectacularly successful All In indie wrestling event in September 1, 2018, the first American wrestling event not run by either WWE or WCW to draw more than 10,000 since 1993. On January 1, 2019, they and Rhodes were announced as the first wrestlers on the roster of the new promotion All Elite Wrestling, as well as producers for the promotion. AEW is financially backed by Shahid and Tony Khan, principal owners of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

As usual, more on their careers can be found here.

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"SUPERTROPE PARTY!":

• The Ace: They're regarded by many as the best tag team in the world and one of the greatest tag teams of all time.
• Arch-Enemy
  • The Motor City Machine Guns went from The Rivals/Worthy Opponents to this when Generation Me decided to turn viciously heel on them.
  • Have severe competitive issues with reDRagon baggage involving both the IWGP Junior and ROH tag belts.
  • The Guerrillas of Destiny briefly became this during the Elite vs. OG portion of the Bullet Club Civil War.
  • No tag-team has faced them more often and more bitterly than The Lucha Brothers. As of September 2021, they have faced each other a grand total of 9 times across both the US and Mexico, and each battle has been more intense than the last. As of this writing, the Lucha Bros are technically ahead in the rivalry, having won 6 out of those 9 meetings.
  • Santana and Ortiz became this when they attacked The Bucks following the Escalera de la Muerte match at All Out.
  • FTR and The Bucks weren't fond of each other due to their years of needling each other on social media but common enemies such as The Butcher and the Blade, the Lucha Bros and The Dark Order forced them into an uneasy alliance. That is, until FTR attacked the Rock N' Roll Express during tag team appreciation night.
  • Jurassic Express have become this in AEW due to The Elite's constant bullying and antagonism towards Jungle Boy.
• Always Someone Better:
  • They have a history of derailing the Dark City Fight Club, at least when it comes to Davis and Chavis's ROH careers.
  • They're this to Steen and Generico in Ring of Honor and PWG, handing them a number of their most notorious losses.
• Animal Motifs: Early on, roosters. Now, stags.
• Armed Legs: Once armed their legs by stomping into a pile of thumbtacks.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guys: They're very good at playing the part of insufferably cocky assholes who think nobody can beat them. Oh, and they will super kick streamers back into the crowd.
• Bait-and-Switch: Episode 137 of BTE has The Stinger where Kenny stresses over a difficult choice with Nick. At the episode's airing, Kenny was a free agent and rumors were rampant that he would sign with AEW. The choice Kenny stresses over turns out to be whether to start playing the PS4 remake of Resident Evil 2 as Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield.
• Badass Boast: They had a good one when they confronted FTR on the June 10, 2020 Dynamite.
  "My name's Matt. This is my brother Nick, We've been carrying tag team wrestling solely on our backs for the past decade-and-a-half. We're the best tag team in AEW. We're The Young Bucks. It's so nice to meet you."
• Bash Brothers: Both figuratively and literally. They're so rarely anything but teammates that people who archive pro wrestling records for a living can count the number of times they weren't on one hand.
• Berserk Button: Since turning heel in 2024, they do not take kindly to being called "Nick and Matt Jackson." They would like you to show them some respect by calling them by their "God-given names," Nicholas and Matthew Jackson.
• Big Little Brother:
  • Nick is over four years younger than Matt, but is notably the taller of the two.
  • Their younger brother, Malachi Jackson, is noticeably larger than either Buck.
• Camera Abuse: Defied, a camera stood out as one of the few things not kicked by the Bucks by the end of the 2016 Global Wars. It's safety came at the cost of a camera man's chin, though.
  • As part of their entrance at most Ring of Honor shows, they pantomime superkicking the camera, heightened by the cameraman turning it away to sell the hit.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Not towards each other, aside from that little spell late into the Generation Me run, but they've so far developed a distinct habit of being among the main guys in Bullet Club to turn on one leader/ace and then latch closer onto the next one they like better. The first time it was more a basic altercation coinciding with Devitt's departure and naturally gravitating to Styles over time,^note though he was more a co-leader with Karl Anderson than just the straight up boss, but the second time they outright helped Omega excommunicate Styles and take over the leadership. While they've teased turning on Kenny Omega in favor of Cody Rhodes, they haven't abandoned Kenny yet, and in fact frequently team with him as "The Elite". Eventually they, Kenny, Cody, and the rest of their Elite friends were given a taste of their own medicine when the Guerrillas of Destiny had enough of their antics and kicked them all out of Bullet Club.
• Cliffhanger: This is a common trope on BTE. Spoilers for notable ones ahead. To close episode 90, Kota Ibushi joins Kenny to patch things up with The Bucks in the midst of a Bullet Club split. Ibushi and Omega reformed their previous tag team The Golden Lovers and later formed a short-lived stable with the Bucks called The Golden Elite. To close episode 148, Nick calls "an old British friend". The screen cuts to a phone ringing with the caller ID displaying "Dead Friend 1", which was also that episode's title.
• Co-Dragons: Whether as part of The Bullet Club or the Elite, the Bucks are always right behind Kenny Omega as his loyal number twos to do his bidding.
• Cool Mask: The Bucks wore these as a part of their entrance attire at All Out 2019 to mock the Lucha Bros.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: As of their Face–Heel Turn in 2024, the Bucks have regularly abused their authority as Executive Vice Presidents in AEW, whether it be fining employees for petty reasons, to brutally assaulting civilians simply for being related to wrestlers they're feuding with.
• Disproportionate Restitution: On the 2/14/24 episode of Dynamite, after fining Tony Schiavone for $1000, knocking him to the ground, and nearly hitting him with their EVP Trigger, they try to make amends with him on the 2/23/24 episode of Rampage. Specifically with a $25 Amazon Gift Card. They also explicitly tell Schiavone that they won't waive the fine.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Upon their 2024 Face–Heel Turn, they regularly give any employees a $500 fine simply for calling them "Matt and Nick" as opposed to "Matthew and Nicholas".
• Double Knockout: During a visit to Chile for Wrestling Superstar they wrestled the Hardy Boyz to a double pin.
• Dumb Struck: Their reaction at Final Battle when Broken Matt was projected on an ROH jumbotron following their successful title retention. Matt Jackson looked as if it was taking a while to register and Nick had a look of disbelief.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The early episodes of BTE didn't have a video game or sitcom intro, just The Bucks and Kenny chanting 'The Elite'.
• Egocentric Team Naming: When Kevin Steen announced the formation of their PWG stable, the elder Jackson insisted it be called "Matt Rushmore".
  Steen: "That's not what we're putting on the shirt. Mount Rushmore."
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even as heelish EVP's, they don't condone harming AEW officials, as they suspended "Hangman" Adam Page's membership with The Elite on the 3/6/24 episode of Dynamite for assaulting multiple referees during his match at Revolution 2024.
• Expy: They're quite reminiscent of the Hardy Boyz; dark-haired, calmer older brother with a blonde, less-calm younger brother, who are young high-flyers.
  • The Psycho Rangers: Can also be considered this due to spending so much more time as heels than the Hardyz.
• Extremity Extremist: They're known for doing superkicks, to the point where they've created the "superkick party" and often joke about doing hundreds or thousands of them. Take a look at any of their t-shirts, and chances are the words "superkick party" will be somewhere on there.
• Evil Costume Switch:
  • Their 2021 Face–Heel Turn in AEW saw them ditching their signature tassels (emphasized in a promo by showing them cutting off the tassels with a pair of scissors) and switching out their colorful ring gear in favor of more monochromatic tights. Furthermore, they've also taken to flaunting expensive sneakers every week. ^note It should be noted that they would temporarily bring back the tassels for their match at the AEWxNJPW supershow, Forbidden Door.
  • Their heel turn in 2024 saw them switch out their traditional ring gear in favor of business attire such as vests and slacks, to better emphasize their position as Executive Vice Presidents in AEW.
• Evil Duo: They're choir boys compared to reDRagon though. The Bucks at least respected some of Cheeseburger's dignity, for example. There was vocal demand from the crowd at Ring of Honor's 13th Anniversary show for the Bucks to super kick Shayna Baszler for screwing them out of the tag titles, for another.
  • Not to mention that by most-all reports, the Bucks insisted that they take the pinfall in Sting's retirement match at Revolution 2024, in which he and Darby Allin defended their AEW tag team belts against the Bucks.
• Evil Is Hammy: In a rare move-based sort of way: The Bucks have a move set that is usually suited towards high-flying babyfaces. But because they are so good at being assholes, their high-flying move set instead comes off as over-the-top for the sake of being over the top.
• Evil Is Petty: As heels, the Young Bucks aren't just bad guys. They're assholes, often for no other reason than It Amused Me. One of their more infamous incidents involved super kicking an eight year old boy during his birthday. During their promised "super kick party" at the 2016 "Global Wars", they kicked their own father.
• Fearful Symmetry: The first night main event at Supercard Of Honor X saw Matt Jackson and Chris Sabin unable to start the match off because they kept trying the same thing, getting frustrated and tagging out. It continued with Alex Shelley and Nick, until Nick started goofing off, which successfully threw the Motor City Machine Guns off their game.
• Finishing Move: Several. the BTE Trigger (double Kamigoye), Early-Onset Alzheimer's (double/stereo superkicks), the Indytaker/More Bang For Your Fuck (springboard spike Tombstone Piledriver), the Meltzer Driver (same as previous but with a somersault on the springboard), and More Bang For Your Buck (fireman's carry roll/450° splash/moonsault combination). In TNA as heels they also had a double team rope-hung DDT.
  • After their heel turn in 2024, both the BTE Trigger and Meltzer Driver were renamed the EVP Trigger and the TK ^note Named after AEW owner, Tony Khan Driver, respectively.
• Five Moves of Doom: Their infamous finishing combo as a trio with AJ Styles. AJ applies an inverted face lock and suplexes the victim into one Buck who catches him in position for a tombstone. AJ then throws the other Buck up over his shoulder to spike the tombstone. Then the holding Buck gives the victim to AJ who sets him up for the Styles Clash, but AJ doesn't drop him until after both Bucks superkick the poor guy.
• Flanderization: Most of Bullet Club, The Bucks included, had identical Foreign Wrestling Heel gimmicks in Japan only differentiated by moves and mannerisms,
• Force Feeding: Force fed Joey Ryan thumbtacks during the a hardcore tag team match at PWG against the World's Cutest Tag Team. This was partially because they accidentally switched their thumbtack bag with a bag of gummy bears, but then they tried to kick the tacks down his throat when he wouldn't swallow.
• Foreshadowing: On February 2024, they renamed one of their finishing moves from "Meltzer Driver" to "Tony Khan Driver". Two months later, they use that exact move on Tony Khan to show their intentions to take over AEW.
• Foreign Wrestling Heels: In New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of the Bullet Club.
• Gone Horribly Right: The Bucks picked Private Party to be in AEW personally because they saw tons of potential in them. And they were right... especially after the Bucks got eliminated by Private Party in the first AEW Tag Team Tournament, effectively kicking them to the back of the line for the belts.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: They tend to stay away from cuss words in their promos because they're good Christian boys. However they tend to forget that in matches from time to time, which the PWG fans will joyfully mock with the chant of "YOU SAID FUCK!"
• Groin Attack: Suffered a particularly heinous example in the same hardcore tag match as the Force Feeding thing. Candice LeRae ballsplexed one of the Bucks into the turnbuckle, dropped a handful of thumbtacks down his pants, and then ballsplexed him again…into the remaining thumbtacks.
• Halloween Episode: The Bucks dressed up as Ryu and Ken for the Halloween 2019 edition of Dynamite.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: They were the most comfortable with the notion when Kevin Steen announced Mount Rushmore would force everyone who got in Adam Cole's way to suck Cole's dick. But better you than them.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: As part of the Bullet Club. In New Japan Pro Wrestling, they're heels. Anywhere else, they're faces. They don't have a problem being heel, it's just the stable is so over due to cool factor and AJ Styles that no company's fanbase will boo them outside of NJPW anymore.
  • Gets even more confusing now that they seem to be siding with Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi who are definitely face in NJPW.
  • This carried over to AEW where they were Bucks 100% babyface before their heel turn in 2024. On the rare pre-turn occasions they went up against other good guys, they reverted into the absolute dickhead heels they were in PWG.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A non-lethal version: during their hardcore match with the Young Bucks, Candice (who was bleeding and barely able to stand) crawled back into the ring and stood in front of Joey, who was barely conscious and was about to be superkicked by one of the Bucks, who was wearing a shoe with thumbtacks glued to the sole. The resulting kick left blood everywhere.
• Hostile Show Takeover:
  • The Bucks invaded an arena where an episode of WWE Raw was taking place, mirroring D-Generation X's invasion of an arena where WCW Monday Nitro was taking place.
  • At the end of episode 182 of BTE, The Inner Circle attacked The Bucks and proceded to film their own show "Being the Inner Circle".
• Hot-Blooded Sideburns: Matt.
• I Have Many Names: The Young Bucks, Generation Me, Los Gallineros.
  • Matt Jackson, Max Buck, Fluffy the Dog, Gallinero II, Mr. Instant Replay.
  • Nick Jackson, Jeremy Buck, El Gallinero/Gallinero I, Slick Nick.
• It's All About Me: Does the name "Generation Me" carry a hint or two? Even outside of that, they are some of the most vain "good Christian boys" we will see in pro wrestling. TNA even tried to portray that they are so self-centered they would sell each other out to get ahead in a heartbeat, and even teased a split between both them and their arch-rivals the Motor City Machine Guns when having both teams compete more in the X-Division than in the tag team ranks. This makes no sense seeing the way they function as pretty much one person in two when acting as a team.
• Jerkass: Times two.
• Kick the Dog: They defeated the All Night Express tag team at ROH Southern Defiance. In Real Life, ANX member Rhett Titus had suffered a legitimate injury and needed some time off to have it surgically repaired and to rehab. In kayfabe, the Bucks now going into Northern Aggression against the C&C Wrestle Factory, decided they hadn't had enough of the All Nights yet and intentionally injured Titus, putting him on the shelf and leaving Kenny King to face the Bravado Brothers by his lonesome.
• Lack of Empathy: The Bucks shown no care for Kenny Omega suffering from diverticulitis on the 3/6/24 episode of Dynamite, claiming he's had no good reason to be absent for so long, and promptly fired from The Elite.
• Large Ham: Can be this when they're feeling particularly hyped or confident.
• Legacy Character: AEW's tag team appreciation night established them as this, with The Bucks being the modern version of teams like The Rock N' Roll Express, The Rockers and The Hardy Boyz.
• Likes Older Women: The boys had a thing with Tara for a brief period during their TNA run.
• Loophole Abuse: Multiple episodes of BTE close with the camera panning upwards as the Bucks do the DX chop.
• Meaningful Name: The 'Elite' in All Elite Wrestling comes from a subgroup in Bullet Club turned full time stable, The Bucks helped form - The Elite.
• Merchandise-Driven: It's been shilled extra hard since becoming "Bullet Club Elite", and The Young Bucks shirts cost the most because they're the best! They've even made shirts out of their own injuries!
• Mundane Made Awesome:
  • Handspring backrakes!
  • The Meltzer Driver/Indytaker fixes the issue of how non-finishing the Tombstone Piledriver looks when it's not done by or to The Undertaker and/or Kane — add another guy springboarding off the top to help spike the victim from the other side.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: The intro of BTE always lists the members of The Elite (The Bucks, Kenny, Cody, Marty, and Hangman). All Flip gets is "Also: Flip Gordon"
• Older Than They Look: As of this writing (late March 2024), The Young Bucks have been in wrestling for nearly 20 years, are respectively 39 and 34 (born in March 1985 and July 1989), have both gotten married to womanly wives and become fathers. But if you saw Matt and Nick Jackson on the streets of Hesperia, California without first knowing who they are, you'd probably mistake them for college kids (or slightly older) about to attend a rave. A famous backstage anecdote involves William Regal watching a tryout match between The Bucks and The Usos, and being so impressed with the Bucks that he wanted to offer them a WWE contract on the spot, but he decided against it because he thought they were underage.
• Popularity Power: While Adam Cole was trying to tell Matt Taven and Mike Bennett what they needed to do to defeat War Machine, Bobby Fish interrupted him to take his case to ROH match maker Nigel McGuinness for a reDRagon vs. The Kingdom match. The Young Bucks then tried to go over Fish's head by taking their case to the fans, who naturally preferred to see them. It only half worked, as McGuinness refused to remove reDRagon from the match but did add the Bucks, making it a triple threat.
• Power Stable:
  • In PWG, Mount Rushmore with Kevin Steen and Adam Cole.
    • Mount Rushmore 2.0 with Roderick Strong and Super Dragon. Later adding Adam Cole.
  • BULLET CLUB in NJPW and ROH.
  • The Elite in NJPW, ROH, and AEW.
• Power Trio:
  • The Jackson 3 with Malachi.
  • Have been this with both Steen and Cole in Mount Rushmore, after that continuing teaming up with the latter as SuperKliq.
  • Usually fill in the numbers with their Bullet Club stablemates, most frequently with Bad Luck Fale in Japan and AJ Styles in America.
  • Crossing over with Tournament Arc, they've also been a part of a few of these for CHIKARA's King of Trios events. Examples include:
    • 2009—Team PWG with El Generico.
    • 2012—Team ROH with Mike Bennett.
    • 2015—Bullet Club with AJ Styles.
  • As of 2016 they are considered the "Bullet Club Elite" along with new leader Kenny Omega, who they won the Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title from The Briscoes and Toru Yano with at that year's ROH Honor Rising: Japan.
• Punch Parry: More like Kick Parry, but at one time long before the Bullet Club/Elite became a thing, Kenny Omega and one of the Bucks had once tried to super kick each other, resulting in their legs getting tangled up and each hopping around trying not to lose balance. This ended up being Omega when the other Jackson then kicked him in the head.
• Punny Name: One of their finishing moves, More Bang For Your Buck. Also, their TNA ring names, Max (Matt) and Jeremy (Nick) Buck, were seemingly designed to allow fans (and Taz) to keep calling them the Young Bucks despite officially renaming them as a team for trademarking purposes.
• Put on a Bus: A couple times out of ROH, including once to TNA. At other times they were intentionally sent out with the ROH Tag Team titles to other countries, though ROH would not always name the specific promotions. When they boarded the bus out of TNA, the first place it stopped was WWE for a tryout, but after rubbing Booker T the wrong way (by not going up to him and shaking his hand, of all things) they were told their services would not be required. So the bus kept on going and finally took them back to ROH and PWG as well as to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. They also appeared in CHIKARA.
• Real Men Love Jesus: They're good Christian boys, after all. For what it's worth: it's not just an act; Matt and Nick really are known for their devout Christian faith, and they traditionally pray together before every match.
• Real Men Wear Pink: The Young Bucks are one of the most respected tag teams around. They still look like teenage boys, they've worn pink before, and this, is their theme, MMMBop!
• Red Baron:
  • Matt has "Mr. Instant Replay" and, after a few affectionate parodies of the Brothers of Destruction, "Corporate Kane".
  • Nick has "Slick Nick" and "The Indytaker", the latter being based off their finishing move. An offshoot of that at least on Twitter is "The Lord of Markness".
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Since their 2024 Face–Heel Turn, Nick has been the Red Oni to Matt's Blue Oni. Nick is aggressive, short tempered, and constantly on the brink of starting fights. Matt on the other hand is a smarmy mediator who frequently diffuses conflicts.
• Renegade Splinter Faction: The Elite are this to The Bullet Club.
• The Rival
  • They've faced London and Kendrick (AKA The Hooligans) in Big Time Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, Family Wrestling Entertainment, House of Hardcore and House of Glory. For better or worse they are associated with Shawn Michaels to the Jannetty trained Bucks, which is partially why encounters keep happening.
  • The Motor City Machine Guns may have been behind the conspiracy to bring down The Knights of the Rising Dawn, but The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) frequently looked past them in favor of attacking the Young Bucks. Even though it was two years ago they were still upset about being the first victims of the Meltzer Driver.
• Running Gag:
  • In PWG, the Bucks would often start a match by superkicking the ring announcer, making everybody laugh. Eventually, the announcer got his revenge by dodging the attack and then flooring them both with a double clothesline.
  • On BTE, Matt would grab Flip's hand, the screen would cut to pink-and-orange, and Matt would say, "Where do you think you're going?" in a scary voice and music...and usually something bad would happen to Flip.
  • On BTE, Matt signs autographs while staring at the autograph seeker, not looking at his signature.
  • On BTE, Matt hands Scorpio Sky candy bars to eat as a Visual Pun when their brand names are brought up in regular conversations, often when the candy bars themselves are not referenced.
  • On BTE, Matt's objection to Michael Nakazawa, which spun off in segments where his name is said repeatedly, including a full SCU promo with them saying it in the same intonation as their regular "worst town" promos.
• Sibling Team: A brothers tag team and, more rarely, a brothers trio.
• Signature Move: Superkick Party, anyone? Even then, it's one of many. Enough so that they're the first individuals to have won the "Best Maneuver" award from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter with two different maneuvers.^note Will Ospreay has since joined The Bucks with this distinction.
• Small Name, Big Ego:
  • After returning to ROH following a stint in TNA, this is basically their gimmick. They have very high opinions of themselves, refuse to shake hands with anybody but each other, and give themselves sole credit for selling all the tickets to the shows. (Nonetheless, they did shake with the Briscoes after they were saved from an Addiction beating.)
  • Their current union with Kenny Omega in 2016 has taken this up to eleven, with the three outright declaring themselves the Elite, both of Bullet Club and in general, after removing AJ Styles from the equation.
• Small Role, Big Impact: A random fan on Twitter asking Dave Meltzer a question led to The Bucks and Cody creating All In and eventually AEW.
• Smug Snakes: Especially as heels, goofing off and mocking their opponents is kinda their stock and trade.
• Sorry, I Left the BGM On: At Episode 141 of BTE, "All In" is playing after Matt and Nick reveal their brand new action figures. The next scene involves Sammy, who was listening to that same song while drinking.
• Spot Monkey: Have been accused of being this, as ring psychology is not the strongest part of their game.
• Start My Own: After a long stint in ROH, NJPW and the Indies, The Bucks started their own promotion - AEW.
• Stealth Parody: As part of the Nakazawa Running Gag on BTE, there is a montage of Matt (and his children) saying Michael's name. A clip of Matt getting his hair brushed has him saying it again, which is a parody of Ronda Rousey's supposed out-of-character rant against the WWE.
• Stealth Pun: Their NJPW theme is called "Double Barrel". Time to remember what stable they're in.
• Tag Team: One of the very best.
• Technician Versus Performer:
  • They are the performers vs The Briscoes, as Mark and Jay were twist-your-arm smash-your mouth wrestlers and although Mark was prone to dabbling into his flippy redneck kung-fu, it was tame compared to what The Bucks do on a weekly basis.
  • They are the performers vs reDRagon, as Kyle O'Reilly is a mixed martial arts enthusiast and Bobby Fish is a former Muay Thai and kickboxing competitor who has also dabbled in mixed martial arts. Ironically reDRagon's MMA friends such as Filthy Tom Lawlor have been known to run interference in the times the Bucks manage to overwhelm them.
  • They are the performers vs FTR. While The Bucks are flashy high-flying spot monkeys, FTR are traditional old-school technical wrestlers. Their rivalry has even been compared to the legendary Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the 1980s.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Elite aren't always the most harmonious bunch and often bicker with one another.
• The Teetotaler: Matt and Nick are both known for their straight-edge lifestyle, as is their longtime collaborator Kenny Omega. Their former collaborator "Hangman" Adam Page notably doesn't share their attitude toward alcohol (he's famous for his love of beer), which contributed to the group's tensions with him.
• Too Many Belts: Twice held the IWGP Jr., ROH, and PWG tag team championships at once and for a time were known to carry all three sets of tag titles to the ring at once during their first run. Within NJPW they took this to its logical extreme, as after 2016's Dominion 6.19 they were both the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and two thirds of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions (their third man being Kenny Omega).
• Tournament Arc
  • They won the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in 2009, Roderick Strong and Bryan Danielson being their final opponents. They went on to win it again in 2011 (beating Nightmare Violence Connection in the final) and 2013 (Kevin Steen in the final again, this time with El Generico)
  • In 2013 they also won one for the House Of Glory tag team titles at Fight For Gold, beating "LAX" (Homicide and Hernandez) in the final.
• Variant Power Copying: The BTE Trigger was created by taking the Golden Trigger and somehow making it even more brutal by modifying it so they sandwich their opponent with their knees.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • For as despicable as they are, they made a valid point on the March 6, 2024 episode of Dynamite, when they said that "Hangman" Adam Page crossed a line at Revolution 2024 when the latter put his hands on two AEW referees, and promptly suspended him from The Elite. Even Excalibur, who has been critical of the Bucks' actions since their heel turn, agreed that Page deserved his suspension.
  • Played for Laughs on the 2/28/24 episode of Dyanmite where Matthew mocked Eddie Kingston for his disheveled clothing, Renee Paquette promptly agreeing with him.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The only thing that keeps The Elite from ruling supreme is their fallibility to internal bickering and conflict. Despite being the cream of the crop of wrestling, their egos tend to get in the way.
• Wild Card: They've been Faces, Heels and everything in-between.
• Would Hit a Girl: Had absolutely no problem superkicking Taeler Hendrix, performing a Meltzer Driver on Maria Kanellis, or bloodying Candice LeRae up.
• Wrestling Doesn't Pay: One of AEW's earliest storylines revolved around who would play The Librarian with The Bucks and Christopher Daniels backing Peter Avalon and Kenny and Cody backing Leva Bates. Eventually, they both got the role.
• Wrestling Family: Besides each other, younger brother Malachi wrestles as well. They also have a cousin, Tabitha Seelig, who wrestles as Tab Jackson. Matt's wife Dana was in the backstage side of the business as AEW's chief marketing officer for a few years.
• Wrestling Psychology: The Bucks are an interesting example. Their style of wrestling is very fast-paced, high-flying, and visually appealing. However, their mannerisms in and out of the ring are so douchey that they come across as blowhards and unnecessarily full of themselves. It is a major departure from traditional wrestling psychology ^note  Usually, the babyface is the one busting out the fancy moves and the speedy sequences while the heel's job is to catch him/her and slow them down, much to the crowd's annoyance , and it certainly has its detractors (There's often a generational divide too: younger fans like it, older fans hate it). However, the Bucks are still a good draw with this almost meta-heeling concept. That being said, they are still a very polarizing group.
• Writing Around Trademarks: A strange inversion. Max and Jeremy of Generation Me were created as identities that TNA could trademark, but they still felt the need to allude to the Young Bucks by eventually adding "Buck" as the characters' surname.

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