The Young Bucks open up a bit about their contract status.
The contract situations of Matt and Nick Jackson, along with the rest of the members of The Elite, will continue to be the talk of the wrestling world until a decision is official. The ROH contracts of the Young Bucks are set to expire at the end of the year, making them two of the hottest free agents on the market. Through their YouTube series Being The Elite, standout matches in the ring and general hard work behind the scenes, the Bucks have turned into household names. The peak of their powers came on Sept. 1 at All In when they, along with Cody Rhodes, held an event billed as "the largest Independent wrestling event ever." Following the success of All In, the stock of the Bucks has never been higher.
Recently, the group filed trademarks under the company name All Elite Wrestling, leading to speculation that the Bucks and Cody would turn a one night event into a full-blown promotion.
Appearing on The Wrestling Perspective podcast, the Young Bucks addressed the recently filed trademarks and their mindset heading into free agency.
"When we did All In in September, we closed the show and not one person left the building. I remember speaking on the mic and it felt so special. It felt like more than a wrestling event," said Matt. "It felt like a religious experience. I remember asking the fans, 'Do you want more of this?' And there was an uproar. It's become a revolution. That night, we sat as a group and talked about the possibility of doing another one. Of course you do, right? After you have a hit movie, you talk about the sequel. Right then and there, in some capacity, there would be another one, eventually. Basically, we're in a situation now where, we don't know what we're going to do, but we want to protect ourselves in case we decide to do something. We want to be proactive and get ahead of this thing. We're all sticking together and we want to do this thing as a unit. Whatever we do decide to do, we absolutely are going to do this as a team. As the Elite. It's going to be an interesting 2019."
Nick continued, saying, "We literally have offers on the table from every major company in the world." Matt added, "There's investors that want to work with us too."
All Elite Wrestling is reportedly backed by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. All Elite Wrestling, LLC had a registered address of TIAA Bank Field, home of the Jaguars.
Nick went on to say, "There's a lot to be discussed about. We haven't said really 'no' to anything. We're keeping our options open and protecting ourselves at the same time."
When asked about Ring of Honor, who they are still currently under contract with, Matt said, "They've been 100 percent great and supportive. I can't say enough good things about Joe Koff. They let us run our own event while under contract."
Nick noted that ROH is still very active in negotiating with the duo.
However, it sounds like they've made up their mind as far as ROH is concerned based on the closing comments by Matt.
"As far as the ROH part of this is concerned, we've made our decision up. I don't really want to give that away. We have a huge storyline on Being The Elite and I don't want to give away spoilers," said Matt. "But we all have a timer going off. They've been incredible partners. Whatever happens come January 1st, I'll never take that away."
When the rumors of the Bucks and members of the Elite going to WWE were brought up, Matt and Nick both mentioned that the opinions of fans weigh heavily on their mind.
"We noticed a lot of fans turning on us because they look to us as influencers and as a sign of hope. So when rumors start circulating, and they still are, about us going elsewhere, it breaks their hearts," said Matt. "It makes us really think. 'Do you like us mostly because we don't work there? And if we went and worked there, you wouldn't like us? What's the main reason you like us?' People see us as the rebels and the guys that are different. If we go there, do we just become like everybody else?"
Nick added, "We don't want to make the wrong decision with what we do career-wise. We're always thinking about our fans because they've gotten us to this point."
Fans of Being The Elite have no doubt noticed the teases taking place on the show. "H" (a Triple H character played by Frankie Kazarian) has been courting members of the Elite on the show for weeks now. Meanwhile, Cody was recently possessed with the "money shakes" and spouting off WWE "Did You Know?" facts.
As for now, the Bucks are still under contract with ROH and will challenge for the ROH Tag Team Titles at Final Battle on Dec. 14.
