Just a few days shy of AEW's show Double or Nothing, The Young Bucks said that things could have been much different if ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling had actually valued them. In fact, had the cards fell a little differently, AEW almost wouldn't have happened.
Most of the time, when we hear about wrestlers complaining about the workload or their salaries in wrestling, the conversation is connected to WWE. Apparently, WWE is not the only one who undervalues their talent.
Matt and Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks recently spoke with Bleacher Report where they talked about how the AEW company came to be and how ROH and NJPW played a major role in how quickly things have come together.
"Matt and I didn't even want to announce the start of the company until closer to May," confesses Nick Jackson. They weren't sure they were ready to commit to such a huge venture but Tony [Khan] was completely against it, saying he wanted the announcement as soon as possible. Because putting all their efforts into one company probably meant departing ROH and New Japan, they were hesitant.
However, after looking at their deals in both companies and speaking to them about staying on, the Young Bucks had all the motivation they needed when neither of their two former employers went the extra mile to retain The Bucks' services.
Nick explains, "New Japan never saw the value in Matt and I. They never paid us good."
He would go on to say that the tag team would have had to work with New Japan for another two decades to even get close to retiring, and probably another decade with ROH. They pitched the idea of a dual contract and the promotions just let them leave.
"We would have easily stayed, and there would have never been an All Elite Wrestling if they would have met what we wanted, but it didn't get done," Nick said.
What This Means
Imagine what would have happened if ROH and New Japan had said yes? AEW arguably doesn't come to be. It's hard to imagine Cody Rhodes starts AEW without Nick and Matt. In fact, he might not have left ROH either. But, as a trio, they were able to get Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho and from there, things started rolling.
I wonder if ROH and New Japan are looking back at that conversation now and saying, 'What did we do?'.