It’s fair to say that a lot of the buzz that New Japan Pro Wrestling generated during its absolutely insane run in the 2010s was down to the success of Matt and Nick Jackson, a.k.a. the biggest crime to fashion that AEW has ever seen, a.k.a The Young Bucks.
From their time as the bratty youngsters in Bullet Club to their meteoric rise alongside Kenny Omega as part of The Elite, The Bucks made NJPW one of the must-see promotions and, in the process, allowed some of the Japanese talent to become international superstars. During their time overseas, the Jackson brothers had some bangers, with these being the 10 best in the eyes of the members of Cagematch.net.
10 Vs. Roppongi Vice (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – Dominion 2017 [Rating: 8.03]
A Young Bucks match ending in a submission? Say it ain’t so! However, that’s exactly what happened when Matt and Nick Jackson faced off with Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero of Roppongi Vice at the 2017 edition of New Japan’s second biggest show of the year.
This was a significant improvement on their Wrestle Kingdom 11 match from the start of the year, with Matt and Nick focusing less on spots and more on a specific game plan that ultimately led to one of the more unique endings to a Young Bucks match that you will see anywhere.
9 Vs. Ricochet & Ryusuke Taguchi (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – G1 Climax 27 2017 (Day 19) [Rating: 8.16]
If there was one thing that you could count on with The Young Bucks in New Japan, it was when the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships were on the line, they would do everything in their power to steal the show.
Despite the focus being on the G1 Climax final between Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito later on in the night, The Bucks, Ricochet, and Taguchi pulled off a 15-minute back-and-forth affair that put an end to Matt and Nick’s reign that started (funnily enough) in the list’s previous entry.
8 Vs. Motor City Machine Guns (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – Super J Cup 2016 (Day 2) [Rating: 8.17]
Due to the wave of momentum New Japan was picking up throughout the 2010s, the company thought it would be a good move to bring back one of the most celebrated tournaments in both NJPW and Japanese history in general: the Super J-Cup.
However, the match that ultimately stole the show across the two-night event was the match between two teams who seemed destined for each other. Both The Bucks and MCMG pulled it out of the bag for a tournament that for the most part went under the radar in 2016.
7 Vs. EVIL & SANADA (IWGP Tag Team Championship) – G1 Special in San Francisco 2018 [Rating: 8.18]
Whenever you put The Young Bucks in their home state of California, you know they will attempt to pull something great out of the bag, just look at their Pro Wrestling Guerrilla work for example. Here they attempted to top their glorious match with Los Ingobreables de Japon from a few weeks earlier.
Despite being nearly 17 minutes in length, this match was much more of a sprint than their previous encounter, but boy was this crowd hot! Taking place in the middle of “Elitemania,” this can be seen as a great match to introduce new fans to the current AEW EVPs.
6 Vs. Roppongi Vice (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – G1 Special in USA 2017 (Day 2) [Rating: 8.27]
Their match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 was good, and their match at Dominion 2017 was better, but this was the cream of the crop from The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice in a year where New Japan Pro Wrestling could do no wrong.
This was NJPW’s first solo event in America since 2011 and they really went all out in making it as big as can be, with this Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title match being an underrated gem. Also, it was the last time Trent and Rocky teamed up as a duo until they reformed in AEW in early 2022 to take on, who else, but The Young Bucks.
5 Vs. EVIL & SANADA (IWGP Tag Team Championship) – Dominion 2018 [Rating: 8.32]
After a record SEVEN reigns with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, The Young Bucks vowed to become heavyweights in order to become the first team in the history of New Japan to win all three of the available tag team championships.
They finally got their opportunity at Dominion 2018 against EVIL and SANADA of Los Ingobrenables de Japon, in a match that was everything that their San Francisco match was and more. To make it even sweeter for The Bucks, they picked up the victory and in the process made tag team history.
4 Vs. Roppongi 3K (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – The New Beginning in Sapporo 2018 (Day 2) [Rating: 8.50]
By 2018, The Elite had truly ascended to the point where they could genuinely be seen as one of the biggest draws in all of New Japan. However, before they truly cemented themselves as a top heavyweight tag team in the company, they had to drop their Junior Heavyweight crowns.
In a rematch from their Wrestle Kingdom 12 clash at the start of the month, The Young Bucks and Roppongi 3K went out and put on a match that they arguably could have put on at the Tokyo Dome if they were given enough time. A true hidden gem of Matt and Nick’s careers in Japan.
3 Vs. reDRagon (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – G1 Climax 25 2015 (Day 19) [Rating: 8.51]
With Bobby Fish having recently departed AEW, it’s unlikely we will get a proper continuation of this rivalry, which is a shame because when The Young Bucks and reDRagon were in the ring together, it was always special.
Due to this match being on the same night as the five-star G1 final between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura, it was always going to be overshadowed. However, what this match was was a testament to how well these four men could get a crowd hyped up for the rest of an event that still had a match between KUSHIDA and Ricochet, as well as the G1 final to come.
2 Vs. Time Splitters (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) – Dominion 2014 [Rating: 9.21]
Now, this is how you kick off one of your biggest pay-per-views of the year! Imagine the WCW cruiserweights from the '90s, or the TNA X-Division from the 2000s, put it in fast-forward, and only then are you close to how quick this match is.
Easily one of the best junior heavyweight tag title matches in NJPW history, with The Young Bucks being so detestable that they were almost booed out of the building. KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley always had great chemistry with whoever they worked with, but on this night in Osaka, they created magic with Matt and Nick Jackson.
1 Vs. The Golden Lovers – Strong Style Evolved 2018 [Rating: 9.44]
It’s funny, isn’t it? Through all of the high-profile title matches that The Young Bucks had during their time in Japan, the best match they had for the company not only happened in America, not only was it not for any titles, but it was also against one of their best friends and his “lover.”
The Bullet Club civil war was a bit complicated by the end of it, but within the in-fighting was this absolute gem of a match in front of a white-hot crowd who were invested in the whole story before, during, and after the match. If this had happened in any other year, it could have been the match of the year, but Kenny Omega had to go and get seven stars with Okada less than three months later.