And just like that, AEW has new World Trios Championships, as Kenny Omega, and the Youg Bucks, collectively known as The Elite, have bested their deepest-seeded AEW rivals, Death Triangle, to become champions once more.
That's right, though they technically never lost the belts the first time, as Tony Khan stripped the strap after the “Brawl Out” from all four of his champions involved in the skirmish, the team of Omega, Nick Jackson, and Matt Jackson had to fight like all heck to get back what was rightfully there's, defeating the international trio four times over seven matches wrestled across November, December, and January to become the undisputed champions once more.
Was it easy? Heck no, let's just say multiple hammers were harmed in the making of this seven-game series, but hey, at the end of the day, the Young Bucks are champions, Omega is back to his belt-collecting ways thanks to his win at Wrestle Kingdom 17, and Don Callis has a steady string of guest commentary roles coming his way, which is nice, considering he doesn't have much to do in wrestling on a mainstream level otherwise.
But how did The Elite accomplish the feat? Well, for the Jacksons, wrestling the Lucha Bros is practically clockwork, as after 26 matches in the ring together, it's almost like going home.
“Wrestling the Lucha Bros. just feels like home,” Matt Jackson said to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. “When I started training to become a professional wrestler, I was first taught the style of lucha libre in the beginning, so bracing for intricate arm-drags, head scissors, fast-paced sequences is second nature. We’ve been consistently wrestling them for years now, and have trust in each other. I feel safe when I work with them—like I can do anything. No idea is too crazy. Nothing is impossible or too ambitious. With them, I can do anything and the impossible is possible. They’re our current greatest opponents.
“So our goal quickly became: How can we top every match from before? How can we tell different stories every time? Can we keep fans’ interest? Every wrestling fan assumes it’ll go seven matches, so how do we keep the suspense? At this point in our career, the most fun part of wrestling is a good challenge. And I think we’ve all collectively done a fine job at answering the challenge that came with this.”
So what is it about the Lucha Brothers that makes the team so perfectly suited to wrestle the Bucks?
“It definitely has something to do with being siblings,” says Nick Jackson. “They’re our greatest rivals of our career and my personal favorites. It’s funny, we always compare each other and say Penta and Matt are the ones who love psychology, and Fénix and I love the crazy moves. They have a very similar story to us, and I think the chemistry comes from a lot of those things.”
Though the best-of-seven series may be over, it's safe to say the feud between the Young Bucks and Lucha Bros. is anything but, as, after wrestling against each other for eight years and counting, the only thing that could keep them apart is a defection to WWE.
.@ReyFenixMx 😱
Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS! pic.twitter.com/2jRvDuOaU4— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 12, 2023
Kenny Omega and Nick Jackson have a very interesting pre-AEW origin story.
While The Elite are one of the most exciting factions in professional wrestling, with dozens of championship runs to their individual and collective credit, there was a time where Omega, and the Jacksons weren't acquainted. Still, from magazines like PWI, the Bucks became familiar with Omega's style thanks to his Falls Count Anywhere match with Kota Ibushi in DDT, and they instantly became a fan of his work.
“I remember flipping the pages of the wrestling magazine that I bought at Lawson Station and seeing a curly-haired Canadian kid using a vending machine in a Falls Count Anywhere match,” Matt said. “I’d heard of Kenny Omega and researched that this was also his first time touring Japan. When we finally met him stateside, we had the connection of talking about being foreigners in Japan and trying to make it. He was quirky, had a great sense of humor just like us, and shared the common goal of wanting to make a living showing the world what he felt wrestling could be: fun.”
Omega was so exciting to The Bucks that when he was booked for a show at their local promotion, PWG, on the same day as Matt's wedding, Nick had to dip out early to meet “The Best Bout Machine” and introduce him to the Cucamonga Kida.
“I left Matt’s wedding early to make a PWG show, and that was the day I met Kenny,” says Nick Jackson. “Kenny asked me where my brother Matt was, and I said, ‘He just got married, and I left early to wrestle,’ and we both laughed, and we bonded in that ridiculous moment. We’d also shared stories back and forth about Japan, where we had both just debuted. So we already had a lot in common. Once we were all in ROH, we naturally gravitated toward each other and we’d travel together. The bond only got stronger from there.”
Welp, you know what they say: a bond over an indie wrestling match on the same day as your brother's birthday is unbreakable.
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