The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Matthew Ronjon Massie (born March 13, 1985) and Nicholas Lee Massie (born July 28, 1989), who perform under the ring names Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson. As of January 2019, they are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where they are also executive vice presidents and co-founders of the company. In AEW, they are the current AEW World Tag Team Champions in their record fourth reign.
The Young Bucks are also known for their work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), where they became members of the NJPW faction Bullet Club; after a "civil war" in 2018, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Marty Scurll, and Cody Rhodes were kicked out of Bullet Club and went on to form The Elite. They have performed for various American independent promotions – most notably Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) – and had previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Generation Me under the names Max Buck and Jeremy Buck. On the independent circuit, they have won numerous titles as well, including four reigns as PWG World Tag Team Champions as well as being the only team to win PWG's annual Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament on three occasions (2009, 2011, and 2013).
They have held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship seven times, three reigns as ROH World Tag Team Champions, three reigns as NJPW's NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions (twice with Omega and once with Scurll), three reigns as ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions (twice with Page and once with Rhodes), and the IWGP Tag Team Championships twice, and the AAA World Tag Team Champions once. They were also the inaugural AEW World Trios Champions with Elite stablemate Omega. All totaled between AEW, ROH, NJPW, and AAA, they have held 10 world tag team championships, seven junior heavyweight tag team championships, and eight six-man/trios championships (with various partners).
They also have made appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW), the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG), Chikara, Defiant Wrestling (Defiant), Global Force Wrestling (GFW), House of Hardcore (HOH), and Combat Zone Wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
Training and debut (2001–2004)
In 2001, the Massie family put a wrestling ring in their backyard, where brothers Matt, Nick and Malachi taught themselves how to wrestle by impersonating what they saw on television. At the age of 18 or 19, Matt began his professional wrestling training in La Mirada and City of Industry, California, at the Revolution Pro Wrestling School called Rudos Dojo, training primarily under Ron Rivera (The American Wild Child), Disco Machine, Scorpio Sky and Super Dragon, among others. Matt attended the school with his good friend Dustin Cutler, and the two taught what they learned to their friends back home. Eventually Nick joined his brother and attended a few sessions at the school. Matt, Nick and Dustin were involved in their first professional match at an Alternative Wrestling Show/C4/Revolution Pro joint event held on August 8, 2004. Matt worked as Fluffy the Dog, Dustin dressed as a hillbilly and Nick was a high flying referee wearing a Santo mask. Afterward, Matt and Nick wrestled various times for Revolution Pro and Revolution X in chicken costumes, under the team name "Los Gallineros".
High Risk Wrestling (2004–2009)
In October 2004, with the help of his family, Matt opened up his own independent wrestling company called High Risk Wrestling (HRW). Matt was originally the head owner of HRW, but had help from Nick and Malachi, as well as good friend Dustin Cutler – these three eventually took over ownership years later. The company ran shows twice a month and helped Matt and Nick learn their craft. In the main event of HRW's "Highway 2 Hell" on August 4, 2007, Matt and Nick teamed up with Marty Jannetty ín a six-man tag, where they defeated Joey Ryan, Karl Anderson and Diablo.
On February 26, 2005, at a show for Full Contact Wrestling, Matt and Nick were called "The Young Bucks" for the first time. Originally, Matt was wrestling under the name "Mr. Instant Replay", while Nick was called "Slick Nick". That night The Young Bucks were defeated by the Kaos and Mongol, the Santino Brothers. Later on, another promoter decided that Matt and Nick needed a surname and came up with "Jackson", which the two have used ever since.
With the help of HRW, Matt and Nick eventually landed spots in several popular companies in Southern California. They also gained experience working in front of a camera doing television tapings for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) starting in 2006. The Young Bucks filmed their first matches for the NWA on Maverick Television on November 7, 2006, when they were defeated by Anderson and Ryan.
HRW closed in 2009.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2007–2018)
Feud with The Dynasty (2007–2008)
The Young Bucks debuted for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) on June 10, 2007, in Burbank, California at Roger Dorn Night, losing to Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost). On August 31, 2007, PWG held the first night of the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, where The Young Bucks picked up their first tag team victory in PWG by defeating Los Luchas (Phoenix Star and Zokre). At the show Matt and Nick met Dragon Gate (DG) wrestler Cima and Dragon Gate's American talent agent Satoshi Oji for the first time, both of whom were impressed by the brothers' performance. On January 5, 2008, The Young Bucks faced prominent Dragon Gate team Muscle Outlaw'z (Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino) at All Star Weekend 6 – Night 1 in a losing effort. The next night, they lost to The Dynasty (Scott Lost and Joey Ryan).
At the following show, on January 27, the Young Bucks received their first shot at the PWG World Tag Team Championship, but were once again defeated by the Dynasty. During the next two months the Young Bucks participated in the 2008 DDT4 qualifier series, where they lost to T. J. Perkins and Hook Bomberry, defeated Ronin and Scorpio Sky and drew with Los Luchas, before losing a deciding four-way elimination match to Los Luchas, who then advanced to the tournament itself. Soon after, The Young Bucks went on their first Dragon Gate tour. Upon their return from Dragon Gate, the Young Bucks defeated the Dynasty on July 6, 2008, at Life During Wartime, PWG's fifth anniversary show, in a three-way match, which also included Kazma and Miyawaki.
World Tag Team Championship reign (2008–2010)
At the following show, All Star Weekend 7 – Night Two on August 31, 2008, Matt and Nick defeated Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) to become the new PWG World Tag Team Champions. One of The Young Bucks' biggest accomplishments in PWG came at the annual DDT4 tag team tournament on May 22, 2009, in Reseda, California, when they defended the titles three times in one night. They defeated Dustin and Brandon Cutler in the first round, Kenny Omega and Chuck Taylor in the second round and the Hybrid Dolphins (Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong) in the final round to win the tournament. At that same event their younger brother Malachi made his PWG debut, losing to Phoenix Star. Around that time, after the Young Bucks started touring the World, the PWG crowds started turning on them. On July 31, 2009, at Threemendous II, PWG's sixth anniversary show, the Young Bucks suffered their first loss in the company in sixteen months, losing a non-title match to the re-united 2 Skinny Black Guys (Human Tornado and El Generico). Despite their win and the Young Bucks' wishes, Tornado and Generico never received their rematch for the titles as the following month they lost the number one contendership to The Men of Low Moral Fiber (Kenny Omega and Chuck Taylor), whom the Young Bucks defeated for…