The Young Buck’s Matt Jackson has detailed the extra precautions required for a certain spot in AEW to be permitted.
In its short 5-and-a-half-year history, All Elite Wrestling has pushed the boundaries with what is allowed to be featured in a televised wrestling match. While blood and violent weapons have been pretty much outlawed in 2008 with the introduction of the PG Era, AEW has seen Deathmatches, fire and barbed wire used repeatedly to heighten the drama of big matches.
In 2023, the chaotic Anarchy in the Arena match returned once more at Double or Nothing and saw The Blackpool Combat Club face off against The Elite. One spot which left the fans shocked saw Jackson deliver a Superkick to Jon Moxley with the sneaker exploding upon impact.
Speaking with Sneaker History, the Tag Team Champion stated that he required a licence from the state of Nevada to allow the spot to be used in the venue and that added that the chances of it being executed correctly were slim:
“We were in Las Vegas at the Double or Nothing — was it ‘23? And I had the Across the Spider-Verse Jordan 1 sneakers and I blew ‘em up essentially in someone’s face. I superkicked Jon Moxley and I had a pyrotechnic attached to the sneaker and it just created this giant fireball in his face and it was so shocking, nobody saw it coming and it was almost like this two or three second delay of like, wait, wait, wait, what!?
Nobody understood what they had just seen and it was really cool because it took a lot of work. I had to get my Nevada state license as a fireworker I think they call it. I had to go through rehearsal. We had to really make sure this thing was gonna work and there’s a big chance it wouldn’t have worked.
So just the fact that it worked and it worked as well as it did, I think that’s one that maybe isn’t talked about enough. I know people send me private messages all the time, ‘I love this moment’ but, I feel like it’s kind of forgotten. Maybe because it was amongst such a crazy match that night where a million other things happened but, that for me is a really special moment with sneakers.”
Matt Jackson Prepares For Another Dangerous Encounter
For the second time in his career, Jackson will step inside the double cage as he enters AEW Blood and Guts once more. A member of Team Elite alongside Nick Jackson, Adam Page, Kazuchika Okada and Jack Perry, The Elite will face off against The Acclaimed, Darby Allin, Mark Briscoe and World Champion Swerve Strickland.
H/t to Post Wrestling.