It would appear as if The Young Bucks are seriously interested in considering joining WWE come 2024, following reports of them sending feelers to a WWE-contracted talent.
It was reported on 10 September by the Wrestling Observer’s Ryan Frederick that The Young Bucks had sent out feelers to a talent within WWE, seeming interested in signing once their AEW deals expire. This is expected to be in January 2024, which would mark five years since AEW was launched.
Frederick has now reaffirmed his report, adding further substance to the possibility of a WWE-affiliated Superkick Party in response to a comment on the F4W Board:
“In this instance, though, what I said is 100% true and I have it from multiple people. It’s also not a big deal and not really newsworthy. It’s not like they actually reached out to WWE management. They told a friend in the company, a fellow wrestler, that they would be willing to listen to offers when their deals are up (I believe January 2024) and to let it be known. It’s something every single wrestler in the business should be doing- it’s called maximizing your leverage.
It is no different than an NFL or MLB player coming into the final year of their contract and letting it be known they are going to free agency and listening to offers from the other teams. And, in the sense of independent contractors, it’s not different than a NASCAR or Formula One driver letting other teams know that their contract runs out at a certain time and they’ll be listening to offers. Except wrestling is a weird business where you have to use your friends on the other side to let this message be known.”
Ryan Frederick continued, adding that Matt and Nick Jackson were always expected to reach out to those in WWE, regardless of when, exactly, their contracts expired:
“And it doesn’t matter if it was now or at any point in the future before their contracts run out, they were going to reach out. It’s inevitable and why this is a complete non-story to be honest (and the feeler I was talking about happened before the incidents of this past weekend for the record- it was a few weeks ago). It’s just plain common sense.”
To reiterate, this doesn’t mean The Young Bucks will officially leave AEW when their contracts run out. The idea of the two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions signing with WWE has been one of those ‘what if…’ scenarios since the mid-2010s, though given the backstage drama currently ongoing in AEW, it seems as real as ever just now.
This wouldn’t be the first time The Young Bucks have been on WWE programming. They portrayed Triple H and Shawn Michaels in October 2008 during a skit with The Miz and John Morrison, while Matt Jackson wrestled two enhancement matches – once vs. Chuck Palumbo, and another vs. The Big Show.