- 05/20/2015 (11:56:31 am)
- Bob Mulrenin
…
The "King of the Indies" title has been bestowed on many wrestlers over the years. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens have all laid claim to the distinction before making the leap to WWE. Right now, the honor probably belongs to two men – brothers Matt and Nick Jackson – better known to smart fans everywhere as the Young Bucks.
Working as a tag team, the Bucks have been wrestling together for over a decade, and they've been just about everywhere – except for the WWE. They spent several years in TNA (where you might remember them as Generation Me), Ring of Honor and have wrestled all over the country for various independent promotions. In 2013, they joined New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they became a major part of the Bullet Club, the hottest faction in the biz. With their brash antics – and familiar hand gestures – the Bullet Club has drawn comparisons to the nWo, and it has infiltrated every aspect of wrestling short of the WWE (though even Vince McMahon has taken notice, as evidenced by a recent trademark filing and a Finn Bálor T-Shirt).
If you go to any wrestling show in the world, chances are you'll see someone wearing a Bullet Club shirt, and the group plays up the comparisons with older stables whenever possible, using the "Too Sweet" hand sign that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash made famous, and shouting "Suck it!" to their critics. In short, Matt and Nick Jackson have built a mini-empire...but what's next? Recently, I had a chance to ask the Young Bucks that question (and plenty others) at the legendary "ECW Arena" in Philadelphia before the first night of War of the Worlds, a series of four shows that featured the top wrestlers from Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
We're here in the ECW Arena. Does it still feel weird that you're
representing New Japan in a show like this?
Matt: It's funny, I'm
like, "Nick, what are we? Are we ROH? Are we New Japan?" But I guess we are New
Japan because we hold the IWGP Junior titles, so
we're representing them. It is interesting that there's all these Japanese guys,
and then there's two gaijin, as they call us out there, we're
representing the company. It's cool to think about.
Nick: This and Madison Square Garden are probably the two biggest wrestling buildings here in the U.S. It's where we've had some of the coolest moments in our history. I remember at one point, about seven years ago, we were going from L.A. to Philly every weekend. In Los Angeles, fans hated us. This place has never hated us, which is weird.
Getting over with Philly crowds is an accomplishment. What's it like
to get that kind of reception from that kind of wrestling
fan?
Matt: It's very flattering, cause you couldn't really get that
from any other job. If I'm bagging groceries I'm never going to get a reaction
like, "Dude, that's so awesome, I'm going to chant your name now." It's really a
unique thing.
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