Matt Jackson Responds To Criticism Of The Build For Young Bucks Vs. FTR Match
At AEW Full Gear the Young Bucks and FTR put on a wrestling clinic in their tag match for the AEW World Tag Titles. An added stipulation for the match was that if the Bucks lost then they would never again be able to challenge for the Tag Titles. But alas, the Bucks prevailed to become first-time AEW World Tag Team Champions.
The PPV as a whole was universally acclaimed while the tag match received some "Match of the Year" recognition. Even though the match was an instant classic, there is the fact that it took place during a pandemic and with limited fans in attendance. Roughly 1,000 people were able to attend Full Gear and AEW would have liked to put this match on in front of a full house. Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks was asked if there was any thought of holding back the match for when things are back to normal in an interview with Steven Muehlhausen on The Walkway to Fight Club.
"We talked about it. The truth is, nobody knows when the world is gonna open up again. We suggested in the very beginning that we got to save this for the fans. Then this thing (COVID-19) keeps getting longer and worse and worse. Finally, it got to the point where it was like, 'What are we waiting for? We can't just keep waiting, and we can't hold back. Because who knows, this can go another year. By the time we finally do it a year later, do people even care at that point?' Do you know what I mean," asked Matt.
"It was Tony's call to finally do it because we are even suggesting trying to hold off until Revolution. He said, 'Nope, now's the time to do it, we're doing it.' In retrospect, he was right in hindsight because it did work out, and it did deliver. Would I be saying the same thing if the match didn't deliver? I'd be pissed off right now. But the four of us delivered, and a lot of people are saying it is a classic now. I think people will only remember the match for that, a love letter to tag team wrestling."
The one complaint that people have about the FTR-Young Bucks match isn't the match itself, but rather the build-up. Even Dax Harwood stated before Full Gear that their long-anticipated match with The Young Bucks could have had a better build-up. Matt Jackson agrees with that sentiment.
"You know, the build maybe could have gone a little bit longer [as] people said it was a little rushed. But again, I don't think at the end of the day, nobody's even gonna think about that. They're just gonna think about the match," said Matt. "Nick made a great point. Nobody thinks about when Hogan and Rock wrestled [at Wrestlemania 18], nobody thinks about the fact there was a diesel involved, and someone got killed. Nobody thinks about that. They think about the match they had. I'm not comparing our match to that match. I'm just saying two different matches, but nobody thinks about the delivery of the match. I think we stuck the landing."