The Young Bucks

The Young Bucks are a pro wrestling tag team known for their innovative style and exciting matches. It is comprised of Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson. They have won numerous championships in promotions around the world, including AEW, NJPW, and ROH. They are also founding members of the Elite, a popular faction in AEW.

Also Read: Who is Nicholas Jackson married to? & Who is Matthew Jackson married to?

Early Life

The real name of Matt Jackson is Matthew Ronjon Massie. He was born on March 13, 1985, in Montebello, California, United States. The name of Nick Jackson is Nicholas Lee Massie and he too was born in California only on July 28, 1989. In 2001, their family put a wrestling ring in their backyard. Here, the two brothers tried to copy the wrestling moves they saw on television. The elder brother began his professional training during his late teens, and Nick also joined him in a few sessions.

Professional Wrestling Career

Breaking Out and own wrestling promotion (2004-2009)

Matt and Nick wrestled their first professional match at an Alternative Wrestling Show/C4/Revolution Pro joint event in 2004. They worked as Fluffy the Dog, a hillbilly, and a high-flying referee wearing a Santo mask, respectively. Later, they wrestled together as a team called "Los Gallineros" while wearing chicken costumes.

In 2004, Matt Jackson opened his own wrestling company, High-Risk Wrestling (HRW), with the help of his family and friends. Matt, Nick, and Malachi Massie, as well as Dustin Cutler, ran the company, running shows two times a month helping Matt and Nick develop their skills. In 2005, Matt and Nick were first called "The Young Bucks" at a Full Contact Wrestling show. They had previously been known as "Mr. Instant Replay" and "Slick Nick". A promoter later gave them the surname "Jackson", which they have used ever since.

HRW helped Matt and Nick land spots in several popular Southern California wrestling companies. They also gained experience working on television for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) starting in 2006. They filmed their first NWA matches on Maverick Television on November 7, 2006, and were defeated by Karl Anderson and Joey Ryan. HRW closed in 2009.

Pro Wrestling Guerilla

The Young Bucks, Matt and Nick Jackson, made their debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) on June 10, 2007, in Burbank, California, at Roger Dorn Night, where they lost to Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost). They met Dragon Gate wrestler Cima and Dragon Gate's American talent agent Satoshi Oji, who were both impressed by their performance. On January 5, 2008, at All-Star Weekend 6 – Night 1, The Young Bucks lost to Dragon Gate team Muscle Outlaw'z (Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino). The next night, they lost to The Dynasty (Scott Lost and Joey Ryan). After that, the Young Bucks went on their first tour of Japan with Dragon Gate. When they returned, they beat the Dynasty in a three-way match at Life During Wartime, PWG's fifth-anniversary show.

During their time at the PWG, The Young Bucks won the PWG World Tag Team Championship four times. They first won the gold on August 31, 2008, and held it for a then-record 616 days before losing it to El Generico and Paul London. Their next reign began on April 9, 2011, where they held it for 245 days.

They won the title for the third time on January 12, 2013, after defeating Brian Cage and Michael Elgin. The Bucks held the gold for 561 days. Their fourth and final reign with the gold began on June 26, 2015, when they broke their own record of longest reigning PWG World Tag Team Champions. They held the belt for 631 days before losing it to Lucha Brothers.

Combined, they held the PWG World Tag Team Championship for 2053 days, which is more than anyone else.

Dragon Gate (2009)

The Young Bucks debuted for Dragon Gate (DG) in Tokyo, Japan, on May 14, 2008, at Korakuen Hall. They lost their first match to Susumu Yokosuka and Ryo Saito. Their first tour of Japan lasted from May 14 to June 14. Their second tour lasted from August 9-28, 2008.

On May 3, 2009, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Matt and Nick defended their PWG World Tag Team titles against Shingo Takagi and Akira Tozawa. This was the first time the titles had been defended in Japan. On May 5, 2009, at the Dead or Alive pay-per-view in Aichi, Japan, the Young Bucks and Ryoma lost to Akira Tozawa, Kenshin Chikano, and Anthony W. Mori.

WWE (2008, 2011)

On the February 22, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Matt Jackson lost to Chuck Palumbo. Later that year, he lost to The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match and went through the table. On the October 28 episode of ECW, the two brothers appeared together and cosplayed Shawn Michaels and Triple H before being taken out by The Miz and John Morrison.

Ring of Honor (2009-2018, Present)

Matt and Nick Jackson made their ROH debut in May 2009. At ROH, the Young Bucks have won the ROH World Tag Championship thrice and the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship thrice as well. Their first tag team reign began on March 8, 2014 when they defeated reDRagon. They held the gold for 70 days before losing it back to Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly.

They won the title for a second time two years later in September 2016 after defeating Christo[her Daniels and Frenkie Kazarian. After holding the belt for 155 days, they lost it to The Broken Hardys. In April 2017, they defeated The Hardys to regain the title. The Bucks held it for 174 days and lost it for one final time to The Motor City Machine Guns.

Speaking of their Six-Man Title reigns in ROH, they first won it alongside Hangman Page in August 2017 and held for 201 days. They next won the title alongside Cody Rhodes in July 2018 for 106 days. Their third reign came in 2023, after ROH had been acquired by AEW. They teamed up with Hangman Page to defeat The Mogul Embassy but lost the belt back to them in November 2023.

NJPW (2013-2019)

The Young Bucks debuted in NJPW in the 2013 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, representing the heel foreigner stable Bullet Club. They won the tournament, defeating Gedo and Jado in the final. The Young Bucks won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship at Power Struggle on November 9, 2013. They made five successful title defenses before losing to Time Splitters on June 21, 2014. The Young Bucks won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship twice in 2015, but lost it each time in their first defense.

In early 2016, Young Bucks and Kenny Omega started creating a sub-group in The Bullet Club known as The Elite. The Young Bucks won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship five times in 2016-2018, but lost it each time within a few months.In 2018, The Young Bucks moved to the heavyweight tag team division in NJPW. They won the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the first time, but lost it later that year.

AEW (2019-Present)

All In 2018

In May 2017, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer doubted that an independent wrestling show could sell out a 10,000-seat arena in the US. Defiant, The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes planned a show specifically to prove him wrong. They named the show "All In" and announced it in May 2018.

When tickets went on sale on May 13, they sold out in just 30 minutes. At the event, The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi defeated Bandido, Rey Fénix, and Rey Mysterio in the main event. This event became the stepping stone for All Elite Wrestling.

Beginning in AEW

At AEW's inaugural event, Double or Nothing, The Young Bucks defeated the Lucha Brothers. They continued their winning streak with victories over Cody and Dustin Rhodes and Kenny Omega, but they lost a rematch for the AAA World Tag Team Championship to the Lucha Brothers in a ladder match, ending their feud.

The Young Bucks then teamed with Omega in a losing effort to Chris Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz. This led to a feud between The Elite and The Inner Circle. The Young Bucks were eliminated from the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament by Private Party, but they defeated Santana and Ortiz in a street fight tag team match to end their feud.

Tag team title runs

The Young Bucks competed in a four-way tag team match for a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but lost. Nick Jackson was then injured by the Inner Circle, and the Young Bucks were kicked out of the Elite by Hangman Page. They returned with a new attitude and defeated The Jurassic Express at All Out. They then superkicked Alex Marvez, turning into tweeners. At Full Gear, the Young Bucks defeated FTR to win their first AEW Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended the titles against The Acclaimed on Christmas Day.

Reunion with Kenny Omega

The Young Bucks refused to join Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers, but eventually turned heel and joined them, turning against their friends for the first time in AEW. They defeated Death Triangle to win the AEW Tag Team Championship, but lost it to the Lucha Bros at All Out 2021. They regained the title in a ladder match against Jurassic Express, but lost it again to Swerve in our Glory.

Suspension from AEW and return

They then reformed the Elite with Kenny Omega and won the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament, defeating Hangman Adam Page and the Dark Order in the final at All Out. In the media scrum after the event, Bucks and Omega got into a physical confrontation with AEW World Champion CM Punk and his friend Ace Steel. They all were stripped off their titles and suspended for the meantime.

The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega returned to AEW and challenged Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championship, but lost. The two teams then competed in a Best of Seven series, which The Elite won to regain the championship. They made several successful defenses but eventually lost the championship to House of Black. In the aftermath, the Elite stood alongside their former stablemate Hangman Page, but Omega refused to embrace Page.

The two lost to Omega and Jericho at Full Gear 2023 and went on a hiatus. In January 2024, they confronted Sting and Darby Allin. The next month, Allin and Sting won the AEW World Tag Team Championship and The Bucks became their number one contender. At AEW Revolution 2024, Young Bucks challenged the champions in Sting's last wrestling match, but failed to win the titles. The next Dynamite, as the EVPs, they kicked their friend Kenny Omega and welcomed his arch-nemesis and AEW debutant Kazuchika Okada to The Elite.

The Young Bucks Personal Lives

The two brothers are the middle of four children of The Massies. Their parents are Joyce and Matthew Massie Sr. They were born to Joyce Massie and Matthew Massie Sr. Their younger brother Malachi Jackson or Malachi Massie was also a professional wrestler before he retired in 2010 due to traveling fatigue.

The Young Bucks Five Star Matches

The Young Bucks are known as one of the most talented pro-wrestling tag teams in the world and one of the major reasons behind it is the stars given to them by pro-wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. To date, he has rated 11 of Young Buck's matches to be at least five stars. In comparison, throughout WWE history, he has given only nine matches a five-star rating excluding NXT.

Matt Jackson Wife

Matthew Jackson is married to Dana Massie, the former AEW Marketing and Merchandise Officer. Their union began on November 11, 2008, and they are proud parents to Kourtney Louise, their daughter, and Zachary Matthew, their son.

Nick Jackson Wife

Nicholas Jackson is married to his longtime girlfriend Ellen Montoya. He married Montoya in 2011. The couple are parents to three wonderful kids - a daughter named Alison and two sons Michael and Gregory.

The Young Bucks Title Galore

The Young Bucks Net Worth

The Young Bucks are reportedly worth around $2 Million in 2024, translating $1 Million each for Nick and Matt Jackson. Further, it is estimated that the team draws an annual salary of around $1 Million for their wrestling work and their EVP duties. Click here to read about the net worth of Nick Jackson & here for Matt Jackson in detail.