The talk about The Young Bucks potentially being on their final AEW contracts just got a pretty important clarification.
After comments from Wrestling Observer Radio sparked speculation that Matt and Nick Jackson could be nearing the end of their wrestling careers, Dave Meltzer took to social media on August 25 and said his remarks were being misinterpreted. He made it clear that he had not recently discussed retirement or their current contracts with The Young Bucks themselves. Meltzer pushed back on the way his original comments were being taken and pointed out that Matt Jackson had publicly discussed the possibility of eventually stopping years ago.
“Boy did this get misinterpreted. I made it very clear I had not discussed this subject with them, past Matt has publicly talked years ago about considering that it could be. Also made clear they are on great deals.”
That clarification changes the context surrounding Meltzer’s original remarks. The subject initially came up while Bryan Alvarez and Meltzer were discussing whether Kenny Omega could ever finish his career in WWE. The conversation then moved toward how much longer members of The Elite might continue wrestling. Meltzer noted that Matt Jackson had considered stopping before and said both Matt and Nick are financially secure after years of success.
“I’m not sure how much longer any of them are going to go because Matt considered stopping. Matt’s in his 40s, and they’re set. All of them, they’re all set for life. They’ve made a lot of money. They do their vacations and everything like that, but it’s not like they’re Ric Flair and they spend like crazy. They’re all set.”
He then made the comment that kicked off the retirement speculation, saying he had heard the possibility discussed that the current deal could be their last.
“I think Kenny’s going to try to go as long as he can, but I could see Matt and Nick — I’ve heard it discussed that this might be their last contract.”
Meltzer also cautioned during the original discussion that wrestlers can talk about retiring only for another major contract offer to change the equation.
“People always say that, and there’s so much money thrown at you afterwards to stay, so you always do. But I don’t necessarily know. We’ll see what happens when the deal’s up.”
His new clarification now makes an important distinction: Meltzer was not saying Matt or Nick Jackson recently told him that their current AEW contracts would be their last. Instead, he says the discussion was based on Matt’s previous public comments about potentially stopping someday, along with the reality that both Bucks are financially secure and already have strong contracts.
So while retirement remains something that has been discussed around The Young Bucks over the years, there is currently no indication from Meltzer that Matt or Nick Jackson have made a decision to retire when their present AEW deals expire.
The Bucks have been part of AEW since day one, so any legitimate retirement decision would obviously be a huge deal for the company. For now, though, the “last contract” talk appears to have gotten ahead of what Meltzer was actually claiming, and he’s now making sure everyone knows he wasn’t passing along a fresh retirement declaration from Matt and Nick.
Do you think The Young Bucks are anywhere close to calling it a career, or do Matt and Nick Jackson still have plenty of years left? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
