AEW Dynamite

Boston, Massachusetts - Agganis Arena

April 6, 2022

It’s the hallmark of a Millennial to want to change the world or at least the industry they’re involved in. We all think we can be the difference makers, the ones that leave an impact like nobody else in our time has or could.

Very few have the courage to follow that calling, especially when upwards of 7 figures are being waved in your face to take the easy route. Both FTR and the Young Bucks did this in different ways over the past 3-4 years. The Bucks chose to forge a new path and help create what has not existed in 20+ years when they turned down lucrative offers from the WWE and instead chose to go ahead and create the most viable competition the WWE has seen since Ted Turner retired to his bison ranch in Montana (note: his restaurant is top notch!). FTR watched The Young Bucks create AEW, and instead of cashing-in on a then panicking WWE’s inflated offers, they chose to stick to their guns as well and elected not to re-sign with the worldwide leader in sports entertainment.

The moment that FTR left WWE, the speculation began for when they’d inevitably face The Young Bucks. I’m sure you remember the tweet from Cash Wheeler: "One day we’ll wrestle The Young Bucks & everyone will rejoice. Remember this tweet.” We knew the match was happening, we just didn’t know when. We were still in the middle of the worst of it with Covid and surely AEW wouldn’t give this match away without a packed house? How could they? Sure enough, the mad man Tony Khan did just that and we got FTR vs Young Bucks at Full Gear 2020. By this time, we were getting decent sized crowds at Daily’s Place so it wasn’t completely empty, but still was not the venue these two teams deserved for their first match up. The Young Bucks won the first face-off and went on to have an incredible heel run as the AEW Tag Team Champions, eventually losing the belts in the Elitie Awarding winning match at All Out 2021 against Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix. AEW and the fans showed the ultimate patience in waiting for these two teams to cross paths again and we finally got it on this past AEW Dynamite, April 6th 2022, but with a fun twist—the Young Bucks took the heel role and FTR operated as faces.

Fresh off an incredible match against the Briscoes at ROH Supercard of Honor in Dallas, FTR has been behaving more and more like good guys lately and one thing is abundantly clear; the fans have been dying to cheer for them. We’re fortunate in wrestling that it seems to be the one sport/art form where fans do tend to recognize greatness as it is happening, rather than retroactively after a career has ended, and right here, right now, fans love FTR for their greatness. The roles of each team was made clear to us as the match was made official at Supercard of Honor, when the Young Bucks attacked the Briscoes as the fans gave them a well deserved, “Thank You Briscoes” chant. FTR had already head to the back but came running out to make the save and officially lay out the challenge to the Bucks.

The match started off showcasing the distaste the teams have for each other, with Cash putting on one of the Buck’s headbands, mimicking their taunt and tossing the headband into the crowd. Dax took it a little further after Nick Jackson threw his headband in his face, where he responded by tucking it in his trunks and then removing it to throw at Matt Jackson. That’s when the pace started to pick up. One of the first moments that stuck out to me was Dax, while just about to get the tag from a beaten up Cash Wheeler, was superkicked on the apron to ruin the highly anticipated hot tag. A few moments later, we saw the moment that fans had been clamoring for for so long, as Cash Wheeler tagged in Dax for a babyface hot tag sequence and Dax ran wild on the Young Bucks. The pace continued picking up where Dax & Cash set up for a power plex on opposite top ropes, only to be interrupted by a wild springboard rana by Nick Jackson.

Two of my favorite near falls I’ve seen in a while occurred following that. First, Cash hit a beautiful gory bomb that nearly sealed the Bucks’ fate but only led to a two count. Then, while referee Rick Knox was distracted, Cash Wheeler was hit with a low blow, his own finisher, The Big Rig, then with a title belt. In a spot that is reminiscent of Neville (now PAC) vs Seth Rollins from Monday Night Raw, Cash was rolled up for the pin and his leg was able to fall on the bottom rope, breaking the count, though not immediately noticed by his opponents or the referee. The bell rang as if the match was over and you could hear the crowd going wild, thinking FTR just got screwed! As Knox noticed the foot, the match was restarted and we got to our ending sequence. Just as The Young Bucks went for their patented Meltzer Driver, we saw Dax interrupt and catch Nick Jackson into a slingshot power bomb, while Cash reversed Matt’s hold into a tombstone piledriver. FTR then hit the Bucks’ patented BTE trigger, followed by a Big Rig of their own for the 1-2-3!

The Young Bucks made their bio the next day, “Not a lot of those left in us. Enjoy.” We did, and thanks to the Young Bucks making a career out of betting on themselves, even when they’re done giving us 5 star tag team matches, we’ll continue to have AEW giving a platform for the best damn tag team wrestling on the planet.

(Writer’s note: In case FTR ever reads this - please sell replicas of the jackets you wear to the ring!)

FTR vs. The Young Bucks II

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