This week on Being the Elite: Rewind I watch episodes 26-30 of the series and become nostalgic for Broken Matt Hardy.
We’re still in New Zealand and they’re setting up for The Elite vs Chaos. Sometimes when I watch these episodes of The Bucks in NJPW & ROH I get a little nostalgic, but then I remember that AEW is fresh and new and truly The Bucks have been wrestling the same people for years and I become less nostalgic. They are wearing new Elite track suits and pimping youngbucksmerch.com...slowly this show has turned into a weird long commercial for their merch. They make fun of Jay White at a meet & greet - he deserves it even in his home country. Kenny & The Bucks have a Q&A with the fans where they talk about video games. Their meet and greet lasts THREE HOURS. Honestly, that sounds more exhausting than a ladder match. OOPS they accidentally kick Kenny in the face during their match! Wrestles are dangerous. After the match The Bucks make it up to Kenny by playing a PacMan tournament at a local arcade. Nick is the pink PacMan and Kenny won’t let it go. They play PacMan for a loooooooooooong time. It is not a three way tie no matter what they say. They film outside and it’s really pretty and really windy. Pro tip: do not listen to this episode with headphones. The video ends with them “stretching.”
It wouldn’t be a Being the Elite episode without some good ole fashioned travel complaining! The upside of the travel is Kenny is staying in the NICEST hotel in Singapore complete with towel elephant. They go to a Batman store that also might be a restaurant? I don’t know, but it looks super cool. The Bucks receive a package in the mail from a fan who not only framed their first 5 star match from Meltzer, but had Meltzer SIGN IT. dyyyyying. Kenny plays Streetfighter in Singapore...Kenny Omega is not actually very funny...it is awkward. Hey kids, it’s the word of the day with Kenny Omega and that word is Spiz which means sponsor. The Young Bucks find out that it is cold in England. They sleep until 2pm but still have time to pimp their Black Friday sale. Hustle, hustle. The Bucks interrupt a match between The Briscoes and Red Dragon by filming for BTE. INCEPTION. They endlessly superkick the Briscoes - I am jealous. The video ends with Kenny at a spiz dinner watching some truly entrancing noodle dancing.
Back on the road and headed to New York for Final Battle. It’s contract season and the internet is abuzz with speculation. They do some ROH pretapes and wear the same outfits like twins. It’s cold in NYC too! These California boys can’t handle the cold. SMH. They go to Sirius for Busted Open Radio. INCEPTION. LOLOLOLOLX1000 at Adam Cole talking about the rumors of him going to WWE. Time is a flat circle. Matt does a famous autograph and a fans tries emulate him while it’s happening...it does not go well. Another Matt Hardy sighting. He is Broken. He is Beautiful. SPOILER: The Bucks sign with ROH and use Adam Cole as a table. It’s very sexual.
Ok, this round of travel complaining is justified. The Bucks are flying to Santiago Chile, they have two hours before the show to prep and then immediately hop on a plane after their match before the show is even over!! That. Is. Nuts. They test the ring (“Nick can springboard on licorice and that’s a shoot.”) They get some fan art & see some fan tattoos. It’s cool, but also kind of weird. Matt Hardy gifts them a DELITE shirt. Nick is fussed, but Matt recognizes good branding when he sees it. They wrestle the Hardys in a ladder match. The Bucks + Ladders = Magic. The Hardyz won. EXPEDITION OF GOLD! There is absolutely no one at the airport when they land. The episode ends with images of them walking through the aiport spliced with them wrestling in NJPW. All that fame and they are still just two nerds in an airport. INCEPTION?
They have a cool new BTE video game intro. Oh no...it’s a Kenny episode. Nothing really happens with Kenny. He just talks and has neat hair. BTE is great for The Bucks and honestly makes me kinda not like Kenny. It takes all his cool factor away. Montage of The Young Bucks sweatshop. It’s very impressive. Even Matt is impressed. The Bucks celebrate Christmas with their family complete with Young Bucks Ugly Sweater TM. They buy their nieces a trampoline and the Bucks dynasty begins. The little kid in the background lifting their shirt for no reason when everyone is screaming is me. They thank everyone for their merch sales and wish everyone a happy new year. They two sweet Santa and then Santa hits them in the balls. Naturally.
These episodes are not really worth watching, but if you miss Matt Hardy then it’s worth it.
Join me here next week for Being the Elite: Rewind episodes 31-35.