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The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) have signed a new two year deal with Ring of Honor, first reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer. The deal will allow them to also work for NJPW and PWG as well.
PWTorch has learned that deal brought a substantial raise that surprised those close to The Young Bucks given that the contract they signed last year with Ring of Honor was considering to be extremely large considering the financial constraints put on the company by Sinclair Broadcasting. According to sources the money WWE is offering to pending ROH free at this time is really low. On top of that, Matt and Nick Jackson don’t necessarily feel they have to make the jump to WWE to have a successful career, especially given the money they will make after Jan. 1 when their new deal kicks in between ROH and NJPW.
To clarify, this is not a joint contract between ROH and NJPW. This is a contract with ROH that allows The Young Bucks to work NJPW dates throughout the year.
In addition to being talent, sources have confirmed that Matt and Nick Jackson have a verbal agreement with ROH management to have more creative control over their storylines. During the second half of 2016, sourced confirmed to PWTorch that the Young Bucks were being allowed to give more input into the direction of their characters. That will continue to expand into 2017.
A big part of what Matt and Nick Jack have been trying to accomplish from a creative standpoint came to fruition at the “Final Battle” PPV this past Friday when Matt Hardy appeared on screen and announced he was coming to ROH with his brother Jeff Hardy to face the Young Bucks for the ROH World Tag Team Titles. In addition to negotiating the final details of their new ROH contracts over the weekend, Matt and Jeff were heavily involved in working with ROH, TNA, and The Hardys to allow Matt’s promo to air at “Final Battle” overnight this past Thursday into Friday.
The negotiations were said to have been extremely difficult between ROH and TNA, but they did strike a deal to allow The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks match to take place.
In addition to having a bigger role in the creative direction of their characters, sources close to ROH say that The Young Bucks will also have input into other big picture storylines as well with the blessing of management. It is said that Matt and Nick realize the company isn’t where it should be in terms of generating buzz, so their goal is to make ROH a hot brand by pitching ideas for all facets of the company going forward.
Radican’s Analysis: This is great news all-around for ROH. It will be interesting to see where the new stream of revenue is coming from for the company to be able to afford to offer The Young Bucks a bigger deal than the one they signed last year.
The Young Bucks are DIY personified as they’ve branded themselves into global names without the WWE spotlight. One person noted to me that there was a feeling among those close to Matt and Nick that WWE would bury them if they signed. In addition to the money WWE is offering being low, The Young Bucks very much enjoy their status as self-made stars and don’t feel the need to go to WWE to have a successful career in their own minds.
I also like the idea of the Young Bucks having a bigger voice in ROHs product. They have done an incredible job marketing themselves and their merchandise. They’ve come up with some good ideas for their own angles in ROH, but they really need to work with ROH booker Delirious to put together some compelling feuds between them and the other teams in the ROH tag division. I think The Young Bucks pitching ideas for other acts can only help as well, as they’ve managed to not let their act get stale when it easily could have over the past several years.
ROH bringing in Matt and Jeff Hardy is a huge first step towards building up some buzz in 2017. Matt’s pre-taped promo got a huge response at “Final Battle” and fans are going to be really excited to see The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks next year in ROH. It’s also great to see ROH and TNA working together to benefit wrestling fans, especially given the talent and exposure advantage WWE has over both companies at the moment.
NOW CHECK OUT RADICAN’S REVIEW OF ROH FINAL BATTLE PPV WITH STAR RATINGS: RADICAN’S ROH FINAL BATTLE 2016 REVIEW 12/2: Star Ratings and Analysis of Young Bucks vs. Briscoes, Colt vs. Dalton, Cody vs. Lethal, Cole vs. O’Reilly, plus Liger, Ospreay
Where does ROH get Money ? ROH is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting . SBGI is worth billions. They can sign any wrestler in the world. Money is not an issue. SBGI is about 4 times larger than the WWE .