Young Bucks looking to do big things in 2016

The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) believe they can do big things in 2016. Not just have more good matches for Ring of Honor, New Japan, and PWG, but take advantage of their new contract situation with ROH to revolutionize the independent wrestling scene. It might require more than just ROH, though.

“This year we want to make Ring of Honor our number one priority and make it as popular as possible,” Nick told interviewer Scott Fishman for Channel Guide Magazine. “Not only having good matches, but we’d like to recruit a few big names and try to get them to do what we’ve just done. We want to make them the true alternative because right now we’re the alternative. I feel like WWE fans are looking for an alternative. We want to be bigger and for ROH to grow more and more. Right now people are searching and are not happy with what they are seeing on Mondays.”

ROH is shifting to over-the-air Comet TV to go along with their syndicated TV distribution. That, alone, is not big-enough to make a difference in the marketplace. The Bucks see a different approach to growing ROH and independent wrestling.

“I’m not going to give anything away. We happen to be in a good spot where we are popular enough and have the leverage to make good relationships. We are trying to start things with other companies and hopefully that can help,” Matt Jackson said.

“It’s always good for the boys. Maybe we create something like what NXT has done with Evolve. We’re trying to do an outreach. It’s strength in numbers and talent. If we can do something like that, it’s great for everybody.”

Overall, Matt Jackson said, “We want to do big things. We see ROH on the rise. We want to keep killing it, producing money and fans for the company. We want to help them like they helped us. We want to put on awesome matches. Hopefully, the brand becomes more popular. The houses are up. Fans are into it and buying the merch. It’s a good opportunity for Ring of Honor to jump in and pick up those fans. Right now wrestling is in a weird spot.

“There are a ton of fans looking for new things. I feel this year we will be able to give them that. The goal would also be to become ROH tag team champions again. I would like to repeat what we did two years ago and have New Japan, PWG, and ROH titles all at once. That was pretty cool to do again.”

It sounds like the key to doing something “big” on the independents will be ROH’s expanded relationship with New Japan, plus mixing in some of the bigger independent promotions, like a PWG in California. Time will tell, but the Bucks are ambitious-enough to want to follow through on their big-picture goals for 2016.