Ring of Honor tag team The Young Bucks recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard, and below are some interview highlights:
On the origin of “the Elite”:
“We came up with ‘The Elite’ name years ago on a bus as a joke,” said Nick. “We’d ask each other, ‘Who do you think are the most elite wrestlers in the world?’ Then we’d make a list, but every list was just us and our friends. We thought it was hilarious, and we decided, ‘What if we just called ourselves that?’”
On not needing WWE to be successful:
“You don’t need to make it with WWE to be a successful wrestler,” explained Nick. “We’re trying to change that perception and prove otherwise. The last few years, we’ve done better financially than a lot of guys in the WWE. No one knows that, but it’s possible to make a living without them. It takes a lot of hustle, but it’s possible.”
On their last tryout with WWE and rumors of backstage incidents with Booker T:
“Our last tryout with WWE was in 2011,” said Matt. “We did a practice match in front of the agents.”
“But we never got that,” said Matt. “And there is some truth to what happened beforehand. It was a busy day, and we didn’t get to shake Booker T’s hand.”
The whole handshake thing blew up, but it was a big misunderstanding,” said Nick. There was heavy traffic, so we were running late by the time we got there. William Regal was in charge of the tryouts, and said, ‘You’ve got to get into the ring right now,’ so we couldn’t say hi to anyone because we went right to the ring.”
“We had another mix up with Booker,” recalled Matt. “Nick was leaning against Booker’s coat, and Booker said, ‘Hey, you’re on my coat.’ He started yelling, grabbed his coat, and walked away. Booker started talking about it online, and it blew up.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
