Young Bucks win First Championship in AEW after Emotional Battle at Full Gear

“One day we will wrestle the Revival, and everyone will rejoice,” and you’re damn right the world rejoiced. The Young Bucks defeated FTR in an absolutely fantastic match to win the AEW Tag Team Championships at AEW Full Gear. The match had more than just the tag titles on the line. It was about being the greatest tag team in the world.

The Young Bucks vs FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championships

At Full Gear 2019, Cody entered his AEW World Title match against Chris Jericho with a unique stipulation. If Cody lost, he would never challenge for the AEW World Championship again. The Young Bucks entered this match with the same stipulation, but ended with a different result.

FTR immediately looked to target Matt Jackson’s injured right ankle. Harwood and Wheeler were relentless in their pursuit of Matt’s ankle, trying to lock him in a submission and make the older Jackson tap out.

The Bucks had a much different game plan, who mostly avoided FTR’s technical offence and only counter-attacked. Nick Jackson was up to his usual high flying self, connecting with dives all over the ringside area and throwing vicious kicks at their opponents.

Both teams fought past nasty and painful injuries

Dax Harwood suffered a nasty cut on his right hand after catching Matt Jackson with a wild punch. FTR continued their assault on Matt Jackson’s right knee, but nothing could put Matt down for the count.

The Young Bucks were also trying everything in their vast playbook to put away the champions but it would not be that easy to put away the former NXT Tag Team Champions. The Bucks even locked FTR in stereo Sharpshooters in the hopes of getting a dual submission.

Tag team throwbacks were aplenty in this match. The Bucks paid tribute to the Hardy Boyz, and even hit FTR with the Goodnight Express, or otherwise known as the Shatter Machine. FTR themselves were no slouches at this game, mocking #DIY’s meeting-in-the-middle superkick combination.

After trading some extremely close nearfalls, FTR were visibly frustrated by their inability to put away Matt Jackson who was already heavily injured. FTR connected with the Mindbreaker but even that could not put the older Jackson away.

They targeted the ankle once again, getting rid of Matt’s footwear and locking him in a heel hook. Nick broke up the move with an insane 450 splash, but was powerbombed through the announcers table a few seconds later.

Bucks punish FTR for abandoning their game plan

The match was finally won when FTR abandoned the playbook, their ethos that made them so successful. Cash Wheeler nailed Matt with a superkick and looked to flatten him with a springboard 450 splash, a la AJ Styles.

The move exploded in Cash’s face, followed by a superkick from the shoeless Matt Jackson who pinned him to win the titles. This match comes agonizingly close to topping their Revolution match against Kenny Omega and Hangman Page. However, the Young Bucks finally wrestled FTR and oh how the world rejoiced.