Top AEW Stars Turned Down NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 Match

NJPW/AEW

AEW’s Matt & Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks have revealed that they turned down offers from NJPW to appear at Wrestle Kingdom 17.

At the January 4 event, Kenny Omega made his NJPW return to defeat Will Ospreay for the IWGP US Championship.

While many initially expected Omega to have the Young Bucks in his corner, the duo revealed that they would actually be taking time off while Omega was in Japan.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Matt and Nick confirmed that not only did they reject an offer to appear alongside Omega, they also turned down an offer to wrestle on the card.

Teasing their eventual NJPW return, the Young Bucks said:

Nick: “We were actually asked to wrestle and be in Kenny’s corner, but Matt and I had vacation plans that week. Maybe next year. Who knows?”

Matt: “We got a fantastic offer. Personally, the timing and the situation didn’t fit for us. I’m sure one day you’ll see us back in a NJPW ring.”

The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes left NJPW in early 2019 to form AEW.

The US promotion currently has a partnership with NJPW, with the two companies notably holding the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door crossover event in June 2022.

Omega and the Young Bucks won the AEW Trios Championship from Death Triangle on the January 11 episode of Dynamite.

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