Young Bucks_ Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big Leagues by Matt Jackson

Dana taking the term family business seriously, running the
gimmick table at an independent wrestling show and looking
after Kourtney. (2012)

We were quite the trio with Kevin Steen (Owens). (2013)

In 2013, Us, Kevin Steen (Owens), and Adam Cole were
“the Mount Rushmore of Wrestling.”

The number of hours we clocked in behind a gimmick table
before wrestling shows is endless. (2014)

Holding multiple tag team titles. The tides were turning.
(2014)

Us with Bullet Club friends Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows,
and Tama Tonga backstage at Kōrakuen Hall. (January 5,
2014, Tokyo, Japan)

For a long time, Bullet Club ruled Japan. We were the
lighthearted jokesters in a gang full of heavy hitters. (2014)

The first time we were able to fly our families with us out to
Tokyo, to share the Japanese culture with them and attend
Wrestle Kingdom 9.

Kourtney was showered with gifts anytime we went to
Japan. Here she is holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight
Tag Team Title. (2015)

Some of our best six-man tag team matches happened when
we teamed with AJ Styles.

We always tried to go on adventures with Kenny Omega on
our days off in Japan. (Osaka, Japan, 2015)

In Japan, when we weren’t wrestling, we’d find a Round
One facility, and shoot hoops (Us, Kenny Omega, Chase
Owens, and Hangman Adam Page).

When we ruled the world! Current PWG, ROH, and IWGP
Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. (November 1,
2016)

Cary Silkin always believed in us, even when others did not.
Grateful for him. (2016)

Dana helped build the Young Bucks merch empire out of a tiny two
bedroom apartment into what it is today. (April 2016)

A final curtain call, as we say goodbye to our Bullet Club
comrades. (January 24, 2016, Duluth, Georgia)

Me and Nick at Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom 11, prior
to bell time. (January 2017)

Kazuchika Okada, always the prankster, would find Nick’s
gear and wear it around at EVERY show. (January 2017)

Group shot with Matt and Jeff Hardy, after our insane
Ladder War, at ROH’s Supercard of Honor. (April 1, 2017,
Lakeland, Florida)

The night before the “#BCInvasion,” we had a family dinner
at my place. (September 2017)

We had no clue the “#BCInvasion” would stir up so much
controversy. (September 2017, Ontario, California)

Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, and AJ Styles are
three dudes we’ve traveled the world with. (2017)

The last time we stood inside American Legion Post #308 in
Reseda, California. The building where we became wrestling
stars. (April 20, 2018)

Meeting Tony Khan for the first time in London. We had no
idea our lives were about to dramatically change. (Summer of
2018)

Our final bow to the Hammerstein audience. (New York City,
December 2018)
Photo courtesy of Scott Lesh Ringside Photography.

Roaming the streets of Japan with the “BTE Boys” (Us,
Marty Scurll, Hangman Adam Page, and Cody Rhodes).
(May 2018)

The night before All In, we took a moment to appreciate the
occasion. (September 2018)

It was a HUGE deal when we got our very own Funko Pop
Vinyls.

The day we went “All In” with Cody Rhodes. Nothing has
ever been the same since. (September 1, 2018)
Photo courtesy of James Musselwhite/Portrait of a
Wrestler

Over 10,000 screaming fans at Sears Centre for the largest independent
wrestling show in history, All In. (September 1, 2018)

With two friends and people who became very important to
our brand: wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer and Masa
Anchan aka “Fat Ass Masa.” (2018)

The original “Massie Six.” Our Mom, us, DJ, Dad, and Malachi.

After our final Wrestle Kingdom match at Tokyo Dome with
our children. (PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: Zachary,
Gregory, Alison, and Kourtney.) (January 4, 2019)

Our first ever T-shirt design. What do ya think?

About the Authors

MATT and NICK JACKSON, the Young Bucks, a professional wrestling
brothers tag team duo, are highly regarded in the industry by fans, critics, and
other wrestlers as being one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Matt and
Nick, starting as teenagers on the ground floor of their self-built wrestling
ring in their backyard in Southern California, eventually traveled the world,
perfecting their act, building their brand into an empire. Their success came
from bucking the system of a traditional business-like pro wrestling, carving
out a cult following of fans whose imaginations were captured through
rebellion and excitement. Matt and Nick are multi-time tag team champions,
voted Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Tag Team of the Year five times and
named Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Tag Team of the Decade of the
2010s. Matt and Nick both live in California with their families.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.



Copyright

Photo insert photographs are courtesy of the authors unless otherwise noted.
YOUNG BUCKS. Copyright © 2020 by Matt Massie and Nick Massie. All rights reserved under
International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have
been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-
screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-
engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or
by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express
written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover design by Dave Stenken
Cover photograph by Sadiel “Speedy” Ruiz
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jackson, Matt, 1985- author. | Jackson, Nick, 1989- author.
Title: Young Bucks : killing the business from backyards to the big leagues / Matt Jackson and Nick

Jackson.
Description: First Hardcover Edition. | New York : Dey Street Books, an imprint of William Morrow,

2020. | Summary: “A memoir co-written by The Young Bucks, the most electric and daring tag team

in all of wrestling, highlighting their inspirational coming-of-age story as two undersized, ambitious
amateur wrestlers in Southern California to becoming one of the most popular showcases in popular
sports”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020029079 (print) | LCCN 2020029080 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062937834
(Hardcover) | ISBN 9780062937858 (Paperback) | ISBN 9780062937841 (eBook) | ISBN
9780063033467 (audio)
Subjects: LCSH: Jackson, Matt, 1985- | Jackson, Nick, 1989- | Wrestlers—United States—Biography. |
Wrestling—United States—History.
Classification: LCC GV1196.A1 J34 2020 (print) | LCC GV1196.A1 (ebook) | DDC 796.812092 [B]—
dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029079
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029080

Digital Edition NOVEMBER 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-293784-1
Version 10172020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-293783-4

About the Publisher

Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

www.harpercollins.com.au

Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3

www.harpercollins.ca

India
HarperCollins India

A 75, Sector 57
Noida

Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in

New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632

Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz

United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com