The Young Bucks: My Excuse To Try To Make the Term Metakayfabe A Thing

On February 10th, 1989, Vince McMahon told the New Jersey State Senate that was "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest." In this context, McMahon was looking to avoid taxes, fees, and regulations that he would have to face from various athletic commissions, much like legitimate combat sports. Those within the community knew of this case, and many were upset about Vince peeling back the curtain a bit, but for McMahon (and the industry as a whole), this was a smart business decision. On December 15th, 1997, things got even more exposed as Vince McMahon opened Raw with a prerecorded statement. The promo he cut basically declared that Raw and the WWF as a whole borrow more from soap operas than from legitimate sports, and that promotions that do not acknowledge this are insulting the intelligence of their audience. Kayfabe had been killed on one of the biggest stages possible.

Fast forward to 2017, and we've found wrestling going even further into a post-kayfabe world than that fateful night twenty years ago. Two of the biggest stars in the world are Matt and Nick Jackson, and their gimmick could best be described as the most on the nose parody of 1990's wrestling possible. They're members of a massive faction known as the Bullet Club. They throw up "Too Sweet"s to every BC member they see and they give DX crop chops while shouting "suck it". Aerial acrobatics are their specialty, second only to their superkicks, which they throw en masse in every match. They're like DX, the NWO, and WCW's cruiserweight division had a wild night together, and based on some of the stories that have surfaced about the way things were during that era, I wouldn't be surprised if such a night existed.

The Young Bucks, the more common moniker of the Jacksons, take this gimmick and have created a world of metakayfabe. While the industry as a whole has a problem with taking itself too seriously, the Bucks make a living off of turning every match into a "Superkick Party." The team will perform a couple flips just to hit their opponent with a simple backrake. Using a finisher called the "Meltzer Driver," which is a modified version of the "indytaker," these two point to the fact that what they are doing is a performance, rather than a competition, and that they are here to entertain you... or at least Dave Meltzer. Meltzer is one of the most well respected writers in the industry of professional wrestling, and has been reviewing matches all over the world for decades. Meltzer's Wrestling Observer has been giving people an insider's view of the industry since issue one. Unsurprisingly, he has been vocal about how much he enjoys the matches of the Bucks, even giving them a 5-star rating for their six man tag match with Adam Cole against Will Ospreay, Ricochet, and Matt Sydal. With their YouTube series "Being The Elite" (also starring Kenny Omega), the Young Bucks have now begun to build storylines into a documentary-style look at their lives, further blurring the line between work and shoot. The series did most of the work in building Adam Cole being fired from the Bullet Club and his replacement, Marty Scurll, joining the group.

Certainly everyone isn't a fan of the team. Jim Cornette is probably the loudest voice against them, but many of the industry's old guard think they are killing the business (something they have proudly turned into many merch designs). By exposing that wrestling isn't a legitimate competition between opponents, but rather, to use that Vince McMahon quote again, "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators," Cornette would argue that this is somehow taking money out of the pockets of people who still try to act like the industry is a true combat sport. Others would argue that the Young Bucks are nihilists, deciding that nothing matters at a show, and rejecting the traditions of kayfabe, ruining the entire industry. Others still think that they are terrible at telling in-ring stories, which is why they must constantly fill the ring with high spots.

For those critics, I'd like to offer the idea that they are viewing a theatrical performance of an athletic contest, through the lens of, for all intents and purposes, a variety show. The story they are telling in the ring is certainly there, if you're willing to look deep enough. It is a story of how the industry has changed. Living in the past won't get you very far, and these two will gladly pull you into the future of professional wrestling. Looking at the sheer amount of merch they produce (and move), clearly this point isn't lost on the majority. For those of you unfamiliar with their work, I highly recommend looking them up on the internet. Enjoy the Superkick Party.