The Young Bucks recently used their star power to support a close friend in need.
During a live YouTube Q&A, Matt and Nick Jackson encouraged fans to donate in honor of Rebel, who is battling terminal ALS.
What began as a casual chat quickly turned into an emotional fundraiser, as viewers flooded the livestream with contributions for ALS research.
The Young Bucks promised that every dollar raised would go toward Rebel and the fight against ALS, extending AEW’s growing “Rebel Heart” charity efforts.
During a recent appearance on “The Danny Ocean Show,” Tony Schiavone recalled the first episode of AEW Dynamite in Washington, D.C., noting it felt special from the opening match.
Working with Jim Ross and Excalibur and standing in the ring for Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara convinced Schiavone the show and AEW’s TV partnership were something big right away.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his career highlights: “I can just tell you the highlights of my career very quickly. Number one was my first time on TBS [on] April 6th, 1985. The second highlight of my career was my first show when I went to the WWE, I did Madison Square Garden Network. I did Hulk Hogan and Big Boss Man in a cage. And then the next highlight of my career is coming back to AEW, and then doing Sting’s last match.”
On Sting’s last match: “I remember when the match was over, Sting waved to me and said, ‘Come on in the ring,’ and I wouldn’t do it. I just stood on the outside and said, ‘It’s Sting!’ or whatever I said. I can’t remember what I said at that time. I didn’t want to go in the ring, because that was his moment. ‘It’s not my moment, Sting. I appreciate it. It’s
your moment.’
“But it’s going to go down as one of the biggest moments of my career. Being able to work with him, being able to deliver that line which — hell I don’t know where it came from. Tony Khan kept saying make sure you say, ‘It’s Sting!’ And when he would come out, Taz and Excalibur would look at me and they go — I’d say, ‘Okay. It’s Sting!’ And then I would say, ‘Well, I’ve earned my check for the day, I’ll go home.’”
On working with Sting and Ric Flair: “Being a part of his career means a lot to me. Tell you what else means a lot to me too: if you take a look at some YouTube videos and some of the great crazy interviews that Ric Flair did, or some of the stuff that Dusty did, I’m there holding the microphone. That’s top flight stuff, man. That’s — I’m honored.
“It means so much to me to be able to say that I stood there holding the microphone when Ric Flair made out with a mannequin. And I’m thinking, ‘You know, this guy’s lost his mind.’ And now 35 years later, I know Ric and I know I’m right; he has lost his mind. But he did some crazy stuff back then and I was really, really — I’m really am honored to be able to hold the microphone for some of those things.”
On if he knew it was something special right away: “No, it was special right away. We were in Washington DC. We were at the Wizards Arena, I don’t know what it’s called now, but we sold out that venue. And I knew something. I got to work with JR again for the first time. Got to work with Excalibur, who I still work with and is like one of the best announcers that I’ve ever worked with in my life. What a great announcer Excalibur is. I knew we had something great.”
On his memories of the show: “The first match, I’ll never forget it. It was Cody Rhodes, who now has gone on as most know to be the world champion at WWE, and has become a big star. The first match we had was Cody against Sammy Guevara. And I went in the ring and held the microphone for Cody, and I just knew we were on to something big when I was standing in the ring with Cody at that time.
“So, I knew it was something. And you know, we were re-signed by TBS and Warner Brothers Discovery, and it’s just — it’s been great. It’s been — you know, TBS and TNT are legendary, if you want to consider it that, wrestling channels. So, for us to be on those two are really big for us and big for the industry too, I think.”
NJPW has announced the full card for the Best of the Super Juniors 33 semifinals on June 5, which you can check out below:
- Unbound Co. (Yota Tsuji, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay)
- Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Ryusuke Taguchi & KUSHIDA vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
- El Desperado & Hyo vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Dick Togo
- Jun Kasai & Nick Wayne vs. Unbound Co. (Titan & Gedo)
- Yuya Uemura & Masatora Yasuda vs. T.M.D.K. (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson)
- Tiger Mask & Taisei Nakahara vs. Valiente Jr. & Tatsuya Matsumoto
- Best of the Super Juniors 33 S/F I: Master Wato vs. YOH
- Best of the Super Juniors 33 S/F II: Kosei Fujita vs. Robbie Eagles