In an update on The Young Bucks-WWE story, Fightful noted that the rumor about The Bucks sending out feelers to friends in WWE is a rumor that has been going around in WWE since August and one source swore that they asked to speak with someone in management.
However, a source close to The Young Bucks says they haven’t given this indication at all while someone who has worked with higher-ups in AEW has said that they heard the rumor but doesn’t believe that The Bucks actually need to gauge interest since they had talks with WWE in late 2018/early 2019 before AEW was officially formed.
Just to make it clear, the rumor came from Ryan Frederick on the Wrestling Observer Board. Frederick handles the MMA coverage in the Observer Newsletter and he has sources in the wrestling business. He also confirmed that he heard this story from multiple sources. You can read what Frederick said by clicking here and at this link.
Frederick also added that this is basically a non-story because every wrestler is expected to send out feelers so they can get both sides bidding against each other and there is no indication that Matt and Nick Jackson reached out directly to WWE management, which if that happened would bring up issues of tampering. Also, none of this means that The Bucks actually want to leave AEW.
Dave Meltzer posted in the same Observer Board thread and said the following about when The Bucks and Kenny Omega could become free agents:
“Kenny’s contract is up in February but they will likely add the 9-10 months for his being out, so likely end of 2023. We don’t know they will.
Young Bucks deal is up around Jan. 1, 2024, give or take a week. But not earlier. I don’t know the actual date of signing but they couldn’t have signed until Jan. 1.”
