Why Didn't AEW Pull Trigger On Young Bucks Vs. FTR For All The Titles?
The AEW World Tag Team Championship victory for Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland) was a welcome surprise for many fans. However, others were disappointed to see a potential tag title rematch between The Young Bucks and FTR apparently taken off the table for now.
Matt and Nick Jackson, aka t Young Bucks, lost their titles to Lee and Strickland in a three-way match on this past Wednesday's "AEW Dynamite." Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs, collectively known as Team Taz, comprised the third team in the match, and Starks was pinned by Strickland to send the belts into new hands, with the Bucks not involved in the finish. Some have speculated that the match was structured this way to set up a rematch between the Swerve In Our Glory and the Bucks, possibly even hot-shotting the championships back into Matt and Nick. This last possibility is the result of many fans having spent weeks anticipating a "winner takes all" match between the Bucks and FTR, AEW's current #1 ranked team, with the Bucks entering the match as the AEW Tag Team Champions and FTR holding the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship, New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP Tag Team Championship, and the AAA Tag Team Championship. However, AEW President Tony Khan reportedly has other plans.
According to this week's edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is a major angle planned for the Bucks which apparently does not involve the AEW Tag Team Championship or a match against FTR, though the Observer reported that a Bucks/FTR match "could be something done long-term." Details on what this angle could be or who it could involve remain unknown.
Following Swerve In Our Glory's AEW Tag Team Championship victory on Wednesday night, FTR's Dax Harwood tweeted a picture of himself and his partner, Cash Wheeler, holding the AEW Tag Titles, which they held in late 2020. Their next championship defense is scheduled for Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, where they will defend the ROH Tag Titles against the Briscoes. FTR won the titles from the Briscoes at ROH's Supercard Of Honor pay-per-view this past April.