If there was a rankings list made for how relieved AEW head honcho Tony Khan felt while putting out press releases, the one that was recently distributed announcing that all four members of The Elite had re-signed with the company would have to be right up there near the top.
Not only are all four men foundational pieces for AEW, three of them (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) are also executive VPs. They’re as important behind the scenes as they are as in-ring performers, and while the departure of Cody Rhodes last year helped prove that no one is irreplaceable even in a young company, a future without The Elite is something Khan and many fans probably didn’t want to contemplate.
The Elite said publicly that they made their decision to remain in AEW as a group, but in an appearance as guests on the Swerve City Podcast with Swerve Strickland, Matt and Nick Jackson revealed that not only did the group not feel unanimously in favor of staying right away, even the brothers weren’t always in agreement with each other (h/t Cageside Seats for the transcription).
Matt: “Bro, we didn’t even know if we were gonna re-sign. You know what I mean? We had no idea…Hangman [Page] and Kenny [Omega], the four of us, we negotiated together, as a team.”
Nick: “Yeah, we were gonna stick together…all four of us, we all agreed, we’re sticking together, whatever we do.”
Matt: “And the votes did not line up every time. Because we said majority wins on this. And there was a lot of emotions in the last year, as the world knows. So one day, this person’s voting to leave, this person’s voting to go. [Nick and I] weren’t even on the same page the whole time. So, it was crazy…”
Nick noted that Matt even pondered retirement, with Matt adding, “I’ve been toying with that for a long time.” Indeed, Matt Jackson has been sounding a contemplative note regarding the end of his wrestling career for more than a year.
So while it appears this may be the last big run for The Elite, at least the world knows it will go on for a few more years in AEW. And when it’s all said and done, that just feels right, even if it took some group soul-searching to arrive there.