The Young Bucks Next Title Match Made As AEW Hiatus Continues

The Young Bucks’ first defence of the IWGP Tag Team Titles has been confirmed.

At Wrestle Dynasty, The Young Bucks captured the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for the second time. Matthew and Nicholas Jackson defeated United Empire’s Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb as well as the Los Ingobernables De Japon team of Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi in a wild Triple Threat bout that marked their triumphant return to NJPW after six years away.

After the victory, the EVPs said they had been “working from home for a while” but hinted at taking the titles back to AEW to show them off on MAX. Even if they do, though, it’s unlikely the pair will be defending the gold in AEW as New Japan has announced their first title defence.

On February 11th, NJPW will host its annual New Beginning event in Osaka, and at the show, the Bucks will put their titles on the line against Takahashi and Naito as the pair were not pinned in the Toyko Dome Triple Threat. The LIJ duo, have become a formidable force in the tag team division, having won the 2024 World Tag League back in December. Added to this, Naito won the now-defunct IWGP Heavyweight Title three times and is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion. At the same time, Takahashi is a five-time Junior Heavyweight Champion, meaning the Bucks will have a huge challenge on their hands.

The Young Bucks Go Full Circle In Japan

The Young Bucks’ return to Japan was a full-circle moment for the team as it was outside the Tokyo Dome where they first announced the creation of All Elite Wrestling. The pair marked the moment on social media, noting that they were going back to the place “it all started.”