Tony Khan Details How the Young Bucks Succession Inspired AEW Entrance Came To Be (2024)

Following their huge loss at AEW Full Gear in November, the Young Bucks were off television for quite some time. During which rumors circulated about what their creative pitches had been looking like. There were reports that Brandon Cutler and possibly Colt Cabana would be joining a heel stable they were workshopping, but that obviously didn't come to fruition.

Instead, Cutler and Cabana are working together as a tag team mostly in Ring of Honor and in AEW Dark matches while the Young Bucks team with long-time rival Kazuchika Okada. One of the biggest shocks to their presentation was when they made their big return to AEW to hype up a match between themselves and Darby Allin and Sting. For the first time since joining AEW, the Young Bucks had a completely new theme to go along with their new EVP characters.

AEW President Tony Khan candidly talked about his newfound friendship with Succession writer Jesse Armstrong who is a fan on Fulham. Mentioning that when it came time to talk about changes to the product in 2024, Matt and Nick Jackson approached Khan about a Succession inspired theme song.

A Very Succession-Coded Theme Song

"Matt and Nick mentioned to me, we were talking about changes for 2024 and they asked about something inspired by Successionand then I had a meeting with them and a lot of the team in Jacksonville on January 10 in Daily's Place. It was kind of surreal because Matt, Nick and I had spent days and days and days of our lives -- and when you add it all up just probably weeks of our lives actually -- in this office in Daily's Place in Jacksonville." Khan went on to reminisce about all of the people that have sat in the office, mentioning people like Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and FTR. "I was in there with Matt and Nick and a ton of our production staff, including some people that were new to Daily's Place like Mike Mansury and a lot of the staff that had joined us in the past couple of years. Matt and Nick had some ideas and I had a big vision for where we would go."

He continued, "I remember on January 10, Matt and Nick had an idea of a presentation that was their idea and it's been tremendous of utilizing Succession. So I was able to just tell Jesse straight up to his face, you know, 'there are wrestlers in our show that have been very inspired by Succession and their theme song may or may not be very similar to the Succession theme song.' But he was very kind about it. And Matt and Nick brought that up and I thought it was such a great idea. I'm such a big Succession fan and I thought it was a great idea for them."

The Arrival of Kazuchika Okada in AEW

As for adding Okada to the group, Khan revealed it was his idea to bring the decorated NJPW star into their group.

'I also mentioned, I think Okada coming in will be perfect and the group of Okada and the Young Bucks, they fit together like a glove and, you know, it's unthinkable. It really makes Matt and Nick terrible villains on TV. They've just embraced it and Matt and Nick are so great in these roles and also they're great partners with Okada."

Khan later complimented Okada on his ability to take to the American wrestling presentation quickly. "They had an amazing match last night and you see the presentation and the details and all the nuanced things that Matt and Nick and Okada do and then when you think how really new that group is and how great they all are together. It's scary. Certainly, Okada has taken to American wrestling television incredibly quickly and I'm not at all surprised by that. I predicted it. And in that room on January 10, I was saying, 'I think this guy can come in and be a franchise heel and do something very different than what he's been doing, what he's done. And I bet with Matt and Nick working with him and with all of us talking and, and collaborating that Okada would come in and be a great centerpiece star for AEW.' Which he has done, and tons of credit to Matt and Nick and Okada for this."