Jim Cornette reveals the real reason why former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions may have been buried in AEW
WWE legend Jim Cornette has thrown out a theory as to why he feels one of wrestling's top tag teams hasn't reached their full potential in AEW.
The team in question is FTR, who arrived in All Elite Wrestling in May 2020 after being granted their release from WWE, 15 months after requesting one in January 2019.
They have since gone on to win the AEW Tag Team Championships, as well as holding gold in companies like Ring of Honor, AAA, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, their time in All Elite Wrestling might be coming to an end as their contracts expire at the end of April 2023.
FTR taking a few months off to think about their next move. They've earned it after the 2022 they had. Sounds like their next contracts will be their last. Would like to see them close out their careers in AEW. I'm sure they're due for a pay raise wherever they end up.
#AEW https://t.co/1HZwKhquvO
But why haven't the former Raw, Smackdown, and NXT Tag Team Champions reached the pinnacle of their careers in the eyes of Jim Cornette? Speaking on his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience, the former WWE manager believes it has something to do with another team blocking their chances of winning more gold.
“They’ve had too many names, they’ve not been focused on, their talent hasn’t not been appreciated in either place and again—you know you hear from the side of Uncle Dave [Meltzer] and the people he talks to, ‘oh it’s ridiculous to think they’ve been buried because of all the belts they’ve had,’ in companies that don’t make a s**t in this country."
He added:
"We’ve talked about it, the whole thing that was hanging on it was winning the big one there on that TV to go along with the others. That would have got them over there in that environment which was the most important and that’s why it was blocked.” [3:56 - 4:29]
Cornette was talking about AEW EVP's The Young Bucks, who many people believed would drop their tag titles to FTR. However, that never happened as the Jackson brothers transitioned into the trios division once Kenny Omega returned.
FTR and The Young Bucks have one win each in AEW
Before FTR arrived in AEW, the dream match that everyone wanted them to have was against The Young Bucks, given their long rivalry that began all the way back in 2016 on the YouTube show 'Being the Elite.'
Since then, the four men have shared the ring on multiple occasions, but they have only wrestled two tag team matches against each other, with each team winning one match apiece.
The first match came at the 2020 Full Gear pay-per-view, when The Young Bucks defeated FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championships. Had Matt and Nick Jackson lost the match, they would never have challenged for the titles again.
The second match came 17 months later on the April 6th, 2022, edition of Dynamite, where FTR successfully defended both the AAA and ROH Tag Team Championships.
Do you think a third match will ever happen? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Please credit the "Jim Cornette Experience" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.