10 Anti-WWE Moves AEW Made Out Of Spite

5. Papa Buck's T-Shirt

AEW is a babyface promotion, but there's little worse than when good people get so far up their own f*cking a*se that they suddenly don't seem so nice.

That was absolutely the case during this transitional period for The Young Bucks in 2021. Caught between Kenny Omega and Don Callis (before turning heel and linking up with both of them), Matt and Nick Jackson were rebuffing the latter's slimy attempts to get them onside. This extended to pretending to pie off a t-shirt he'd had made, ostensibly in their injured father's honour.

Of course, there was more to the story.

The shirt was adorned with "Do Not Slap Leg When Kicking", hastily put together following news that this exact edict had been passed down to WWE wrestlers from management. The leaked memo made for some good discourse in the days that followed, and AEW were quick to pounce on it with a prop that actually briefly went up for sale in their flog-everything ever online shop. In the interview, Matt Jackson swiped it out of shot in disgust, but only after it had lingered long enough for everybody to get the message.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett