The Young Bucks Lose IWGP Tag Team Titles At NJPW New Beginning In Osaka (AEW News)
AEW's Young Bucks lose NJPW's tag titles to Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito in first defence.
Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi have dethroned The Young Bucks as IWGP Tag Team Champions, beating Matthew and Nicholas Jackson at today's NJPW 'The New Beginning in Osaka' event.
The Young Bucks were put away by the Los Ingobnerables de Japon pairing in just under 10 minutes. Naito ended up pinning Nicholas Jackson after a flurry of Destinos, ending the Bucks' IWGP Tag Team Title reign at 37 days.
The Jackson had been champions since claiming the then-vacant straps in a three-way match with Takahashi and Naito and United Empire's Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan at AEW, CMLL, and NJPW's co-promoted Wrestle Dynasty show on 5 January. Today's bout with Naito and Takahashi was their first defence.
Matthew and Nicholas' title win was notable as it was the first time the Young Bucks had wrestled in Japan since leaving NJPW to help start AEW in January 2019. They had been IWGP Tag Team Champions once before this, reigning for just under three months in 2018, until current WWE stars the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa) unseated them that September.
What this means for the Bucks' immediate future is unclear. The duo have been off AEW television since October 2024, when they lost the AEW Tag Team Titles to Private Party, then told Christopher Daniels that the would be working from home going forward. This was reportedly done to facilitate time off for Nicholas, who had been dealing with a shoulder injury.
Before their absence, the Bucks' had (in storyline) been reticent to involve themselves with the ongoing Death Riders storyline. Whether or not they will factor into those plans upon coming back is unclear.