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AEW stars confirm deal 'two years in the making'

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The Young Bucks have opened up about their footwear collaboration with Reebok, revealing it was two years in the making.

In May 2024, The Young Bucks x Reebok Pumps were announced, as can be seen below in the official video advertisement.
This wasn’t the first time that Matthew & Nicholas Jackson had got into the footwear game, with their first deal with Diadora back in September 2022.

During an appearance on Sneaker History, the Young Bucks spoke about the Reebok deal, with Nicholas saying:
“That was two years in the making, just about. We had heard they wanted to do a deal with us after our first release signature shoe with Diadora went so well. They contacted us pretty quickly after that.
“They had interest and we didn’t realize how long the process takes because now, two years later, we finally had a release.
“After that shoe went so well, they wanted to do something with us and we couldn’t believe it. Matt went into detail a little how we used to wear Pumps back in the day, so it was full circle for us. That was bucket list. The first release was cool, but Reebok is a big deal.
“It’s a little bit bigger than what we had just worked with. I would have never thought we would have our own.”

Matthew would look back at the design process and their involvements from the early stages, revealing:
“I remember the beginning stages. They were like, ‘What kind of aesthetic are you looking for?’ I pretty much put up an entire storyboard of ideas. I must have sent them 10 or 12 different ideas about colorways. We brainstormed. They were cool. They were open to collab with everything. I sent them old pictures of gear that we had worn, just so they got an idea of what the Young Bucks aesthetic is. I want to say we nailed it down almost immediately.
“Within a few days, they sent me a mock up of what they could do. I had to alter a couple of things, but we were 90% there. We knocked it out pretty quick.

It wasn’t a fast process – from design to final product – with Matthew going to state:
“We hadn’t heard anything. It must have been a year, ‘Are we still doing this project?’ They are like, ‘We’re good. This is just how long it normally takes.’
“I remember seeing a pair for the first time. It was one of those bucket list moments of ‘Woah.’ We had the Diadora, but this is a sneaker I literally wore as a backyard wrestler in the ring. I have a picture of myself in 2002 or 2003 wearing a pair of these sneakers.
“To come back and do it 20 something years later and have our own logo on their, it’s one of those things where, I don’t know if we’re ever going to be able to beat this.”

The Young Bucks x Reebok footwear went on sale over AEW Double or Nothing in May 2024.
At that PPV, The Elite (The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada and Jack Perry) defeated Team AEW (Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) in an Anarchy in the Arena match.

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