AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) recently spoke with Sneaker History on a number of topics including how their deal with Reebok came about.
Nicholas Jackson said, “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.”
Matthew Jackson added:
“Right away.”
Nicholas said:
“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 said:
“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. 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.”
You can check out Matthew and Nicholas Jackson’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
