{"id":223080,"date":"2026-09-30T12:25:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=223080"},"modified":"2026-09-30T12:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T17:25:34","slug":"aew-rising-and-fading-stars-the-young-bucks-stepping-up-as-elder-leaders-of-the-locker-room-andrade-taking-a-step-backwards-by-leaning-too-hard-into-comedic-aspects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/09\/30\/aew-rising-and-fading-stars-the-young-bucks-stepping-up-as-elder-leaders-of-the-locker-room-andrade-taking-a-step-backwards-by-leaning-too-hard-into-comedic-aspects\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW RISING AND FADING STARS: The Young Bucks stepping up as elder leaders of the locker room, Andrade taking a step backwards by leaning too hard into comedic aspects"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3134591265\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Welcome everyone!<\/p>\n<p>Well, our AEW family lost another member this week. I have seen this written before, but it works. Pac may have been \u201cThe Bastard,\u201d but he was our bastard. Rest in peace.<\/p>\n<p>What an emotional stretch AEW has been through. I will try to take your mind off that for a little bit while you read this.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s get to the list!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>RISING STAR OF THE WEEK<\/h3>\n<p><strong>THE YOUNG BUCKS (NICK &amp; MATT JACKSON)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The first ever four time AEW Tag Team Champions have really been at the top of their game for a stretch. Both got into better shape and when they turned face it felt like we truly got the old Young Bucks back.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday\u2019s ladders and more match was epic. It felt like three main event teams vying for, what should be, the biggest prize in tag team wrestling. After Saturday, and what is on the horizon I feel like they are getting there, finally.<\/p>\n<p>Getting back to the, not so, Young Bucks I am excited for this run. Will it be their last? Possibly. Will it be remembered? I think it will.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-4167054136\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The Young Bucks are now the elders in the locker room. Watching what they are doing on television and on their YouTube show, Being the Elite, it feels like their legacy is what they are looking to build on with this title reign.<\/p>\n<p>The Young Bucks kicked it off winning a ladder match against their biggest rivals, FTR, and against a team that has never lost a ladder match as a team, Cage &amp; Cope. I think we get a rematch with Christian Cage &amp; Adam Copeland at some point. FTR will want another shot. Then you have the team that a big chunk of the audience wants to see against the Young Bucks and that\u2019s the Motor City Machine Guns.<\/p>\n<p>Any order you do the matches in we are all the winners on this. Also, I didn\u2019t even bring up the New Level. This reign has the potential to be one of the best ever.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;Wrestling Night in America,&#8221; part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/wrestling-night-in-america-aew-all-out-post-show-parks-white-break-down-full-card-including-thekla-vs-willow-moxley-vs-ospreay-more--75393737\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wrestling Night in America - AEW All Out post-show: Parks &amp; White break down full card including Thekla vs. Willow, Moxley vs. Ospreay, more\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=75393737&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>FADING STAR OF THE WEEK<\/h3>\n<p><strong>ANDRADE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Remember when it felt like Andrade was one of the most over guys in AEW? Maybe you still feel that way? For me, having seen this all play out before, I am noticing issues.<\/p>\n<p>Andrade has never lacked for talent in the ring or confidence outside of it. What he has lacked in the past has been understanding of how to get over as a top star here. Andrade has always felt like he is on the cusp of breaking through and then something happens.<\/p>\n<p>This time around it felt different at first, but has slowly gone down hill. Andrade, as a babyface, being so enamored with things like taking off his pants has diminishing returns. While it is over with the crowd, I can\u2019t see that being something done in the middle of an AEW World Title match. So, maybe, the National Title level is right where Andrade belongs.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1757242684\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Again, I was hopeful we were going to get a locked in Andrade and maybe he\u2019s just hit a bump in the road. I would love for him to get serious and be wrong.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PWTorch Live Post-show (9\/26) - AEW All Out with Greg Parks &amp; Joshua White\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/luARiv-Chyc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-797655291\"><div id=\"pwtor-2298569710\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Welcome everyone! Well, our AEW family lost another member this week. I have seen this written before, but it works. Pac may have been \u201cThe Bastard,\u201d but he was our bastard. Rest in peace. What <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/09\/30\/aew-rising-and-fading-stars-the-young-bucks-stepping-up-as-elder-leaders-of-the-locker-room-andrade-taking-a-step-backwards-by-leaning-too-hard-into-comedic-aspects\/\" title=\"AEW RISING AND FADING STARS: The Young Bucks stepping up as elder leaders of the locker room, Andrade taking a step backwards by leaning too hard into comedic aspects\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4309,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-rising-star-fading-star","category-specialists"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-12.22.32-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223082,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223080\/revisions\/223082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}