Independent Wrestlers Cody (FKA WWE’s Cody Rhodes) and Matt and Nick Jackson (known together as the Young Bucks) are arguably the most popular wrestlers to ever exist outside of the WWE. All members of a faction called the Bullet Club, they’ve only experienced a rise in stock over the past year or so.
The Bullet Club has taken the indy wrestling world by storm since its inception in 2013. Its leaders and notable members have gone on to be stars in WWE, including Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, AJ Styles, and Adam Cole.
All while a Bullet Club invasion is happening in WWE, Matt and Nick Jackson have become superstars in their own right throughout New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. They have over 100 episodes of their own YouTube show, Being the Elite, which documents their travels, various shows, and sketch storylines with the "cast" of Bullet Club members and friends. Over the past year, BTE has earned over 200,000 subscribers and loyal fans and developing catchphrases, hand gestures, and hundreds of t-shirts.
Every event they attend, they are the stars of the show. They often document long meet and greet lines and insanely loud crowds on BTE, and they main event Ring of Honor events and Pay Per Views. Much like former leaders and stars of Bullet Club have seemingly been destined for WWE, and that could easily happen for Cody and the Bucks.
Instead of signing with WWE and becoming more mainstream, Nick, Matt, and Cody have decided to take a bigger step themselves—spurred by popular journalist Dave Meltzer, who covers pro wrestling daily, the three Bullet Club members took it upon themselves to fill a 10,000 seat arena without any corporate sponsorship or company affiliation.
Thus, “All In” was born. Matt, Nick and Cody have been working tirelessly to put on a show with the best independent wrestling has to offer—and it shows. They chose Chicago as the setting for what is shaping up to be independent wrestling’s biggest show ever.
Along with the show, Cody and the Bucks have created a convention at a nearby hotel called Starrcast. Starrcast boasts “pictures, autographs, meet and greets, one of a kind experiences, live podcasts, and more!” (Twitter). Several current indy wrestling stars as well as WWE legends and podcasters have been announced to be at the event, which, similar to the All In show itself, is surprisingly affordable.
Front row tickets to All In are only $153 per person. WWE charges over $400 per ticket for an episode of Raw or Smackdown, which are weekly events. Cody, Nick, Matt and friends treat this as a WrestleMania-caliber show (as they should), and WrestleMania front row tickets can go for up to $5,500 per person.
Starrcast convention’s most expensive ticket option is only $159, which gives you first dibs at free events and meet and greets as well as discounts on merchandise and other events that cost a little bit more. They also offer flight and hotel discounts through certain airlines and hotels, making the trip even easier. With the affordability and the star-studded lineup for All In, all 10,451 tickets were sold out in less than 30 minutes.
The event isn’t about the money for Cody and the Bucks—in response to the low prices, Matt tweeted “We aren’t doing this to get rich, we’re doing this to make the business a richer place for wrestlers and fans”, and that’s what they’re going to do.
The group has stated several times that it isn’t about the money for them, it’s about putting on the best show possible. All of the biggest names in indy wrestling will be at this show, and the media attention it has gotten has turned heads of those who don’t even focus on wrestling (see their Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated articles).
There’s a reason that so many stars want in on this experience, and it’s because this is going to change the game for indy wrestling as we know it. Indy wrestling is at its peak right now, with modern technology that lets a wrestling fan in one place view content from hundreds of different companies around the world. It’s easier than trading tapes from various promotions years ago and it’s definitely easier than finding out about different territories. Until recently, all wrestling fans had easy access to was WWE.
Nowadays, nothing is more important to a wrestling fan than talent, which is why the Bullet Club is so successful. They are stars because of their promos and excellent in-ring capabilities (seriously—check out one of my favorite matches of all time here). Their talent has elevated them to the top of the indy world, and after All In, likely the mainstream world. These guys spend weeks at a time away from their families, traveling across the world to perform. Their hard work has not gone unnoticed, and that’s why they have been so successful as of late.
At All In, Matt, Nick, Cody and their friends finally see a culmination of their hard work in September at All In. With such a risky business venture (did I mention that the whole thing is fully funded by these three men?) paying off in full before the event even occurs, Cody and the Young Bucks are truly changing pro wrestling as we know it—they have inspired thousands to fulfill their dream and to work hard for what they want.
Check out the Starrcast and All In lineups here.
All In tickets are sold out, but you can still purchase Starrcast tickets here.