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Round 2! Fight!
Here comes a new challenger: AEW's Nick Jackson.
In this 2019 Fyter Fest crossover, Nick enters the ring dressed as Shōtōkan master Ken from Capcom's legendary Street Fighter series.
Brothers Matt and Nick Massie were such big fans of pro wrestling that their parents put up a wrestling ring in their backyard so the boys could play. When Matt started training at a real school, he'd come back home after a session and pass the lessons on to his younger brother, until Nick was old enough to enroll as well. Their chemistry and talent led to a successful indie career, and off the strength of that, they were given a WWE tryout. They weren't signed to the company, and instead ended up going to Japan and becoming part of the infamous Bullet Club, where they grouped first with Kenny Omega and later Cody Rhodes and Hangman Page to form a faction-within-the-faction "The Elite." It was this group that accepted Dave Meltzer's challenge to sell a 10,000-ticket show, eventually leading to the formation of AEW as a whole.
As the marketing copy up above says, this outfit represents the Young Bucks' appearance at Fyter Fest 2019 (the name is a parody of the disastrous "Fyre Festival"). Because the event was co-sponsored
by a fighting game tournament, the Bucks came out dressed as Street Fighter characters; in the tradition of younger brothers everywhere, Nick had to be Player 2, dressing up as the Ken to Matt's Ryu. The figure's molds are the same seen on the Amazon-excluisve two-pack, with the sculpted fringe around the boots. He's wearing a softgoods vest (with stitched arm holes instead of torn) and a black sash tying it shut around his waist, and the set includes a black headband.
The headband is actually fed through the plastic tray the figure
rests in and then tied, so you'll have to undo it at least once. I never really trust myself to re-tie things as well as they came from the factory, but there's no avoiding it in this case. The promo renders for these figures showed both Bucks with their hair down, but the production figures have ponytails - something Nick's had before, but only with a sculpted headband, not bare. In fact, this is the first Nick to not be molded without a headband!
We get two heads with this figure: one with a big grimace, the other more serious. The likenesses are passable, but looking at the figures released in Series 3 and Series 7, we've definitely seen better. Also, as long as he was playing Ken Masters for the night, it's a shame he couldn't go blonde. Guess there's no easy, temporary way to do that.
We're still getting that weirdly blue skin that makes all
the AEW figures look like they've got hypoxia, a state only heightened here by having to contrast agsinst the vibrant red of Nick's ring gear. The red of the shirt is a darker shade than the pants, which is unfortunate, but that's the risk you take when you mix fabric and plastic. Like his brother, he's got "Young Bucks" on his back in the style of the Street Fighter logo, and "Super Kick" on his left leg.
These days Jazwares has reliably good articulation.
The Young Bucks are known for their high-flying style, so Nick will really benefit from his swivel/hinge ankles, swivel boot tops, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, balljointed chest and waist, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, hinged neck, and balljointed head. Also, it's worth noting how all these joints are capable of holding their position, even without being as dangerously stiff as Mattel always makes theirs.
Nick has a pair of fists and a pair of gripping hands, plus a pair of "palm strike" hands that are far from standard issue: they're here so Ken can do his hadouken!
Wrestling is at its best when everybody is willing to commit to the bit. I mean, that's what kayfabe was all about, but even now, it's more fun to pretend that a 60-year-old from Texas is a magical mortician from the Old West, or that six people on opposite sides of a fight just happened to bunch all together at ringside right before the seventh did a backflip off the corner post. Why does no one interrupt the Sweet Shin Music? Why do referees come out to overturn bad calls sometimes, but not others? Why will audiences happily sing along with "Judas" as entrance music and then instantly start booing the man it heralds? Because it's more fun that way. And having a guy dress up as a Street Fighter and have his opponent react to a pretend energy blast like it really hurt is a prime example of that. I've been considering getting a set of Young Bucks figures since this line started, but GameStop's Fyter Fest ones were the ones that finally made me buy in.
-- 08/16/23
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