When the Being the Elite YouTube series first launched in May 2016, it was mostly a travelogue for professional wrestlers The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. However, as the show evolved, storylines and new characters were introduced–including the likes of Cody Rhodes, “Hangman” Adam Page, and several other faces familiar to fans of All Elite Wrestling.
In fact, as far as AEW is concerned, a big part of how the promotion is coming together is due to the popularity of AEW and the notoriety it’s brought the Elite, the group of wrestlers regularly featured on the show. With AEW debuting its show on TNT in the fall, though, many fans have wondered if that will mean the end of Being the Elite. Thankfully, as the Bucks and Omega have confirmed to GameSpot, that is not the case.
“I think BTE is important. And I was talking to someone about this the other day. On this show on TNT we can only do it say certain things,” Matt Jackson said during an interview at the TCA press tour. “On YouTube, we can do whatever the hell we want. Maybe you want to watch Frankie Kazarian go on an F-bomb tirade like he always does. You’re not going to be able to see that on TNT.”
What’s more, Jackson realizes how important BTE has been to the success he and his friends have achieved. “The whole Elite brand is cultivated through the show, right? We created this cult following because the show, and I don’t think a lot of the stuff we’ve done and our own successes with our brand–like we probably would have never gotten to the Hot Topic deals, probably wouldn’t ever got the Funko Pops,” he explained. “All that stuff happened, I think, because these three silly guys were in Japan bored, and we took out our cell phones; we started videoing bits of ourselves. And it exploded, and our popularity just went nuts.”
Even with BTE sticking around though, continuing to help grow the popularity of the Elite brand, and by extension All Elite Wrestling, there might be some serious upgrades in store for the YouTube Series.
“One of the cool things that we actually have access to now which [we could] never do before when we were in Japan [is] we can actually use our backstage area,” Omega teased. “We can use you know POV [camera] shots at ringside. These are things that we can do at our leisure now, which is kind of nice. So you might even see it sort of a new layer of creativity with episodes once [AEW] TV goes live.”
Still, Jackson noted that even if filming opportunities may be upgraded, the show’s actual content will still be on-brand for the Elite. “You can see other sides of these crazy characters and how they act,” he said. “Maybe a little more sense of humor on [BTE], while watching our more sports-centric show on cable TV.”
Take a character like Jon Moxley, for instance. “On the [TNT] show, you’ll see a Jon Moxley type of character [that] is going to be a little darker, right? But if you want to see him have a little bit more of a sense of humor, then you can go to the YouTube show and still watch that,” Jackson explained. “It can feed everything.”
That’s just one of the ways AEW is trying to be a pro wrestling alternative fans can look to if they want to sample something different. Whether it’ll work out in the end, but with AEW on TNT premiering on October 2, it shouldn’t take too long to find out.
