The Young Bucks have shared an emotional remembrance of PAC, looking back on a friendship that began long before all three men arrived in AEW. Matt and Nick Jackson spoke about PAC, whose real name was Ben, during an episode of Being The Elite filmed in the wake of AEW Dynamite’s tribute show in Pittsburgh.
For Matt Jackson, the painful reality of the occasion was difficult to put into words. He recalled having seen PAC only days earlier, then finding himself in Pittsburgh for a show honoring someone he regarded as one of his closest friends within professional wrestling.
“If you would have asked me last Wednesday what I’d be doing in Pittsburgh, it wasn’t a tribute show to one of my best friends in the business, Pac, Ben,” Matt said. “I just saw him on Wednesday. I saw him on Saturday and here we are at a tribute show. I’m tired of freaking collecting these armbands.”
The comments offered a personal view of the loss felt throughout the wrestling community. PAC was a major presence in AEW, but the Jackson brothers’ memories made clear that their connection was not defined by their time under the same banner. Their relationship stretched back roughly 20 years, to a period when all of them were younger wrestlers trying to establish themselves in Japan.
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A crucial welcome during the Bucks’ first year in Japan
Matt said that PAC played an important role when the brothers first arrived in Tokyo in 2008. The Young Bucks were still early in their careers, far from Southern California and confronted by the culture shock that can come with moving through Japan’s demanding wrestling circuit. PAC, an English-speaking wrestler who was also making his way through that environment, immediately became a reassuring presence.
“Ben was such a great dude,” Matt said. “Took care of us on our first year in Japan, 2008, we got to Tokyo and I remember we were just a couple of kids from SoCal. We were so culture shocked and he was so relieved to see us, he’s like, ‘Oh my god, two more people here in Japan who speak English that are going to be riding on the bus with me every week.’”
That early introduction became much more than a familiar face on the road. Matt explained that PAC took a liking to the brothers and helped them get acclimated, effectively showing them how to navigate a wrestling life far removed from the one they knew in California.
For wrestlers at that stage of their careers, the road can be as formative as the matches. New surroundings, demanding travel and the isolation of working overseas can put immense pressure on talent still learning the rhythms of the profession. Matt’s recollection emphasized PAC’s generosity in that setting. He was not merely someone the brothers encountered on tour; he was someone who helped make an intimidating experience manageable.
The three men eventually became roommates during their time in Japan. That detail underlines how closely their lives overlapped before they became internationally established names. They spent extended stretches around one another, saw each other frequently in Japan and continued to cross paths in independent wrestling, including PWG.
A friendship that continued across changing careers
Professional wrestling careers rarely follow a straight line, and the paths of PAC and The Young Bucks shifted as their profiles grew. Matt noted that they lost some contact after PAC joined WWE. Even so, the foundation formed in Japan remained meaningful, and PAC’s advice was also part of the brothers’ memories.
Matt said PAC advised The Young Bucks not to join WWE. The comment was not presented as a broader statement about the company or as a recounting of specific backstage circumstances. Instead, it was one more piece of a long-running friendship in which PAC could speak candidly with Matt and Nick about their careers.
Years later, the three would share a locker room again in AEW. That reunion allowed their professional lives to intersect in a different era, after each had built a major reputation in wrestling. Yet the Jackson brothers’ tribute centered less on their onscreen association and more on the person they knew before the worldwide recognition, before AEW and before the many changes their careers would bring.
The distinction is important. Wrestling audiences know performers through matches, promos, rivalries and championships. Friends on the road know them through the quieter moments: long bus rides, unfamiliar cities, shared rooms and conversations that do not happen in front of a camera. Matt’s memories of PAC were rooted in those moments.
Matt Jackson recalls a conversation that now carries a different weight
The most emotional portion of Matt’s remembrance concerned a recent conversation he had with PAC about the length of their friendship. The two had reflected on the fact that they had known each other for almost 20 years, dating back to a time when Nick Jackson was not yet 20 years old.
Matt said PAC had put the passage of time in a striking perspective. In another 20 years, PAC told him, they would be old men in their 60s. Remembering those words during the tribute, Matt became overcome with emotion because that future will not come to pass for his friend.
“I remember we talked about recently, [I told him] ‘Man, you know, we met you almost 20 years ago.’ [Pac said] ‘Nick was not even 20.’ And he’s like, ‘You know what’s even crazier? In 20 years, we’re going to be old men. We’re going to be 60, Matt.’ He told me that and it just breaks my heart ’cause he will never be able to be 60.”
It was a devastating reflection not because it focused on wrestling accomplishments, but because it focused on ordinary time. The conversation imagined a future in which old friends could look back on their younger years together. Matt’s remarks conveyed the shock of realizing that a future once spoken about casually is now impossible.
That kind of memory often reveals the human impact behind a public tribute. PAC had long been known to fans for the intensity he brought to his work, but Matt’s account painted a picture of a friend who was welcoming, protective and deeply connected to the people around him. The words also reflected the difficult burden of repeated loss in wrestling, captured in Matt’s comment about being tired of collecting tribute armbands.
Remembering Ben beyond the performer known as PAC
Throughout the discussion, Matt moved naturally between calling him PAC and calling him Ben. That shift reflected the difference between remembering a wrestler and mourning a friend. PAC was the public identity recognized by AEW viewers and fans around the world. Ben was the person who met two young wrestlers in Tokyo, welcomed them into an unfamiliar environment and became part of their lives for nearly two decades.
Matt and Nick’s shared history with PAC also speaks to the enduring nature of relationships formed on the independent and international wrestling scene. Before careers lead performers to major promotions, wrestlers often travel the same circuits, share the same buses and rely on one another while far from home. Those experiences can create friendships that survive distance, career changes and periods of reduced contact.
For The Young Bucks, PAC was evidently one of those people. He was there at a formative stage of their Japan journey. He was a roommate. He was a familiar presence through Japan and PWG. He was someone with whom Matt could have an honest conversation about getting older after nearly 20 years of friendship. And he was someone whose absence left Matt struggling to comprehend the speed with which circumstances had changed.
AEW Dynamite’s tribute show provided a public space to honor PAC, but the Jackson brothers’ comments added a deeply personal dimension to that remembrance. Their story was not about a single match, angle or milestone. It was about a friendship built through years of travel, shared experience and mutual familiarity.
As wrestling continues to mourn PAC, Matt and Nick Jackson’s memories stand as a reminder that his legacy is carried not only in what audiences saw in the ring, but also in the people he helped along the way. For two wrestlers who arrived in Japan as culture-shocked kids from Southern California, Ben was one of the people who made that world feel less lonely. Nearly two decades later, that bond remains at the center of their tribute.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.