In a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & “Hangman” Adam Page) discussed their decision to renew their contracts with All Elite Wrestling.

On renewing his deal, Kenny Omega had the following to say, “Our original goal was to create a wrestling alternative and give a platform to talented people that we’d all felt deserved a spotlight. I feel like we did our best in that time, and hopefully some people you’d never heard of pre-AEW are folks you enjoy watching today, or if you knew them from their previous work elsewhere, have maybe found a new appreciation for them. That feeling, combined with the feeling of knowing they can provide for themselves and their family doing what they love, was always the biggest reward of being an EVP/Founder. Pro wrestling has a presence almost everywhere on the planet, in my pursuit to become as complete of a performer as possible, my goal was always to experience the styles of the world at their highest level. I believe that with AEW’s current working relationships, and possibly future, I can challenge all forms of pro wrestling and diversify my style so that I’m equipped for any scenario I may encounter in the ring. I was careful to weigh out all options and was open minded to all possibilities. I’m here to help whomever I can while I’m still around. Up to this point, I’ve made the choice to sacrifice everything in the name of pro wrestling, I can’t say that family or my kids influenced the decision to stay with AEW, I’m not married and without kids, but what I can say is that I’m incredibly proud of my match catalog and the wonderful people I’ve met and continue to meet. AEW not only allows me to continue doing what I do at a high level, but allows the freedom to pursue some other passions I have in life, which after nearly 25 years in the ring, have become more and more important to me.”

Speaking on his decision to renew, Matt Jackson stated, “We’re literally the E in AEW, The Elite are the main characters of this company, no matter how different AEW is now from its original inception, we are the DNA and if you lose the foundation of your home, it eventually collapses. It’d be a lie if I said that didn’t weigh on us when making the decision. In my older years of my career, being closer to the end than I am the beginning, I’m not really one who worries much about my legacy anymore, I’ve kind of noticed like a Summer tan, most memories fade, or they’re remembered differently or told with errors anyway. Oftentimes, the memory is almost instantly forgotten, because you hit the refresh button. As far as my own personal stories, I’ll have enough to re-tell my grandchildren for a lifetime, and much of those stories can be about how I helped create a massively successful wrestling company where all of your favorites can be seen on live television every week. Ultimately, I made the best decision for my family, working in AEW will allow me the most time with my children, and they’re still at the young age where they need their Dad home as much as possible. Having the strongest marriage possible with my wife Dana is so important to me as well. When wrestling is finished, I want to come home to a full, healthy home, the entire Elite was going to make the decision of where we were going together, and that’s what we did, we stuck together which isn’t typical in the wrestling business, but again, I used the word family earlier, we’re not just locker room pals, we’re more like a family and we did what the family wanted. Our next goal in AEW, p*** more people off, make people happy, continue to think outside the box, tell unique stories, share a laugh with the guys in the locker room, make my parents proud, shine a light in an often dark place and when it’s over, to come home to my family in one piece. Love us, hate us, cheer us, boo us, send us sweet comments, or heckle us, as long as you feel something and you continue to watch the very company we announced on our YouTube series all those years ago, thank you. If you were hoping this would be our grand exit, sorry to disappoint you, you’re stuck with us, we’re not going anywhere.”

Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks discussed his decision to renew stating, “If we’re going to be honest, the schedule was a huge part of it, I have a wife and three young children and seeing them as much as possible was a big factor, I’m not going to lie, the money was a huge factor too. At this point of my life and career, I just couldn’t see myself being on the road half of the year or even more than that, I have so much respect for the guys and girls that are able to do that year-after-year. We for sure could’ve made memories in WWE, but what’s more important to me is making memories with my family. With the position we’re in, I’ll be able to do that and still make memories in AEW. The goal for us is to continue to build the company and still be the true alternative, we can’t lose that identity, short-term goals, the goal is to help make All In as successful and big as possible, I don’t think any of us ever thought we’d be able to sell 70,000 tickets for one show, but here we are, it’s mind-blowing and we keep moving that goalpost further and further. This is what we helped create, it’s made the wrestling business so much healthier, we take pride in the success AEW has achieved, I think it’s huge for AEW to keep The Elite, it’s a W for the company and for us.”

Finally, “Hangman” Adam Page had the following to say on his decision to renew, “I think it’s very meaningful that, as a day one guy, I stay with AEW. It’s likely that I will one day finish my career here, hopefully that can help the future generations see that there can be more than one path to success. At this stage of my life, the selling point was the schedule, AEW’s schedule allows me to be home with my family for the majority of the week and will ideally help my body hold up better in the long run, and the pay is good. AEW emerging as a legitimate wrestling company has helped drive up the bargaining power for wrestlers and others who work in the industry. Making a long-term commitment to a still-growing AEW I felt was the best way I could help continue that progress. Pro wrestling has given me so much, starting with free hot dogs, and now, the ability to provide a secure future for myself and my family. I want to eventually leave it better than I found it for future generations.”

The full interview is available at this link.