After spending the past five years chasing the AEW World Tag Team Championship, Private Party gave wrestling fans another reason to get excited about the company when they dethroned The Young Bucks in spectacular fashion. As a longtime fan myself, Isiah Kennedy and Marq Quen defeating one of the best teams in the world was an incredibly powerful moment, and I was pumped to get the chance to talk to them about it.
Ahead of Private Party’s first title defense at Full Gear, where they defeated The Outrunners, The Acclaimed, and Kings of the Black Throne in an explosive four-way contest, I caught up with Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen to revisit the final seconds of the match where they put Nick Jackson in the Gin and Juice (a top rope Frankensteiner into a Cutter) and got the pinfall. Their response gave me chills, to say the least:
Quen came in the ring and it finally felt real when he pushed me and we got in each other’s faces. It was like, ‘Man, this is actually really about to happen.’ And then once that three [count] happened – 1, 2, 3 – it was like ‘We did it. We finally did it.’”
Already having chills from hearing Kennedy talk about what I would imagine has been a highlight of his career, I asked Quen what that moment was like, and sure enough "emotion" reigned supreme.
I started into the ring, and when I pushed Zay right then, all the emotion was hitting me. So my eyes started getting watery. And I’m just saying, ‘Not now, not now, because I have to bounce off the ropes. So I’m bouncing off the ropes, but I really cannot see them. I’m on autopilot because I’m just like this is it. And then once I hit the hurricanrana, they catch the cutter. I went to go stop Matt [Jackson]. Guess what? There was no Matt, and I just sat there and I was like ‘Yeah, this is it.’”
Though Private Party wanted nothing more than to beat The Young Bucks and bring an end to their reign, one that started at the incredible AEW Dynasty pay-per-view more than six months earlier, they weren’t above giving the transformative duo their flowers weeks after claiming their first tag titles in the company.
When I asked Kennedy what it was like to beat a team that not only helped AEW get off the ground but also changed the game for tag wrestling around the world the past decade-and-a-half, he had wasted no time talking about how much this all means to him:
Those Young Bucks are legit, probably my second favorite tag team right behind the Hardy Boyz. And those are the guys who brought us into AEW. And so we look up to the Young Bucks to this day. So for us to beat the guys who actually really changed professional wrestling, I feel like it did a lot for us. It put us from here to all the way here. And I can't thank the Young Bucks for everything. I can't repay them, but I just know that I am super grateful for the Young Bucks.
While Quen agreed with his longtime friend and tag partner about being proud of beating a team with such an impressive resume, he didn’t stand by Kassidy’s comments about not being able to repay Matt and Nick Jackson:
I would agree with everything Zay said, but the only thing I disagree with him is when he said he can't repay them because I feel like we can repay them by taking these tag belts to the next level.
Private Party is well on its way to taking the AEW World Tag Team Championship to the next level, especially after defeating The Acclaimed (the team they were focused on the most) in Full Gear’s opening four-way tag match. If that was any indication, we’re going to be looking at a long and fruitful reign for Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen.
With some high-profile upcoming AEW events in the works, we can expect to hear a lot more from Private Party as they continue to defend their belts and bring fans back to professional wrestling in the weeks and months ahead.
