The Elite’s Gone with the Wind
How a Classic Film Ties into Professional Wrestling
Introduction
The Elite bring a new dimension to storytelling in pro wrestling; the stories they craft have incredible attention to detail and overarching themes, giving their plotlines a sense of depth that’s rarely seen in the sport. Throughout their time in AEW, the story they’ve been most devoted to is the one between them and their best friend, Hangman Page.
While much of the storytelling in pro wrestling doesn’t extend past the action in the ring and words spoken into microphones, the Elite like to use tools out of a high school English textbook like metaphors, symbolism, and allusion. Episode 319 of Being the Elite showed fans a particularly interesting use of allusion as Matt Jackson likened Hangman’s rejection of him to Ashley Wilkes’ rejection of Scarlett O’Hara in the film Gone With the Wind.
Part One: The Elite is Torn Apart
Hangman Adam Page has had a tumultuous relationship with the Elite for the last three or so years. Resentment began to build up between Hangman and the Elite in 2019, when the Elite didn’t come out to support their friend during his AEW title match against Chris Jericho.
Trouble accelerated when Hangman and Kenny Omega defeated SCU to become the AEW Tag Team Champions. The fact that they had become champions before Matt and Nick had undoubtedly fostered some jealousy on the part of the Young Bucks.
Hangman didn’t want to fight Matt and Nick in a match or otherwise. However, he had to face his fear at Revolution 2020 when the Young Bucks challenged him and Kenny for their titles in a bout that threatened to tear the four of them apart. Miraculously, Kenny and Adam came away from the match with their titles still around their waists and the Young Bucks by their side.
Adam began to isolate himself from the Elite more and more. He turned to alcohol to cope with the overwhelming pressure he felt as a Tag Team Champion in and out of the ring. With clouded judgment, Hangman sabotaged the Young Bucks as they fought to earn another shot at Adam and Kenny’s titles. This was the final straw for Matt, who threw a glass of whiskey in Adam’s face and told him simply, “we’re done.”
The Elite’s saga took a dramatic turn when Kenny and Adam lost their tag titles to FTR at All Out. Kenny began to turn bitter. The softhearted, thoughtful Kenny began to fade as a cold, selfish, gold-hungry professional wrestler took his place. This new Kenny soon became AEW World Champion through cheap, underhanded tactics.
Though they tried to bring Kenny back to the light, the Young Bucks’ efforts to save their partner proved ineffective. Kenny began to lash out at the two of them, specifically at Matt; he and Kenny’s wily manager Don Callis questioned Matt’s love for Kenny. Callis specifically accused Matt of breaking Kenny’s heart after Kenny gave up his life in Japan for him. “He chose you!” Callis shouted, jabbing a finger into Matt's chest.
Matt felt he had no choice but to give in. He stayed by Kenny’s side as he always did and even began to take on some of Kenny’s heelish qualities. Matt and Nick soon fit next to Kenny as naturally as they had before. They even supported his numerous attacks against their former best friend, Hangman Page, who had embarked on a journey of redemption and self-discovery since losing the AEW Tag Team Championships. He had made new friends in the Dark Order, who proved themselves to be more supportive and loyal to Hangman than the Bucks had been in a long time.
Things came to a head at 2021’s Full Gear PPV when Hangman challenged Kenny for his AEW Championship. By this time, Kenny had become the most dominant champion in all of professional wrestling. He was not only AEW Champion but AAA Champion (and IMPACT World Champion, though his reign with that title ended a few weeks before Full Gear). Hangman was heading into the biggest fight of his life against his former partner.
Matt and Nick came to ringside to watch the match. As Hangman was about to deal the final blow to Kenny, his signature Buckshot Lariat, Matt approached the ring apron and looked at Hangman as if he were about to intervene. Instead, Matt looked up at Adam with a pained yet understanding expression and nodded his head as though he were telling Adam to go ahead and finish it.
Hangman defeated Kenny for the AEW World Championship. As the referee finished his three-count, Nick, Matt, and Kenny almost seemed relieved.
Part Two: Falling Back Together
On the following episode of Dynamite, Kenny announced he would be taking time off to recover from numerous injuries he had sustained over the last few years. He left the Bucks in the care of their old friend Adam Cole. This would prove to be a mistake; Adam Cole was still the same treacherous man the Elite knew years ago, despite his feigning forgiveness.
Adam Cole noticed that Matt and Nick were rekindling their friendship with Hangman Page. Not only did this fuel jealousy within Cole, but it also provided a threat to his search for gold; AEW just announced a tournament to crown the company’s inaugural Trios Champions, and Cole couldn’t risk a team as powerful as the Young Bucks and Hangman Page forming in wake of this announcement. This caused Cole to lash out at the two Bucks; he baited the Bucks to the ring under the guise of a team meeting. He then ordered Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish to ambush the Bucks, wanting to incapacitate them to the point where they’d be forced to miss the trios tournament.
Who should come to their rescue but the dreamy cowboy himself, Hangman. Matt was now all but head over heels for the idea of reuniting with Hangman and thought the perfect opportunity was right in front of him. Soon after Hangman came to his and his brother’s rescue, Matt asked Hangman if he would like to be their partner for the upcoming Trios Championship Tournament.
Hangman, much to Matt’s shock, politely declined the offer.
Part Three: Between Friendship and Devotion
Matt was heartbroken. He tried to cope with the pain the same way anyone goes through a breakup: eating copious amounts of junk food and watching movies in pajamas. The movie that Matt chose to watch, though, brings us to our main topic for today.
As the camera pans up to Matt’s face, the audio of a particular scene from the 1939 film Gone With the Wind plays:
Scarlett: All I know is that I love you! And you don’t love Melanie!
Ashley: She’s like me, Scarlett. She’s part of my blood and we understand each other.
Scarlett: But you love me!
Ashley: How could I help loving you— you who has all the passion for life that I lack? But that kind of love isn’t enough to make a successful marriage for two people who are as different as we are.
Up until this point in the movie, Ashley Wilkes had been courting Scarlett, who was in turn swooning for the southern gentleman. The revelation that Ashley would marry Melanie, the more socially appropriate match for him (Even though they were cousins. This movie takes place in the American south in the 1800s) was a rude awakening for Scarlett. The scene serves as a parallel to Hangman’s rejection of Matt and his decision to support the Dark Order.
During this segment in BTE, Matt’s hair is unkempt and he’s wearing a pair of red (scarlet) shorts. In this parallel, he plays the role of Scarlett O’Hara.
Adam is the blond, dreamy, honorable Ashley Wilkes. Ashley has a fondness for Scarlet, just as Adam has a fondness for Matt. However, neither man wants to devote themselves entirely to the objects of their affection; for Ashley, this is because of a sense of duty to his family. For Adam, it’s out of loyalty to the Dark Order (and perhaps a bit of fear that things between him and Matt will only fall apart again).
Later on in the scene Matt’s watching, Rhett Butler appears after Ashley leaves the room. This is the first time he and Scarlet meet; though they get off to a bit of a rocky start, they eventually fall in love and get married. However, Scarlett’s infatuation for Ashley continues through her marriage to Rhett.
Kenny returned to AEW the week after Adam rejected Matt’s offer. Kenny, then, plays the role of the snarky, down-to-earth Rhett Butler. In the film, Rhett serves as Scarlett’s true love. Unfortunately, overlooks him for much of the film due to her infatuation with Ashley. This causes Rhett to abandon her at the film’s end.
Luckily for Matt, things turned out much better for him than they did for Scarlett. He, Nick, and Kenny went on to become AEW’s inaugural Trios Champions after defeating Hangman and the Dark Order in the finals of the tournament.
The future of the Elite is up in the air at the moment due to backstage issues. It’s unclear when they’ll be able to get their story back on track. However, in the meantime, we can look back on the story they’ve told so far and appreciate their dedication to their craft.