The Elite

The Elite is a professional wrestling stable currently appearing in the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The group currently consists of Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) and "Hangman" Adam Page and are typically accompanied by Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa. Omega also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a two-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. The Elite was originally formed in January 2016 as a trio acting as a sub-group within Bullet Club, a larger stable of which Omega was the leader. Together, the trio captured the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship twice later that year, but continued their alliance beyond that point, with The Young Bucks notably acting as valets for Omega in his singles career. Other titles won by members as part of the stable include the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, IWGP Intercontinental Championship, IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, and AAA Mega Championship for Omega, while The Young Bucks won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship seven times, the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship once, the ROH World Tag Team Championship three times, and the AAA World Tag Team Championship one time. In October 2018, after a lengthy internal feud within Bullet Club, Omega and The Young Bucks' 'Elite' faction left the group. Cody Rhodes, Adam Page, and Marty Scurll, all of whom had sided with Omega during the feud, also left to formally join The Elite on October 30, 2018, alongside Omega's tag partner in Golden☆Lovers, Kota Ibushi, making it a full-scale stable. During the following three months, the members of The Elite would leave most of their other promotions to work almost exclusively with AEW, minus Scurll and Ibushi, who chose to remain in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, respectively, leaving the stable. The five, who were instrumental in the creation of the company and hold positions as executive vice presidents (except for Page), would play a pivotal role in AEW, both on-screen and off-screen. Cody Rhodes would eventually leave the group to focus on his own Nightmare Family stable, as would Page following a falling out with Omega and the Bucks. In December 2020, Don Callis, an executive vice president of Impact Wrestling, came to AEW as a guest of Omega and aided him in winning the AEW World Championship.