Jack Perry has addressed his recent run in NJPW which began with a shock appearance.
In August 2023, Perry competed in his final AEW match to date at All In. Following his loss on the pre-show, Perry was involved in a physical altercation with CM Punk. The result of the incident led to CM Punk being fired and Perry being suspended until further notice.
With no one having any updates on the former Tag Team Champion, many were surprised to see Perry make an appearance at the NJPW Battle in the Valley pay-per-view. The former Jungle Boy stormed to the ring and ripped up his AEW contract on camera, declaring himself the “Scapegoat.”
Following the shock debut, Perry would later align himself with House of Torture and seemingly has no desire to return back to All Elite Wrestling in the near future. Speaking with New Japan about the character refresh, Perry stated that it is his opportunity to do things his way without the need to apologise:
“Well Japan for me is an opportunity, not to start over, but start a new chapter without having to apologise or pretend to be sorry for the actions of other people. It’s a way that I can stay true to myself and continue to grow despite everything that’s gone on. Ripping that contract was a declaration ‘I’m not playing by your rules anymore’. If (AEW) are too afraid to have me anymore, if the spectre of Jack Perry is too much, they don’t want to deal with the conversations, the ramifications that brings, then that’s fine,”
“I don’t need them [AEW]. I will go by myself across the world, all by myself, without any of my friends, without any of the things I’m used to, anything that’s been my life for the last five years, and I’ll do it on my own, make my own way.”
Later in the interview, Perry was asked which company he is a part of, AEW or NJPW, to which Perry responded that even he wasn’t entirely sure of the answer:
“Some of these things are unclear even to me, but I would say this- loyalty is a two way street, and I show loyalty to those who are loyal to me. As of now, certain parties have been very good to me, and I intend to repay that.”
The former FTW Champion was also asked what “Scapegoat” means to him, to which Perry responded that he is happy to be the cause of the blame that others won’t take responsibility for:
“I think it’s ingrained in human nature to be afraid of blame, and the disapproval of others. At the end of the day, that’s weakness. That’s a weak mindset, a weak soul. If you know the truth, what good is the opinion of other people? If you know the truth, you have power. I’m not shying away from the blame. If you need me to be the Scapegoat because you don’t have the bravery to stand up for your own actions, then that’s fine. I’m man enough to take that blame from all of us and I’m not going to shy away from it.”
Conflicting Reports Surrounding Jack Perry
Recent weeks have seen Perry hit the headlines over how he handled the suspension following the aforementioned altercation at All In. News first broke that over 6 months after the incident Tony Khan was still mad at Perry for causing CM Punk to leave the company, with the additional detail that Perry apologised to Khan repeatedly via text message. However, a later report stated that Jack Perry refused to apologise for the altercation and requested his release but was denied.