Jack Perry made his first appearance since All In at Saturday’s NJPW Battle in the Valley, tearing up his AEW contract in his company debut.
Perry jumped the rail following the main card opener at Battle in the Valley, attacking NJPW’s Shota Umino. Perry then tore up an AEW contract in the ring, and put an armband reading “scapegoat” on.
After a backstage altercation with CM Punk at AEW All In in London in August, Perry was suspended indefinitely by AEW. His current AEW status is unknown.
There was speculation that AEW’s The Devil could eventually be unmasked as Perry as a way to reintroduce him into company storylines, but Adam Cole was revealed as The Devil at Worlds End last month.
In December, Perry filed for several trademarks including for his “Jungle Boy” moniker, “Jurassic Express” — the team name he used with Luchasaurus, as well as “A Boy and His Dinosaur,” another name for his team with Luchasaurus.
While Saturday marked Perry’s NJPW debut, he did wrestle once on a joint AEW-NJPW event, as he challenged SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at last June’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
Video of Perry tearing up the AEW contract is embedded below.
.@boy_myth_legend just assaulted Shota Umino at Battle in the Valley- and 'the Scapegoat' has torn up his @aew contract!
Jack Perry has filed for more trademarks relating to his previous Jungle Boy gimmick.
On December 5, Perry applied to trademark “Jungle Boy.” He followed that up on December 11 by filing trademarks for “Jurassic Express” and “A Boy and His Dinosaur.” Jurassic Express was the name of an AEW faction with Perry & Luchasaurus. Marko Stunt was also a member at one point and Christian Cage was their mentor for a period of time.
A Boy and His Dinosaur was the name of Perry & Luchasaurus’ tag team dating back to their time on the indies.
The trademarks were filed through Perry’s Boy Myth Legend, Inc. Patent attorney Michael Dockins worked with Perry on the filings.
The trademarks are listed as being for:
Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Providing online interviews featuring a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment for entertainment purposes
Perry has been away from AEW programming since his backstage incident with CM Punk at All In this August. Perry was suspended from AEW indefinitely following the incident. Punk, who has since returned to WWE, was terminated from AEW with cause.
At All In, Perry lost the FTW Championship to Hook.
Perry is one of the names that fans have speculated could be revealed as the Devil character who has targeted MJF in AEW, but AEW hasn’t disclosed who is behind the Devil mask.
Jack Perry has filed to trademark his previous ring name.
According to documents available on the US Patent and Trademark Office website, Perry filed to trademark the names “Jungle Boy” and Jack Perry for wrestling purposes on December 5, 2023.
The filings were made through attorney Michael E Dockins on behalf of Boy Myth Legend, Inc.
Perry has yet to return to AEW following a backstage incident at All In that resulted in his indefinite suspension. Bryan Alvarez recently noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that he believes Perry’s suspension has been lifted and AEW is simply waiting for the right time to bring him back.
The purposes of both trademarks are listed as, “Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Providing online interviews featuring a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment for entertainment purposes.”
During an interview with the New York Post, Samoa Joe addressed CM Punk and Jack Perry’s backstage incident from All In.
The altercation took place right before Joe and Punk’s match at Wembley Stadium. Though Punk threatened to quit following the incident, Joe reportedly talked him into still doing the match. It ended up being the final time that Punk would wrestle for AEW. The promotion announced on September 2 that Punk’s AEW contract had been terminated with cause.
For the most part, I haven’t read what’s been portrayed. There’s been so much said. I’m not the one to go out there and try to debunk everything. I know we had the initial incident. Everybody rallied. Everybody got together. Got their heads together and lined up and got ready to do the show and we went out there and we did the show.
That really was the focus at that point in time. We got a massive show to do and we got fans out there rabid to see that happen. So it’s important that we step up and do it and it’s important that we did and I was proud to be a part of that.
Joe was also asked if the altercation was as intense as it sounded. In response, Joe said he “wasn’t really affected” by the moment and was more focused on getting the show back on track:
That’s up to whoever perceived it. I’m used to that environment. Those things don’t seem very intense to me, but it could be something crazy intense to someone else. I wasn’t really affected by the moment. I was more focused on getting the show back on track and getting us going because it was bell time.
Joe and Punk had two singles matches against each other in AEW. Joe told the New York Post that it meant a “tremendous amount” to him to be able to revisit his in-ring rivalry with Punk.
On Dynamite Grand Slam this Wednesday, Joe is challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship. Joe earned the title shot by winning AEW’s Grand Slam eliminator tournament. He defeated Roderick Strong in the finals last week.
It’s not clear when Jack Perry could return to AEW.
Tony Khan confirmed at the All Out media scrum that Perry remains suspended indefinitely from the promotion following an investigation into the backstage altercation he had with CM Punk at All In.
“He’s been suspended indefinitely,” Khan responded when asked about Perry’s punishment stemming from the incident.
“I think we’ve suspended everybody in that investigation and then took further action after that based on what happened and came out of the investigation. But as for Jack, we suspended Jack as a participant in an incident backstage and Jack hasn’t been around. That’s all I can say about it but, at the time, we did suspend him and he hasn’t been at AEW since AEW All In backstage in London.”
The Perry/Punk altercation was addressed in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The issue contains an account of the incident from an eyewitness described as a neutral party.
Our own Dave Meltzer wrote:
Another version, and this would be a neutral source who was not a wrestler but was there and witnessed it and his version was that right after Perry came to the back, Punk went nose-to-nose with him aggressively and asked him if he had a problem. That person said Perry said he was just looking to get heat as a heel. Punk shoved him hard, Perry got in his face and in that version Punk sucker punched him and went for a choke.
Perry is an AEW original, having signed with the promotion in January 2019 and debuted at the inaugural show, Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019. That year he was voted “Rookie of the Year” in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.
Below are notes from the post-AEW All Out media scrum.
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Adam Cole —
Cole said that he’s having the most fun he’s had in 15 years in wrestling in his pairing with MJF. He notes that the two were just “thrown together” and neither thought it would click as well as it has.
Cole said that he & MJF are open to facing any tag team on the AEW or ROH roster in defending the Ring of Honor Tag Team titles.
Christian Cage —
Cage spoke entirely in character.
Cage said that Khan had recently re-signed him to a “fat” contract.
Cage said that he collects things of great value including watches, and wrestling titles.
Cage said that he had added so much prestige to the TNT Championship that he thinks it might soon be called the TNT World Championship.
When asked about the possibility of his friend Adam Copeland joining AEW, Cage said that he has no friends besides Luchasaurus.
Kris Statlander —
When asked about Mercedes Mone, Statlander said that she would welcome the challenge. She also mentioned a rematch with Jade Cargill, Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Saraya, and Willow Nightingale as potential future opponents.
Statlander said that she appreciates everyone’s concern for her health after returning from two knee injuries, but that she wouldn’t have come back if she wasn’t capable of doing everything in the ring she could before the injuries. She noted that she hasn’t modified her style since returning.
Statlander put over Orange Cassidy as her best friend and noted that the Best Friends group with herself, Cassidy, Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor are legitimately best friends who travel together and hang out together.
Bryan Danielson —
Danielson said Ricky Starks carried him through their match at All Out. He said he thought that Starks was good in the ring before, but that the two had never touched prior to their match and that Starks is every bit as good as he thought he was. He praised Starks for using his promo on Saturday’s Collision to elevate Big Bill.
Danielson said it was very hard to argue against Jon Moxley being the best wrestler in the world after stepping up with another great performance at All Out.
Danielson noted that the Blackpool Combat Club can straddle the line between being good guys and bad guys depending on what the particular story they are involved in calls for.
Danielson said that he was cleared not only by AEW’s medical staff but by an outside surgeon (implied that the surgeon who performed surgery to repair the broken arm he suffered at Forbidden Door) to return for his match with Starks.
In light of people being concerned for his health, Danielson said he would pull back the curtain and noted that there were lots of smoke and mirrors in the match with Starks to protect Danielson’s arm, mentioning that he never threw a strike with his right arm.
In speaking about Tony Khan calling him out as being a point person to help run AEW should anything happen to Tony, Danielson said that balancing work and his personal life is something he strives for and that he spends a lot of time thinking about. He said that he would want to help AEW out.
Khan noted that Danielson working Collision on Saturdays would probably be good for that work/life balance.
Khan said that Danielson traveled with him for a few weeks and could not keep up with Khan’s schedule and recommended that Khan hire Jimmy Jacobs to travel with him and help keep him organized.
Tony Khan —
Asked about Sonny Kiss, Khan confirmed that he had not renewed Kiss’ contract. He put Kiss over as a great wrestler and a person that he likes a lot, but that he can’t keep everyone under contract. He did not rule out Kiss returning at some point, pointing to Stu Grayson as an example of someone who left the company and came back.
Khan said that he found out Saturday that Billie Starkz was not cleared to compete and that forced him to change some booking for All Out: Zero Hour, but that he wanted to showcase Athena on the card.
Regarding the business of All Out, Khan said that preliminary numbers indicate 100,000-plus pay-per-view buys and somewhere in the range of 10,000 tickets sold for a gate north of $800,000.
Khan said that CJ Perry had not signed any type of long-term deal, but didn’t rule out the possibility of signing her depending on how the story with Miro plays out.
Khan said that Jack Perry is suspended indefinitely following the backstage incident with CM Punk.
Khan thanked Punk for his contributions to AEW as a wrestler, and would not comment when asked if there would be a non-compete period following Punk’s termination, noting that he was not a lawyer who would interpret the language of a separation agreement.
When asked about running WrestleDream on a Sunday against the NFL, Khan said that he would like to avoid running against the NFL if at all possible and called it the most powerful media entity in the world. He said that he felt strongly that WrestleDream this year needed to take place on October 1 to honor the first anniversary of Antonio Inoki’s passing.
Khan said that All Out will likely be held at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois next year due to an event held at the United Center [I believe he was referring to the Democratic National Convention, but that is taking place a week prior to what would be All Out weekend].
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
We hit on our top five topics of the week as there was a lot to choose from thanks to last week’s AEW All In and two wrestling shows this weekend (AEW All Out and WWE Payback).
Here’s what we talked about:
Thoughts on the CM Punk and Jack Perry situation, and whether or not they should be suspended for All out
An AEW Dynamite that didn’t make a lot of sense because of illnesses and travel issues
An All Out card that, on paper, looks lacking
A WWE Payback card that is the most ho hum show in their current hot run
LA Knight’s character being made fun of by The Miz
As expected, more details have continued to emerge regarding the latest CM Punk controversy stemming from last Sunday’s All In from London’s Wembley Stadium that saw Punk and “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry get into a physical altercation backstage.
The following comes from our Bryan Alvarez on Tuesday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live who said he spoke to no fewer than a dozen people regarding the entire situation and then some.
The Punk/Perry skirmish
Shortly after the Punk vs. Samoa Joe match to kick off the pay-per-view, a story emerged that Punk and Perry had got into some altercation backstage prior to Punk going out for his match. Perry had already wrestled on the pre-show match against Hook and made a comment about “real glass. Cry me a river.” to the camera during the match when they were fighting on and around a car.
Alvarez said it was described to him that Perry was backstage Sunday having cuts worked on following getting dropped on the car’s windshield during the match when Punk walked over to him and asked if Perry had a problem with him.
Perry said something to the effect of “Well, you heard what I said out there.” According to several people, Punk said something to the effect of, “You know I can beat your ass, right?” There was a quick incident and nearly 100% of people Alvarez spoke with say Punk made the comment and either shoved or pie-faced Perry and then put him in a guillotine headlock.
It was immediately broken up soon after. They got close enough to Tony Khan, who was in the gorilla position, that monitors were apparently knocked down onto Khan. Alvarez said that unlike the brawl following All Out, there were a lot of witnesses to this all happening including Khan himself.
Alvarez said that Punk was furious about the situation and several people said he threatened to quit and didn’t want to go out for his match against Samoa Joe which caused a delay. Alvarez said he heard that resulted in AEW personnel going to FTR and The Young Bucks about opening the show, but they weren’t ready to do so. AEW went to the participants in The Golden Elite vs. Bullet Club Gold/Konosuke Takeshita trios bout and they said they could do it if needed.
Alvarez said he was told Joe was furious and apparently talked Punk into doing the match.
Miro
Afterward, there was apparently another near-incident when Punk came through the curtain. Miro went up to Punk and asked about what happened with Perry. Punk then asked if he had a problem with him now which resulted in an argument. Punk asked if Miro wanted to step outside, but the situation didn’t escalate into anything and Punk headed to the trainer’s room.
After the report Tuesday, both Nick Hausman and PWInsider had denials that altercation happened. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported Tuesday evening that the dialogue between them described above was done in a joking manner.
All Out status
Per Dave Meltzer, Punk and Perry are suspended pending the results of an investigation into the matter. It’s possible both men will work Sunday’s All Out if the investigation is cleared by then, but Alvarez was told yesterday from the Warner Bros. Discovery side that they were told Punk was indeed suspended and off Sunday’s pay-per-view.
Alvarez said that most people think Punk will be back in AEW, but there are a handful of those who think he’s done and has had enough. It isn’t clear how the situation will play out.
The Collision glass spot
Regarding the aforementioned glass spot, Alvarez said that according to Perry’s side of things, it was approved by AEW while he was at a Dynamite episode to the point he rented a car for the spot. According to Perry’s side, Punk said no because of Perry’s friendship with the Young Bucks.
Alvarez said the argument about the glass spot was known within the company for weeks prior to when it first came out. Alvarez again told the story he had heard about Perry having a vacation planned and that he wasn’t trying to get out of working the next week as had been reported was the feeling from Punk.
London travel woes
A story emerged on Monday that Punk found himself with no AEW-provided transportation when he arrived in London on Saturday morning and that when he called a driver that was supposed to be there, the number didn’t work.
He eventually took the Tube (train) and had to get the assistance of some fans to find where he was going which was supported by some pictures that found their way to Reddit.
Alvarez said there are two versions to this story as well. One is that Punk arrived and couldn’t get ahold of anyone and decided to take the train. The other version is that he did get in touch with someone and either they asked or he offered to take the train. He was fine with it and then once he was on the train, he got lost.”
It’s unknown why he didn’t take a cab or an Uber, but Alvarez noted it was difficult for most people, including himself, to get an Uber during the weekend.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including Bryan’s return from London and the scourge he contracted, honestly everything you ever wanted to know about CM Punk vs. Jack Perry with as much detail from multiple witnesses as possible, All In attendance, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
CM Punk could miss this weekend’s All In pay-per-view in Chicago.
According to our own Bryan Alvarez, the belief within AEW is that both Punk and Jack Perry have been suspended pending an investigation into the physical altercation between the two on Sunday.
“The belief within AEW is that Punk and Jack are both suspended pending the results of an investigation, which would mean neither will work All Out,” Alvarez wrote.
The belief within AEW is that Punk and Jack are both suspended pending the results of an investigation, which would mean neither will work All Out.
New details regarding the backstage incident a Wembley Stadium have become available on Monday.
Nick Hausman is reporting that Punk left the venue that night on his own accord and not after having been asked to do so, as has been reported elsewhere. According to this report, Perry walked up to Punk backstage and Punk asked him if they “have a problem.” Perry is then alleged to have said “Do something about it,” leading Punk to put Perry in a front face lock.
“We’re told Punk viewed putting Perry in a chokehold as a way to neutralize the situation, as he’s a trained fighter and does not want to have to fight Perry. No punches were thrown, as far as we know,” Hausman wrote.
Wade Keller of PW Torch is reporting that an AEW source is stating that Perry is likely to receive more blowback from the incident than Punk
“Another AEW source close to management believes Perry, in this situation, will end up with more of the blame than Punk because he initiated the situation with his comments live during his match since he should’ve known it would cause an issue,” Keller wrote.
I am back with the Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer live talking everything AEW All In.
I give my real-time reaction to Sunday’s pay-per-view from London’s Wembley Stadium. I run through the entire card talking all the highlights including MJF retaining the AEW World Championship over Adam Cole.
Also, there are updates on the reported backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry.
Plus, AEW already announced All In next year for the same weekend, How might this change the pay-per-view model?
Website subscribers can hear the show by clicking below while YouTube members can click on the YouTube link above to watch.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of AEW All In weekend, the CM Punk vs. Jungle Boy altercation, the new attendance record for pro wrestling, a new AEW PPV, all the matches and angles, thoughts on the Rev Pro show this weekend and more.
A backstage incident took place just minutes before the AEW All In main card kicked off.
As first reported by Fightful and confirmed by our own Bryan Alvarez, Jack Perry and CM Punk were involved in a physical altercation at the event, approximately ten minutes before Punk went out for his match with Samoa Joe. Perry had just wrestled in the final match of the pre-show against Hook.
During Perry’s match, he said to the camera, “It’s real glass, cry me a river” as he and Hook did some spots involving a car window. The comment was in reference to a confrontation he had with Punk at a Collision taping this summer.
Perry’s comment is said to be what led to the backstage altercation.
Fightful Select reported that one side of the story said Perry confronted Punk backstage leading to a shoving contest between the two followed by Punk putting Perry in a choke.
PWTorch reported that Punk confronted Perry as he was heading to the entrance for his match against Joe. Punk asked if they had a problem and then pie-faced Perry after exchanging words, restraining him in a face lock and throwing punches before they were separated.
Miro commented on X, formerly Twitter, that the Fightful report was “fake and untrue” but didn’t go into further details:
Confirming an earlier report from PWInsider, Alvarez said that Perry was asked to leave the venue while Punk remained in his dressing room with security present. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Alvarez said that Punk was also eventually asked to leave.
The confrontation the two had this summer was addressed by our own Alvarez earlier this month.
“Jungle Boy had a vacation planned. He wanted to do a pre-taped angle with a car to write him off TV for that week. Punk told him no. He felt it was too dangerous to do a broken glass spot and said they cared about safety. Jungle was upset about that. That is very different from the story that Jack wanted to do a dangerous spot as a way to avoid having to go to work,” Alvarez wrote.
Perry lost the FTW title to Hook in his match on Zero Hour while Punk retained the “Real World Championship” against Samoa Joe in the first match of the main card.
Hook’s second reign with the FTW title has begun after he defeated Jack Perry for the title at Sunday’s AEW All In Zero Hour pre-show from London’s Wembley Stadium.
Contested under the anything goes FTW rules, the early portion saw the two brawl in and around a black town car that Perry made his entrance in.
Perry hit a Rolling Thunder while Hook was laid out on the hood and then said to the camera, “Real glass. Cry me a river!” in reference to the recent story that he and CM Punk had words about Perry wanting to use real glass during a Collision segment. Perry paid for his comment as Hook hit a fisherman’s suplex onto the windshield.
After several other callbacks to recent Perry opponent Rob Van Dam and the involvement of a trash can, Hook got Perry to tap out to his Redrum finisher that was preceded by a lariat, a trash can lid shot, and crossface strikes.
The win avenged Hook’s only career singles defeat to Perry back on the late-July Blood & Guts edition of Dynamite. Perry defended the title only once, defeating Van Dam.
It was the second title change on the pre-show as MJF & Adam Cole won the Ring of Honor Tag Team titles from Aussie Open.
