AEW's Tony Khan "Really Mad" At Jack Perry For CM Punk's Firing
Jack Perry hasn't been seen in AEW since All In's backstage fight with CM Punk.
With Jack Perry nowadays competing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling while still contracted to AEW, AEW President Tony Khan is said to be "really mad" with Perry for costing the company CM Punk.
Of course, Punk was terminated by AEW shortly after All In last year following a backstage altercation with the former Jungle Boy. This stemmed from "real glass, cry me a river" comments Perry made during his pre-show match against Hook, which were viewed as a dig towards the Second City Saint after Punk had previously talked to Jack about why he shouldn't use real glass at an earlier TV taping.
With Punk set to open the main PPV element of All In against Samoa Joe, that meant the Straight-Edge Superstar was in the Gorilla position as Jack Perry made his way to the back following that Hook match. From there, Punk and Perry got into it, with reports varying on what actually happened, but Tony Khan stated he feared for his life at that time when later announcing the firing of CM Punk.
While CM Punk was fired, Jack Perry was not, but he hasn't been seen on AEW TV since then. Perry has, though, turned up in NJPW at the start of the year, and has subsequently joined House of Torture and become a part of the 2024 New Japan Cup.
Speaking on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, when asked about whether or not Jack Perry has actually been fired by AEW, Dave Meltzer explained:
"He has absolutely not been fired, but they are not using him. Essentially, Tony's really mad at him because he cost him CM Punk. He's getting the blame. He probably should have been suspended for a month or two. Where are we at? Seven months now? Seven months, it's ridiculous. [The] punishment doesn't fit the crime at this point. It's like, it's his fault because the other guy lost his mind?"
Meltzer and co-host Bryan Alvarez would add that CM Punk cost Tony Khan CM Punk, that the entire incident shouldn't have happened, that Punk could've simply asked Khan to suspend Perry, and even pointed out that there was no need for Punk to talk to Perry about that initial glass spot due to it having already been given the green light.
It remains to be seen when Jack Perry will be back in AEW, but for now, it looks like he'll be competing for NJPW in the immediate future. As for CM Punk, he returned to WWE at last year's Survivor Series but is currently on the shelf after tearing his triceps at the Royal Rumble. The Best in the World is scheduled for next week's Raw and will be appearing at WrestleMania XL next month.