Backstage Update On Jack Perry's Shock NJPW Debut

The former Jungle Boy made a surprise appearance at NJPW Battle in the Valley.

by Andrew Pollard
Jack Perry NJPW Battle for the Valley
NJPW

With Jack Perry having shockingly appeared at NJPW Battle in the Valley over this past weekend, there's now an update of sorts on Perry's first wrestling appearance since August.

Speaking on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted how the security at the San Jose Civic were not made aware that the one-time Jungle Boy would be coming out of the crowd. As such, they initially thought a fan had jumped the rail and attacked Shota Umino, rather than this being something that was simply part of the show.

Per Meltzer:

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"Also, the security didn't know about this angle, so that was kind of interesting. They thought it was a fan hitting the ring after Shota, but they were quickly told it wasn't."

For those who missed it, a masked Jack Perry came out of the Battle in the Valley crowd to lay out Shota following Umino having teamed with Jacob Fatu and Fred Rosser to pick up a win over Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs, and Jorel Nelson. Perry would then tear up an AEW contract and put on an armband with the word "scapegoat" on it.

This was the first time wrestling fans have seen the former AEW Tag Team Champion since the infamous All In back in August, where Perry's Zero Hour bout with Hook featured Jack chatting about "real glass" and "cry me a river". That was immediately followed by a backstage brawl with CM Punk; a brawl which resulted in Punk exiting the company, Perry suspended, and Tony Khan fearing for his life.

Where Jack Perry and Shota Umino are concerned, Dave Meltzer and WOR co-host Bryan Alvarez speculated that the two would likely meet at NJPW Windy City Riot in April.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.