Backstage reaction to Tony Khan’s alleged heat with major AEW star - Reports

New reports have recently emerged regarding backstage reaction to Tony Khan's alleged heat with a top AEW star. The talent in question is Jack Perry.

The former Jungle Boy was suspended indefinitely in the Jacksonville-based promotion for his role in the backstage brawl against CM Punk at All In 2023. Perry is currently plying his trade in NJPW.

The former AEW World Tag Team Champion recently set the record straight on previous reports regarding his correspondences with Tony Khan and scrapped return plans following the incident. Wrestling Observer Newsletter provided a new update on The Scapegoat, discussing how Perry's clarifications presented him as a sympathetic figure which was at odds with his new character.

"It’s funny because what we were told about the situation that he had apologized actually made him the more sympathetic character in the situation, but that being sympathetic and more in the right also works against the character he’s playing."

It was suggested the star had received approval from All Elite Wrestling for his recent work in the Tokyo-based promotion. The report also claimed that at least one individual in the company wanted both Khan and Perry to meet and resolve the matter.

"Obviously, there is no way that anything with an AEW contracted talent working in New Japan is going to be done without the approval of AEW, let alone an angle where he supposedly tore up his AEW contract... One person noted that he would just want both guys to sit down in a room and tell them it’s over now, get everyone back on board, and the subject should never be talked about again."

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Jack Perry discussed ripping up his AEW contract

At Battle in the Valley 2024, Jack Perry shocked the world by stepping into the squared circle to attack budding NJPW star Shota Umino. The former Jurassic Express member has not appeared on All Elite Wrestling programming since losing the FTW Title to HOOK at All In 2023.

Fueling speculations further, Perry also tore up his contract with the Tony Khan-led promotion. In a recent interview with NJPW, the 26-year-old star claimed that his action was meant to send a message.

“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 specter of Jack Perry is too much, they don’t want to deal with the conversations, the ramifications that [he] brings, then that’s fine." [H/T: Drainmaker on Twitter/X]

Check out the tweet below:

Jack Perry is scheduled to team up with his House of Torture stable-mate Ren Narita to take on Shota Umino and Jon Moxley at Sakura Genesis 2024.