Jack Perry says the fallout from his backstage fight with CM Punk completely changed both his career and mindset.
Speaking with Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Perry opened up about the aftermath of the infamous AEW All In incident that eventually led to Punk being fired from AEW.
Perry admitted the entire situation was brutal for him mentally at the time. He explained that being hated by a large portion of wrestling fans ultimately forced him to stop worrying about trying to make everyone like him.
“During the time, it was not nice. It was uncomfortable and scary. A huge portion of the wrestling world turned on me, and I had always been wanting to make everybody like me.”
Perry then admitted something unexpectedly changed once he realized some fans would never support him no matter what. That mindset shift eventually led to the creation of his “Scapegoat” character during his run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling before returning to AEW television in 2024.
“When I came to terms with that and realized that it kind of frees me because I don’t have to worry about trying to get this guy to like me, it’s like the shackles were off.”
Perry also revealed that Jericho was actually the person who first used the word “scapegoat” while texting him during the controversy.
“You said, ‘Yeah, you’re the scapegoat.’ As soon as I saw the word, I was like, ‘That’s interesting.’”
Perry then went deep into how seriously he started building the character and imagery around it.
“People thought I was trying to be Raven. I was trying to be Jesus.”
He also credited NJPW and wrestlers like Gabe Kidd for helping him become more natural and less scripted with promos. At this point, Perry seems convinced the CM Punk situation ultimately helped unlock a completely different version of himself as a performer — even if it came through one of the ugliest controversies in AEW history.
Do you think the Scapegoat character ended up helping Jack Perry long-term, or did the CM Punk fallout permanently change fan perception of him? Leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
