AEW’s darkest hour was revisited earlier this month. The April 10th edition of AEW Dynamite was centered around AEW Executive Vice Presidents Matthew and Nicholas Jackson (the Young Bucks) airing security footage from AEW ALL IN: London. The footage in question showed CM Punk and Jack Perry’s infamous physical altercation, one which led to Punk being fired with cause from AEW.
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Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Matthew reiterated that their decision to air the footage was appropriate for their current storyline against upcoming AEW Dynasty opponents FTR.
“Since we are wrestling FTR at Dynasty, and with it being the first time doing that since ALL IN: London, so many feelings and thoughts came rushing back. Old wounds were reopened. We decided it was only fair to be transparent and honest with our fans. We needed to give them context about why we feel we came up short at ALL IN: London,” Matthew said. “Our bodies were there in the ring wrestling FTR at Wembley, but our minds were in the back with the scapegoat in the entire situation, Jack Perry. The three of us specifically were wronged that night, and I haven’t gotten over that.”
Nicholas added that the idea to air the footage was pitched to them by AEW President Tony Khan.
“As EVPs, we were given a task for that week by the boss and we did it to the best of our abilities,” Nicholas added. “Zero regret.”
Part of that lack of regret is attributed to Perry’s success in the wake of the segment. Two days after the Bucks aired the footage, Perry competed at NJPW Windy City Riot in Chicago, Punk’s hometown, and received the loudest reaction of his career.
“He’s been the next breakout star for a while now and he just needed something controversial to happen to him to open people’s eyes,” Nicholas noted. It happened with us early on in our careers, too.”
Matthew Jackson went on to recall bringing Jack Perry to AEW years ago. He stated that Perry has a lot of confidence, and Jack reminds him of himself and Nicholas. Matthew also predicted that Perry was ready to take the next step.
“Jack Perry was one of my original AEW hires. I saw a video clip of him on the indies, and then I went and watched everything I could find,” Matthew added. “Coming back from Japan, Jack Perry now has that edge and swagger. Coming off all of this BS he’s been dealing with, he has a chip on his shoulder. He’s a dangerous cat right now and is about to blow up.”
