The Young Bucks Explain Why They Brought Jack Perry Back To AEW
The Young Bucks have opened up about why they felt the need to help Jack Perry, who has joined them as part of The Elite.
At the AEW Dynasty PPV in St. Louis, the vacant AEW Tag Team Titles were up for grabs in a Ladder Match between The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) and FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler.
In the final moments of the match, a mystery person attacked FTR to allow the Young Bucks to get the win. It was Jack Perry, who was back on AEW television for the first time in over half a year.
The late August 2023 event known as All In saw Perry get into a backstage altercation with former AEW World Champion CM Punk. The incident led to CM Punk getting fired by AEW while Perry had seemingly been banished from AEW, only making his return to the company at Dynasty, which was nearly eight months later.
While he was away from AEW, Perry had called himself a “Scapegoat” while appearing at New Japan Pro Wrestling shows. In the weeks leading up to Dynasty, The Young Bucks aired footage of the Punk-Perry incident, which got fans thinking that Perry would appear at Dynasty, which he did.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks spoke about how they kept their eye on their friend Jack Perry.
“Jack unfairly ate crap for a very long time. So we had a lot of empathy for him, and we were very excited to help launch his comeback.”
“We kept an eye on him the entire time he was gone and helped him navigate the situation–a familiar one that we had also gone through.”
That above comment from Matt Jackson was likely referring to The Young Bucks own backstage fight with CM Punk in September 2022.
“We also talked him down a few times, we gave him advice on how to succeed in Japan. It felt like he was our little brother. We saw him for the first time since All In, a couple days prior to the pay-per-view.”
“We met him in our private jet, and talked endlessly the entire flight, we let him get it all out of his system, but assured him that this would be a fresh start. I was so thrilled to hear and see the groundswell for him when he appeared for the first time. It was like a rebirth for him.”
The return of Jack Perry to AEW would lead to him joining The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada in forming a new version of The Elite. The foursome would also go on to attack AEW’s Owner & CEO Tony Khan as well.
Jack Perry Deserved A Big Moment According To The Young Bucks
Nick Jackson spoke about how Perry returning to AEW while wearing a Sting mask was perfect and gave him a big moment.
“We had just wrestled Sting in his retirement match, so that was perfect. We were super proud and happy for Jack. He deserved a big moment and a big reaction, and he got both of those things in one moment.”
As for how the Young Bucks feel about Jack Perry, Matt Jackson thinks of him as a kid brother.
“We retired his old ass the month prior [at Revolution], so I thought that was cool. Jack’s like the wildcard kid-brother who’s completely unafraid of consequences. He surprises me every week. A young, handsome, unapologetic, athletic kid–that is a very dangerous person. I want that guy on my team.”
The Young Bucks, Jack Perry & Kazuchika Okada will be in a big match at the AEW Double or Nothing PPV on May 26th as they compete in an Anarchy in the Arena Match against Team AEW’s Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler. The match is being billed as one of Double or Nothing’s triple main events.