Tony Khan Thought Airing CM Punk-Jack Perry Footage From AEW All In 'Made A Lot Of Sense’
Tony Khan defends airing CM Punk-Jack Perry AEW All In fight footage
After several shots from CM Punk during his interview with Ariel Helwani, All Elite Wrestling aired the footage of Punk’s backstage scuffle with Jack Perry from AEW All In 2024, a move that few believed benefitted AEW.
AEW President Tony Khan was asked about his decision to air the footage during an appearance on The Chris Russell Show, with Khan believing it benefits the FTR-Young Bucks build for Dynasty on April 21:
“Well, I think it made a lot of sense. First of all, FTR/Young Bucks ladder match coming up at AEW Dynasty for the World Tag Team Championships. This is the fourth chapter in FTR vs. The Young Bucks… the last time they wrestled, Young Bucks/FTR III, was at Wembley Stadium, AEW All In. And a lot happened that day. They were the third match on the pay-per-view and at one point it looked like we were going to have to call them up and they were going to have to wrestle the first match. And then they ended up going on in the spot they were in, but the Young Bucks said, the whole day, everything that happened, it really affected their mental preparation, they weren’t able to pray before the match, they were very stressed out. They slipped on the banana peel and lost the match but they blame FTR, they blame what happened at Wembley Stadium, and that’s why, in hindsight, thats why they refused to shake FTR’s hand,” said Khan, seemingly sticking to kayfabe.
Regardless of your thoughts of the footage itself, it has certainly helped Jungle Boy garner a ton of heat during his run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, with Khan noting how the crowd reacted to Perry at the recent NJPW Windy City Riot event in Chicago:
“It was fascinating to see after that tape played, the reaction that Jack Perry got at New Japan Pro-Wrestling this week, he got the reaction of a superstar. That is not altogether unexpected and it’s something very interesting, perhaps a side effect of this. Jack Perry [is] already a big star in wrestling, really the way the crowd connected with him in Chicago, that was interesting to see,” noted Khan.
H/T: F4WOnline
