AEW's Jack Perry Reflects On Period Of 'Growth' & 'Pain' After CM Punk Controversy

Now reunited with Jurassic Express teammate Luchasaurus and coming off a set of strong performances in the Continental Classic tournament, AEW star Jack Perry has started to resemble the popular, up and coming star many thought he was during AEW's first few years. If nothing else, it's a far cry from his 2023 and 2024, which was marred by a backstage altercation with CM Punk at All In 2023 that led to Punk being fired from the promotion and Perry sitting out until AEW Dynasty in April 2024, with some fans turning on him as a result of the controversy.

While Perry had never directly discussed the incident publicly, he came as close as ever during a recent appearance on "Close Up with Renee Paquette." Without ever mentioning Punk or the incident, Perry stated he had come out of the controversy changed for the better, even if it wasn't the most pleasant of times.

"I think...I feel like I've grown a lot from it, but I feel like the growth came from a lot of...I think it sounds dramatic to say pain, but it wasn't the nicest of times, for most of that time," Perry said. "I think it really freed me in a lot of ways. It's kind of like...before all that feels like another lifetime at this point, and I think back to how I felt before that, and I think a big thing I had was like...it sounds silly, I just wanted everyone to like me. I was new to being on TV, and this was my dream job since I was a little kid, and I just wanted to do it perfectly, and I wanted everyone to like me."

In a bit of irony, Perry admitted that his desire for fans to like him applied only to wrestling, and that he had never worried about such things in his personal life. He believes that desire to be likeable in everyone's eyes is what led to the controversy and subsequent reaction hitting him as hard as it did, and it was only when he stopped caring about certain reactions that he began to move forward.

"It felt like something...I don't know, I kind of wanted to micromanage it and make it perfect, to like have it be the dream that I had," Perry said. "So then when I would come up short of that, it was very disappointing. And I think coming up short of anything sucks, but then doing it in such a public way, and then there are a million people telling you you're a piece of s**t or whatever...I don't know, it's hard. 

"And I think, through all that, I finally realized there are some people that are never gonna like me no matter what I do, and in a way that was really freeing because then I was like 'Well, I don't have to worry about that anymore, what do I wanna do?'"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Close Up with Renee Paquette" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription