‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry is ready to introduce himself to SANADA at Forbidden Door.
WrestleZone spoke with ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry ahead of his match with SANADA at Forbidden Door. Perry will compete for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with the match coming as a result of SANADA issuing an open challenge to the AEW roster.
Perry says he’s excited for the bout, feeling like he’s got momentum on his side. He admits he’s not too familiar with SANADA but he does plan on bringing New Japan’s top prize over to AEW.
”I knew there was going to be an open challenge. And to be completely honest, I didn’t even know who the champion was, but I knew I was going to take it. Because for me, it’s not — I’m looking forward to the match, and getting in there with him and experiencing this is going to be equal to kind of top Japanese talent. For me, my goal that I said at the very beginning of the year,” Perry explained, “is that I’m going to become a world champion.
“And it doesn’t really matter to me, who ends up across the ring for me,” Perry added. “It’s about the championship that he has. And that’s what the deal is for me. So I’m gonna do it. I’m going to take the championship back to AEW; it’s gonna be a good night.”
Jack Perry’s comments are somewhat fitting, considering SANADA told Tokyo Sports that he didn’t know who Perry was. Surprisingly, Perry said he was grateful SANADA said that because he isn’t too familiar with the champion either.
“Yeah, I saw [the story]. I’m going to be completely honest. I was a little bit relieved when I saw that because I have been feeling a little guilty, kind of secretly. I’ve never seen a SANADA match in my life,” he admitted. “I was feeling a little bit guilty about that, like, ‘Oh my God, that’s kind of rude’ or whatever. But then he said that, and I was like, ‘Okay, that’s great.’
“I haven’t watched anything other than Kenny and Will Ospreay in New Japan since Cody and Kenny and The Young Bucks left and started AEW, so I have not seen any of that. I don’t really keep up with that,” he added. “I don’t think he has any particular reason to know too much about me, but I think it’s gonna be fun because we’re gonna learn pretty much everything there is to know when we’re kicking each other in the face on pay-per-view.”
Perry has only had one interaction with SANADA before and doesn’t believe the comments were ill-intended. On the other hand, Perry has had plenty of face time with Tony Khan in AEW. During his Forbidden Door media call on Thursday, Khan said Perry was his first choice for the match with SANADA. Asked how he felt about Khan holding him in such high regard, Perry said he plans on showing Khan he was right to believe in him.
“That’s sweet; I appreciate that. I think Tony has been very generous and given me a lot of opportunities. And I think you’re always going to have the people who kind of want to take away or try and diminish things,” he explained, “I feel like pretty much all the time, I’ve delivered on what I’ve been given.
“I think maybe people were a little bit surprised that my first introduction to the world of New Japan is going to be going for the Heavyweight Championship. But it is what it is. I’m not going to not take the opportunity, and I’m stoked to be able to do that on such a big stage especially. From what I have seen, New Japan has a lot of great guys that I would I love to go to Japan [to work with]. I’ve never been, and I think that’s on the bucket list for sure. It means a lot to me that Tony has that confidence in me, and I definitely going into it, want to deliver on that for him.”
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door takes place on Sunday, June 25 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Watch our full interview with ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry below:
