Current champion claims half of AEW's locker room doesn't want him in the company
The AEW locker room is full of polarizing stars, from heels to babyfaces. One former fan favorite turned top bad guy recently captured a championship and is now making a divisive allegation against his colleagues.
Jack Perry is the new AEW TNT Champion. All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling presented the third annual Forbidden Door pay-per-view on Sunday, and the vacant TNT Title was up for grabs in a six-man Ladder Match. Perry secured the win, defeating Mark Briscoe, Konosuke Takeshita, El Phantasmo, Lio Rush, and Dante Martin.
The Scapegoat has now declared that he is the future of AEW and the face of the network, presumably Warner Bros. Discovery. In a post-show promo, the 27-year-old also accused half of his co-workers of not wanting him around but promised he was not going anywhere.
"I've been back here two months, and in that time I joined The Elite, I hit Tony Khan, I got rid of Kenny Omega, I pinned Bryan Danielson, and now I'm the TNT Champion [raises belt]. Get a good shot of that right there. You know what that says? That says that I'm the future, that says that I'm the face of this network, even though like half the guys in these locker rooms, they probably don’t even want me here. Well, guess what? [spits on & raises belt] I ain't going anywhere," Jack Perry said. [From 3:22 to 3:59]
Sunday's Ladder Match ended in just under 17 minutes. The finish saw Briscoe put Takeshita into a corner ladder so that he could climb up for the title. However, Perry stopped the ROH World Champion with ladder shots to the face and ribs, plus several chair shots to the back. He then retrieved the championship for the win.
Big night for The Elite at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door
The Elite is celebrating a successful night at the third annual Forbidden Door pay-per-view from AEW and NJPW. Jack Perry capturing the vacant TNT Championship was not the only win for the faction.
Long before Perry's Ladder Match victory, the second bout of the main Forbidden Door card saw The Elite pick up a trios win. The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada defeated AEW's The Acclaimed and NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The AEW World Tag Team Champions and the Continental Champion defeated Tanahashi, Max Caster, and Anthony Bowens in 13 minutes. Billy Gunn was at ringside for his team and ended up saving the NJPW executive from a post-match attack by Okada.
It will be interesting to see if The Elite ends up challenging The Bang Bang Gang for the Unified World Trios Championship. The Bucks and Okada worked four trios matches before last night: a Collision win over three enhancement talents; a Dynamite victory over Eddie Kingston, PAC, and Penta El Zero Miedo; a Dynamite win over PAC, Penta, and Daniel Garcia; and a Collision loss to PAC and FTR.
If you use any quotes from the article's first half, please credit All Elite Wrestling and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.