Let’s check in on Scapegoat Jack Perry’s New Japan Cup run

It’s certainly not the only story playing out in New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s ongoing New Japan Cup tournament. The biggest one is obviously who will win the Cup, and with it the match against Testuya Naito for his IWGP World Heavyweight championship next month at Sakura Genesis.

But speaking on behalf of my fellow American wrestling fans on the internet, we can’t look away from the one guy who’s been in a PPV World title match from one of this country’s biggest promotions… and who was central to one of the most dramatic and debated news stories in recent wrestling history. Especially since he’s now working a gimmick that leans into the latter.

“Scapegoat” Jack Perry opened the New Japan Cup with a win in his first ever NJPW match. He beat Shota Umino with the help of his new faction, House of Torture. Perry’s worked the tag and multi-man matches that participants in New Japan’s various tourney’s do between their singles matches, and kept calling back to the All In dust-up that led to CM Punk’s AEW firing and his own suspension & subsequent excursion to NJPW.

In the second round of the tournament, the former Jungle Boy faced Toru Yano. HoT’s involvement helped Perry overcome the usual tactics from New Japan’s top comedian.

And that moved him into the quarterfinals, where he squared off with a familiar for. SANADA beat Perry last year at Forbidden Door in Toronto (where Jack turned heel in the aftermath, setting a course for the HOOK pre-show match at Wembley where his “shout out” to Punk would have far-reaching repercussions throughout the wrestling business). Determined to not have the rematch end the same way, Perry attacked before the bell and held an advantage through the early going today (Mar. 16) in Aichi.

When he still wasn’t able to put the former IWGP World champ away… surprise! Perry’s House of Torture mates got involved. But SANADA withstood it all, even kicking out from a second “Glass Jaw” knee after being choked out by Dick Togo.

With his Just Five Guys faction-mates to counteract further HoT shenanigans, SANADA countered a third knee strike attempt into a bridging cover to pick up the win.

He’s advance to face Hirooki Goto in Monday’s semifinal. Goto advanced when David Finlay had to withdraw from the tournament due to illness. The winner of SANADA/Goto will face whoever emerges from the other side of the bracket, where Yota Tsuji faces Ren Narita and EVIL takes on Shingo Takagi in tomorrow’s quarterfinal action.

For his part, Perry was undaunted. He used his post-match interview to again use his recent history to needle fans:

“I bet you’re all just over the moon right now. You think you hate me because of some shit you don’t even know the half of… I think maybe if you put as much pressure on yourself as you put on me, then maybe your life wouldn’t be so mediocre and forgettable.”

The Scapegoat will continue working on the undercard with House of Torture for the remainder of the New Japan Cup shows, and we’ll see what he gets into while doing those multi-man matches. He’s scheduled to be in Chicago for NJPW’s Windy City Riot show on April 12.