Jungle Boy Initially Thought His Nickname Stupid

Jack Perry, better known by his ring name “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry, has been one of the biggest rising stars in AEW for quite some time now. Jack has become one of the most over babyfaces on the roster.

Over the years, Jack Perry’s in-ring skills have improved to the point where he is now considered one of the four pillars of AEW. Before he was known as “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry, fans knew him as just Jungle Boy. However, he initially felt that nickname was ridiculous.

During a recent interview with Paste, Jungle Boy opened up on the initial reactions he had to his nickname which was given to him by the fans early on in his career.

“When I first heard it, I thought it was ridiculous. I was like ‘This is so stupid. I can’t believe that.’ Like I thought it was just a terrible joke. But what I realized was during these matches that I was having, people were chanting. And that was the part that they kind of connected to which I ended up sort of then crafting my character in some of my wrestling style and whatnot around the name,” he continued. “And what I ended up really liking about it was, to me, the Jungle Boy character was a character who didn’t speak, he didn’t say anything, he just wrestled. And that’s really what I wanted to do.”

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Jack Perry further stated that his nickname helped him stand out in the ring and just wrestle which helped him get signed to AEW.

“Jungle Boy kind of let me just stand out there in a pair of underwear and wrestle and either liked it or you didn’t. And yeah, it’s pretty much what it was. And then it was crazy to get signed to a major company as Jungle Boy. And then I was with a guy called Luchasaurus … it’s like, it’s a whole kind of bizarre little thing. But I think it worked. And I think people liked it.”

During the same interview, Jack also spoke about what it means to be a pillar in the company. He stated that it didn’t mean a lot to him at first since he considered it to be propaganda by MJF. He also said that he never thought about being a pillar and just wanted to have the very best matches that he could have.

“At first, it really didn’t mean a lot to me, I think the whole thing was kind of propaganda by MJF, realistically. It was a way to position himself as the best of the four pillars. And I think that’s why he came up with the phrase. But I do think he was onto something. And then I think, when you look at the four of us, we’re all super different in a lot of ways. But we’re all young, hungry guys, who really try and push what we’re doing every time we’re out there. And I think, you know, in the beginning it wasn’t even a thing, but I never thought “I want to be a ‘pillar’ of this company.” I just wanted to go out there and have the very best matches that I could have, every single time. And I think those three guys are very similar in that respect. And we do it in different ways. But I think that’s a very kind of common goal that we’ve all had from the beginning. And I guess it’s yeah, it’s nice to see people recognize that, you know, just the group of us and what we’re kind of trying to do and help push the company forward and grow with it and whatnot.”

Jungle Boy will compete for the AEW World Championship against MJF, Sammy Guevara, and Darby Allin this weekend at AEW Double or Nothing. This will be Jungle Boy’s first shot at the AEW World Championship.

What do you think of Jack Perry’s nickname? What do you think of his comments on being a pillar of AEW? Who do you think will win the AEW World Championship at AEW Double or Nothing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.