AEW ALL ELITE ASSESSMENT: Four Pillar Series – “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry’s background, journey, and future

With a four-way World title match now confirmed for the upcoming Double or Nothing PPV, the focus of the All Elite Assessment continues on its four competitors. This week it’s…

“Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

Background

Jack Perry’s famous family tree has long been acknowledged on AEW television. The son of “Beverley Hills 90210” royalty Luke Perry, Perry is a lifelong wrestling fan and most notably appeared on camera at WWE’s Summerslam 2009 PPV alongside his father. His parents were supportive of Perry’s passion and directed him towards formal training from an early age. With a wild mane of hair and slender frame, Perry was nicknamed Jungle Boy due to his similarities to the Tarzan character. He excelled on the U.S. independent scene. Though not initially impressed with his new moniker, the Jungle Boy persona did help the young Perry stand out. The similarity has since been embraced and further emphasized in AEW with his hugely popular “Tarzan Boy” entrance song.

Perry’s wrestling style matched many of his Californian independent contemporaries. Deploying an aerial style with a crowd-pleasing high-flying offensive flurry, Perry would catch the eye of independent luminaries The Young Bucks and Joey Janela. Unwilling to trade on a famous name, Perry would traverse the independents, most notably PWG and GCW.

Tragedy would later strike the Perry family as father Luke would die at age 52 in March 2019. Fortunately, Jack Perry would note that his father would see him fulfill his dream of competing in the squared circle before his untimely passing. Perry would team with fellow trainee and friend Luchasaurus to form the “A Boy and his Dinosaur” tandem. The team seemed a perfect fit for the newly formed AEW’s initial brief of young, exciting talent with an independent spirit and were signed in early 2019.

Journey

Debuting for AEW as part of a tag-team would help ease Jack Perry into mainstream television wrestling. Competing in tag team matches introduced Perry to a new audience and the chemistry between the Jurassic trio (with Marko Stunt joining the group) helped all three engage as a compelling babyface act. Given his tag team status, it was a singles match with then AEW World Champion Chris Jericho on Dynamite which would announce Perry. Lasting the stipulated ten minutes with a legend such as Jericho would impress many and mark Perry as one to watch. A singles run would continue with a PPV losing effort to current champion MJF at Double or Nothing 2020.

PPV appearances would remain consistent for Perry as Jurassic Express would fall to defeat opposite The Young Bucks at All Out 2020 and then elimination in the Casino Battle Royale at Revolution 2021. Success, though, was just around the corner at as Perry would compete as a single in another Casino Battle Royale, ousting his mentor Christian Cage to earn a future World Title shot against then-champion Kenny Omega. Although Perry would lose to Omega, his short-term future would tangle with The Elite and newly debuted Adam Cole culminating in a wild Falls Count Anywhere battle at Full Gear 2021.

Tag team success then followed as Jurassic Express would finally capture tag team gold from The Lucha Brothers on an early 2022 Dynamite and go on to defend the titles against several impressive duos such as Red Dragon, Team Taz, and Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee. After a lengthy 161 day reign atop the division, Jurassic Express would finally drop the titles to The Young Bucks on a Dynamite special. This loss would be further emphasized by the heel turn of mentor Christian. A betrayal which would propel Perry into the singles ranks and a quest for revenge.

A blood feud with Christian would define the rest of Perry’s 2022, though it would stutter due to an injury to his elder nemesis. A confused turn from Luchasaurus was perhaps required to stretch the feud out. Despite the convoluted nature of his prior partners heel turn, the two would battle in a tremendous cage match at Full Gear 2022. A short-lived alliance with Hook would buy Christian more recuperation before Perry and Christian would finally clash in a Final Burial battle at this year’s Revolution PPV.

Future

Perry’s stock has certainly risen given his involvement in the upcoming World Title four-way, though it does feel too soon for Jungle Boy to seize the strap. His in-ring talent is certainly comparable to most on the All Elite roster and involvement in several well regarded matches has cemented Perry’s “Four Pillar” status. Although Perry’s in-ring work has been stellar, he has been inconsistent during promos and has sometimes stumbled on the character presentation side of the ledger. Sharing both the ring and live microphone with Christian and now MJF will only have helped in Perry’s wrestling education. With youth on his side, he certainly has the potential to be a main event talent in the medium to long term.

Perry already has acknowledged tension with Darby Allin and, although on the same page with their mutual loathing for MJF, a straight-up singles feud between the two could be compelling. One possible drawback to this scenario, though, would be forcing the AEW audience to choose between two popular AEW babyfaces which would hamper both Perry and Allin’s momentum. Although acknowledged recently on-screen, a program with real-life partner Anna Jay and her Jericho Appreciation Society stable could be equally ill-advised. As a fellow pillar, Sammy Guevara has discovered an on-screen link up with a real-life love does not always translate to a positive babyface reaction.

As Perry is yet to claim a singles title in AEW, perhaps a tilt towards the TNT Title after Double or Nothing would be the right direction. When a paired against the physically more imposing Wardlow, Perry could be characterized as the courageous babyface. The feud would also reignite a currently cold Wardlow who could turn heel in the process.

Verdict

With an aging roster of main event talent, AEW has wisely focused on youth for their next World Title program. Perry may not be ready yet and certainly has areas to grow, but he has shown flashes of a babyface fire which could eventually lead to a ground-swell of audience-led momentum. 2023 should be the year Perry captures a singles title but the World Title should remain just out of reach… for now.

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