Jack Perry has been signed with AEW since 2019 and has played a huge part in growing the Tony Khan-led promotion over the past six years. The California native debuted in All Elite Wrestling as the fan-favorite “Jungle Boy” and soon became a top budding prospect in the company as a singles star. He also established himself as a tag team specialist alongside his Jurassic Express teammate, Luchasaurus. In 2021, he formed an alliance with Christian Cage, who became a mentor to the star.
Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus captured the AEW World Tag Team Championship in January of 2022, and after multiple successful defenses, they lost the title to The Young Bucks in June. Promptly after the loss, the up-and-comer was betrayed and viciously attacked by Christian. The Instant Classic later persuaded Luchasaurus to join him, and the dinosaur eventually turned on his tag partner as well. Jungle Boy got his revenge on his Jurassic Express teammate at Full Gear 2022, where he defeated Luchasaurus in a Steel Cage match.
After Cage returned from injury to attack him months later, “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry finally settled scores with Captain Charisma by defeating him in a Final Burial Match at Revolution 2023. He then unsuccessfully challenged for MJF’s AEW World Title at Double or Nothing 2023 alongside his fellow “pillars,” Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara. Around this time, Jungle Boy had also formed an alliance with Hook, although their partnership came to an end at Forbidden Door 2023 after Perry attacked The Cold Hearted Handsome Devil to turn heel.
Not long after, Jack defeated Hook to capture the FTW Title, although he dropped the belt back to the former Team Taz member at All In: London 2023. At the event, however, Perry got embroiled in a backstage fight with CM Punk, which led to him being suspended and the latter getting fired from the company. He then went on a brief excursion to NJPW, where he developed the persona of The Scapegoat, which he brought back to AEW when he returned at Dynasty 2024 to reveal himself as a member of The New Elite.
As a part of the heel group, Jack pinned Bryan Danielson to win that year’s Anarchy in the Arena match, captured the TNT Title and retained it against Darby Allin at All In: London; he also unsuccessfully challenged The American Dragon for the AEW World Title at All Out 2024. Perry’s run as TNT Champion came to an end at Full Gear 2024 at the hands of Daniel Garcia, after which he disappeared from programming and was seemingly deserted by The Young Bucks.
When Jack Perry returned to the company at All Out: Toronto 2025, he turned on Matt and Nick Jackson and reunited with Luchasaurus to resurrect The Jurassic Express. He eventually convinced The Bucks to make peace with Kenny Omega, reuniting the original members of The Elite. Towards the end of last year, he unsuccessfully participated in the 2025 Continental Classic and, afterwards, began a feud with Ricochet over his National Title.
Perry managed to capture the National Championship at Revolution 2026, although he dropped the strap to Mark Davis last month at Fairway to Hell due to Ricochet’s interference. This prompted him and his Elite stablemates to join Chris Jericho and The Hurt Syndicate in their battle against The Demand, The Dogs and The Don Callis Family in a Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing 2026, where the babyface team emerged victorious.
Days after the PPV, Jack battled “Dunkzilla” Davis in a rematch in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Owen Hart Cup, but came up short against the reigning National Champion. He has not been in action since then, and interestingly, news broke some time earlier that Perry’s AEW deal is set to expire soon. Although he is undoubtedly one of the promotion’s most controversial and polarizing figures, let us discuss three reasons why Tony Khan ought to definitely re-sign “Jungle” Jack.
#1. Jack Perry is one of Tony Khan’s most well-rounded prospects
The brief overview of Jack Perry’s AEW career recounted above paints a picture of an incredibly versatile wrestler possessing all the necessary tools to become one of the greats of the sport. He is an accomplished tag team competitor, and alongside his partner Luchasaurus has put on barnburners with teams like The Young Bucks, The Lucha Brothers, Private Party, The Gunns, The Acclaimed, FTR, and Swerve In Our Glory.
As a singles player, Jack has proven himself to be more than a comfortable fit in the promotion’s mid-card and upper-mid-card landscape. His runs as TNT and National Champion demonstrated his ability to work with a wide range of talent across various ages, including Marko Stunt, Darby Allin, Lio Rush, Christopher Daniels, Minoru Suzuki, Katsuyori Shibata, El Clon, Mark Davis, and Mascara Dorada.
Moreover, although Tony Khan has not yet pushed him properly as a main event act, Jack Perry has been involved in programs with upper-card talent like Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Christian Cage, MJF, and Bryan Danielson, not to mention the storyline of The New Elite’s hostile takeover of AEW in 2024. The rising star has served as a consistently solid hand, capable of delivering excellent in-ring work as well as spectacular, high-risk moments, such as literally getting set on fire.
Perry’s versatility as a performer is arguably undeniable- as such, TK re-signing him to AEW seems to be an obvious decision to make.
#2. AEW should not miss out on the opportunity to develop Jack Perry as a top star
AEW’s incredibly stacked roster comprises a wide variety of talent, including veterans like Chris Jericho, Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, and MVP, as well as currently established top names like MJF, Jon Moxley, Hangman Page, Swerve Strickland, Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Andrade, Brody King, Bandido, Orange Cassidy, and many more.
The Jacksonville-based promotion is currently also fostering several up-and-coming talents who are looking to build their names up further, such as Hook, Kyle Fletcher, Kevin Knight, Daniel Garcia, and Nick Wayne, among others. Jack Perry is also on a list of stars under 30 who have been presented on the company’s programming as its future flagbearers.
If AEW and Tony Khan are serious about developing its next crop of main event talent from among its younger cohorts, the company cannot afford to lose a Day 1 name like “Jungle” Jack. The promotion should re-sign Perry and commit to developing him as an upper-card performer – such a move would certainly go well with the company’s project of building up its home-grown talent as its future aces.
#3. WWE might sign Jack Perry due to his CM Punk connection
Many in the wrestling world have assumed that WWE may never sign Jack Perry because of his unpleasant history with CM Punk. The erstwhile Scapegoat’s recent social media dig at The Best in the World, seemingly in response to reports claiming that the former AEW and WWE World Champion may eventually mend fences with All Elite Wrestling, seems to suggest that their relationship is still marked by some hostility.
However, the potential of a money-making program or storyline has often overridden inter-personal issues in pro-wrestling – consider, for example, the fact that CM Punk returned to WWE despite his past comments about the promotion and its current creative head, Triple H. The company could therefore sign Jack Perry precisely to capitalize on the controversy surrounding his history with The Straight Edge Superstar.
Check out footage of Jack Perry’s backstage scuffle with CM Punk BELOW:
Losing an All Elite original like “Jungle” Jack to WWE, only for the latter to get slotted into a major feud with Punk, despite their history, would likely not be a very desirable outcome for AEW. Tony Khan should avoid such a possibility by re-signing Perry as soon as he can.
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Edited by Steffi
