Jack Perry Discusses Dealing With His Father’s Passing When AEW Started, Says Anna Jay Helps Keep Him Grounded

Speaking to Renee Paquette on AEW Close Up, AEW wrestler Jack Perry discussed his career, and he also spoke in-depth about being part of the birth of AEW. His father, actor Luke Perry, passed away in March 2019, not long before AEW made its debut with Double or Nothing in May 2019.

Perry also spoke about his relationship with his girlfriend, AEW wrestler Anna Jay, speaking about how she helps keep him grounded. Below are some highlights:

Jack Perry on Dealing With Being Part of the birth of AEW Not Long After His Father Passed Away

“I think so. Probably I’ll be in therapy in like 10 years, and we’ll find out now. But I feel like I did. But I think also this really gave me something to like fully dive into and just kind of like immerse myself in. And I think also that sort of like my emotional attachment to it then kind of got stronger as well because this was like the thing that was like saving me from just all this sadness and stuff when it sort of went away, and I was going to say out of the blue. I guess it wasn’t out of the blue, but it’s just like one day it was all going, and then the next day it was not. And it really just made me realize like there is a lot more to life than just this. I mean, I hope it’s not a midlife cuz that’ll be a short life. But I’m having like a quarter life crisis, but I’m like 28 now, which is freaking me out cuz this is — And it’s not even 30. It’s weird to me to think in 12 years I’ll be 40, which is like 12 years is a long time. But that I don’t know. I don’t like it at all. Like, I wake up in the night sometimes like, ‘Oh my god.’ Like my life is, it’s gone fast. And this is the first time I can I’m old enough to see like it moves fast. And I just realized like I don’t want to completely bury myself in this so much so that I miss out on the rest of life. because it can go away. And when it does, what do I have that is really important to me? Not that this is not important.”

On How Anna Jay Helps Keep Him Grounded

“She’s actually very good for me in the sense of she’s always when I was more obsessive about wrestling and all that, she was always like, ‘It’s like we’re at a dinner. Can we not do all this right now?’ I mean, still sometimes I like can’t turn it off, but she has always been very sort of well-centered and kind of grounded in real life and what’s really I mean, I keep saying what’s really important. Like, wrestling is important, and I like it, and I like being a wrestler, but I laugh sometimes, too. I don’t know why. It’s always in the middle of the night when I wake up to pee. I think about like how crazy it is that like this is what I do and this is my job.”

On the Conflict of Dealing With the Behind-the-Scenes Drama and Still Getting to Wrestle

“And it feels like so serious, right? Like, and there is so much like behind the scenes stuff and like like I there are people I hate and like they drive me nuts when I’m at home and I’m like, I hate this guy and he’s trying to screw me in this and that and whatever and then I wake up in the night to pee and I’m like, oh my god, I get to like go out and wrestle, not my underwear anymore, but like do that and that’s my job. And I’m good, and I get to take care of my family and all that.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit AEW Close Up and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription.