Jungle Boy on Beginning His Training at Age 10, Knowing His Father Luke Perry Would be Proud

– CBS Local Sports recently interviewed AEW wrestler Jungle Boy (aka Jack Perry). eh discussed his nerves for AEW All Out, feeling his late father Luke Perry would be proud of his career and more. Below are some highlights.

On how he started training when he was 10: “I first started training when I was like 10 years old, and I did it for a couple years then… But when I got into middle school, I gave it up for a little bit, and I didn’t really get back into it until kind of the end of high school. … My parents found a place for me to train. I used to go out on my trampoline and throw my sister around. And I think they decided, ‘We should find some other people for you to throw around instead.’ So, yeah, it was cool. It was kind of [a] wild experience, because it’s a weird kind of wacky world, wrestling. Especially being that small, it was kind of crazy, but it was cool.”

Jungle Boy on owing his success to Joey Janela: “You know, it’s been crazy. It really kind of was overnight. It just really blew up, and I really owe that to Joey Janela. You know I feel like it had been a while coming, and I just needed the opportunity that I was given, and I made the most of it. It’s been crazy ever since then. You know it’s been kind of like a whirlwind of this awesomeness.”

Jungle Boy on getting nervous for shows and All Out: “I always get nervous, because I want to perform well and all that. But this time, I’m actually more nervous about performing in front of Cody and the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. I’ve performed in front of a bunch of people before, and obviously it’s an important event and all. But these are guys that I’ve looked up to and idealized, and now they’re going to be seeing me work, which is kind of intimidating.”

Jungle Boy on knowing his late father would be proud of him: “At this point, I’m not fully sure what I think about all that. But I feel like, more than anything, my dad is kind of with me. … I knew my dad, and I knew who he was, and I know he’d be proud, and I know… I kind feel him there with me a bit.”