WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.799 Picture this. It's January 13, 2024. Okay. We 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.040 are at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Battle in the 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.820 Valley. Shota Umino is standing in the middle 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:11.960 of the ring. Right. Just a standard post -match 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.900 that up. Exactly. But suddenly he's attacked. 00:00:15.130 --> 00:00:17.789 just completely laid out by a guy who hasn't 00:00:17.789 --> 00:00:20.469 been seen on any wrestling programming in months. 00:00:20.829 --> 00:00:22.870 Oh yeah, I remember this. Right. So this guy 00:00:22.870 --> 00:00:25.609 stands over his fallen opponent and he pulls 00:00:25.609 --> 00:00:27.949 out an all -elite wrestling contract. And just 00:00:27.949 --> 00:00:30.670 destroys it. Literally tears it to shreds right 00:00:30.670 --> 00:00:35.109 there in the ring. Then he slips this black armband 00:00:35.109 --> 00:00:37.929 onto his bicep. The visual of that was incredible. 00:00:38.009 --> 00:00:40.289 It really was. And the armband just has one word 00:00:40.289 --> 00:00:43.289 written on it. Scapegoat. Such a massive, shocking 00:00:43.289 --> 00:00:45.850 moment. It was huge. Welcome to The Deep Dive. 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:47.909 I'm your host. And today, for all of you listening, 00:00:48.090 --> 00:00:49.729 we are pulling together everything we know from 00:00:49.729 --> 00:00:52.189 our primary source, which is the comprehensive 00:00:52.189 --> 00:00:54.710 Wikipedia page for Jack Perry. We're looking 00:00:54.710 --> 00:00:57.590 at timelines, match histories, industry reports, 00:00:58.070 --> 00:01:00.130 basically everything about the guy wearing that 00:01:00.130 --> 00:01:04.230 armband. And our mission today is to track the 00:01:04.230 --> 00:01:07.810 incredible, controversial, and frankly wildly 00:01:07.810 --> 00:01:10.950 unpredictable character evolution of Jack Perry. 00:01:11.090 --> 00:01:13.540 Because it's a wild ride. It really is. Because 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:15.620 we aren't just looking at a timeline of wrestling 00:01:15.620 --> 00:01:17.900 matches and championships here. What we have 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:20.780 is a fascinating case study in how real life 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:24.859 conflicts, backstage politics, and intense public 00:01:24.859 --> 00:01:27.519 scrutiny can be weaponized. Yeah, weaponized 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:30.140 to completely reinvent a public persona. Exactly. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.859 We're going to examine how a performer takes 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:36.040 the absolute lowest, most radioactive moment 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:38.959 of their professional career and uses it as the 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:41.560 foundational building block for a master class 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:43.879 in modern audience manipulation. Okay, let's 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:45.439 unpack this because you really can't understand 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.819 Jack Perry or why the audience reacted to him 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:50.019 the way they did without understanding the shadow 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:52.560 he was born into. Right, the family legacy. Exactly. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.140 Born in Los Angeles in 1997, his father was the 00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:57.980 late incredibly famous actor Luke Perry. Which 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:00.920 is a huge shadow. Massive. And his maternal grandfather 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.359 was the Scottish novelist and screenwriter Alan 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:08.500 Sharp. So growing up with famous parents is a 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:11.319 heavy burden in any industry, but for you listening, 00:02:11.710 --> 00:02:14.090 Think about professional wrestling. Oh wrestling 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:16.330 fans are brutal about that. They really are they 00:02:16.330 --> 00:02:19.639 can smell nepotism from a mile away. They usually 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:21.520 reject anyone who looks like they got a shortcut. 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.560 Which makes his entry into the business so critical 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:26.919 because he didn't leverage his father's Hollywood 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:29.740 connections to get some slick, highly produced 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:32.680 debut. Not at all. He went the grueling route. 00:02:32.740 --> 00:02:35.219 I mean, he grew up a massive fan of the industry. 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:37.259 There's that great detail from the source about 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:40.300 him attending WWU's 2009 Summer Slam with his 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:42.740 dad when he was just 12 years old. Right. But 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:44.979 when he actually started on the independent circuit 00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:48.509 in 2015, he didn't debut. as Luke Perry's son. 00:02:48.949 --> 00:02:50.909 He didn't even use the name Jack Perry. So what 00:02:50.909 --> 00:02:53.750 did he do? He debuted at an underground empire 00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:56.169 wrestling event under the remarkably generic 00:02:56.169 --> 00:02:59.930 ring name Nate Coy. Nate Coy. I mean, that's 00:02:59.930 --> 00:03:02.689 about as indie as it gets. It is. But he was 00:03:02.689 --> 00:03:04.969 taking the bumps, paying his dues in the dirt 00:03:04.969 --> 00:03:07.629 like everyone else. Right, Nate Coy. Yeah. But 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:09.849 that name doesn't last. And the way he loses 00:03:09.849 --> 00:03:13.430 it is just pure indie wrestling magic. It really 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:16.430 is. So he's working the 2015 West Coast Cruiser 00:03:16.430 --> 00:03:20.039 Cup. He's got this incredible mane of long curly 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:24.139 hair, and he's wearing these minimal loin cloth 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:26.939 -like shorts with leopard print. The visual is 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:29.819 very specific. Very. He steps out, and the cow 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:32.080 takes one look at him, connects the visual to 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:34.919 Tarzan, and they spontaneously start chanting 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:37.419 Jungle Boy at him. What's fascinating here is 00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:40.800 his initial reaction to that organic crowd response. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:42.860 He didn't like it, right? He actually hated it. 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:44.780 He thought the Jungle Boy gimmick was ridiculous. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.060 Wow. Yeah. not some novelty act. But he didn't 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:51.479 fight the crowd on it. No, and that shows a level 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:53.919 of maturity that a lot of young wrestlers completely 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:56.939 lack. He saw the pop it was getting. He realized 00:03:56.939 --> 00:03:59.000 the audience was handing him a unique hook on 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.349 a silver platter. So he just embraced it. He 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:04.189 put his ego aside and leaned all the way in. 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:06.909 And for anyone listening, there is a massive 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:10.210 lesson there. Sometimes the market or your audience 00:04:10.210 --> 00:04:13.270 sees a strength in you that you initially dismiss 00:04:13.270 --> 00:04:15.889 because it doesn't fit the rigid vision you had 00:04:15.889 --> 00:04:18.009 for yourself. That's a great point. And leaning 00:04:18.009 --> 00:04:22.470 into it paid off astronomically. By 2019, AEW 00:04:22.470 --> 00:04:25.360 is forming. and they bring him in as a foundational 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:27.759 piece of the roster. And he forms Jurassic Express. 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:30.300 Right, with Luchasaurus and Marco Stunt. Yeah. 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:33.480 And they get the rights to the 1985 synth pop 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:37.079 hit Tarzan Boy by Baltimore. Such a great entrance. 00:04:37.220 --> 00:04:39.699 Oh, it was perfect. The visual of him coming 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.060 out riding on the shoulders of a dinosaur while 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:45.079 thousands of fans sing the Oh Oh chorus. He was 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:47.259 the ultimate white meat baby face. The ultimate 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:50.199 good guy. Exactly. But how does he transition 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:53.509 from being a fun indie act to a legitimate main 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:56.029 event threat. Through a very deliberate old school 00:04:56.029 --> 00:04:58.240 booking assent. They didn't rush him at all. 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:00.740 He goes 10 minutes in a time limit draw with 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:02.980 the veteran world champion Chris Jericho in late 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:05.160 2019. Which proves he can hang with the legends. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.360 Exactly. Then he wins a Casino Battle Royale 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:11.620 in 2021 to get a shot at Kenny Omega. And then 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:14.439 the culmination of that entire babyface arc hits 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:18.100 in January 2022. The tag titles. Yes. He and 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:20.420 Luchasaurus defeat the Lucha Brothers to win 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:22.920 the AEW World Tag Team Championship, holding 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.279 them for 161 days. He had reached the absolute 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:28.709 of that specific character's potential. But in 00:05:28.709 --> 00:05:31.610 this industry, you can't be the naive, happy 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:34.209 -go -lucky underdog forever. The audience eventually 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:37.850 craves Edge. They do. So by mid -2022, the pure 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:41.009 babyface run is getting a little stale. Christian 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:43.449 Cage violently turns on him, leading to this 00:05:43.449 --> 00:05:45.750 grueling, deeply personal feud that culminates 00:05:45.750 --> 00:05:48.790 in a final burial match in March 2023. And Perry 00:05:48.790 --> 00:05:51.389 wins that. He wins, but it changes him. He loses 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.550 a fatal four -way for the world title at double 00:05:53.550 --> 00:05:55.839 or nothing. And then at Forbidden Door in June 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.120 2023, the dam just breaks. He loses to Sanada. 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:01.560 Yep, loses to Sanada and immediately lays out 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.970 his friend Hook. A vicious textbook heel turn. 00:06:04.149 --> 00:06:05.930 And he didn't just turn heel, he completely torched 00:06:05.930 --> 00:06:08.170 the path. He really did. He dropped the Jungle 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:11.110 Boy moniker entirely. He demanded to be called 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:15.050 by his real name, Jack Perry. He ditched Tarzan 00:06:15.050 --> 00:06:17.750 Boy for the ominous first movement of Beethoven's 00:06:17.750 --> 00:06:21.209 Symphony No. 5. That Beethoven entrance was intense. 00:06:21.350 --> 00:06:24.029 It was. He was desperately trying to force the 00:06:24.029 --> 00:06:26.089 audience to take him seriously as a hardened, 00:06:26.310 --> 00:06:28.870 dangerous competitor. And he eventually won the 00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:31.870 FTW Championship from Hook. Which brings us to... 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:36.540 August 2023, all in at Wembley Stadium in London. 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:38.980 The big one. One of the highest attended wrestling 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:41.759 events in history. Perry is defending the FTW 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:44.480 title against Hook on the Zero Hour pre -show. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.920 And during the match, there's a spot near the 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:48.920 windshield of a limousine. Right. Perry knocks 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:51.360 on the glass, looks directly into the hard cam, 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.500 and says, you know what this is right here, real 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:56.860 glass. Go cry me a river. Yeah. I mean, the absolute 00:06:56.860 --> 00:06:59.439 audacity to do that in front of 80 ,000 people. 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:02.600 What exactly triggered that specific escalation? 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:04.639 Well, to understand the weight of that moment, 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:06.699 we have to look at the backstage politics of 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:08.959 the time. And we'll stick strictly to the documented 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:10.540 timeline provided in the source here. Well, it's 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:15.079 just the facts. Exactly. That comment was a direct 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.480 on -air response to a simmering real -life issue 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.480 involving CM Punk. Okay. Earlier that summer 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:24.240 on The Collision Show, Perry wanted to use actual 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.740 glass for a backstage segment. Punk, who was 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:29.720 heavily influential on that show at the time, 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.459 reportedly shut the idea down, citing safety 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:35.160 concerns. Makes sense. But that story subsequently 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:37.939 leaked to the wrestling media, which Perry allegedly 00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:40.300 felt was an attempt to make him look amateurish 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:43.420 or reckless. I see. So Perry holds onto that 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:46.279 frustration and weaponizes it on the biggest 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:48.660 stage possible. Exactly. He takes a behind the 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:50.600 scenes disagreement and broadcasts it to the 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.459 world. He intentionally shattered the cafe wall. 00:07:53.579 --> 00:07:55.639 Precisely. It was a work shoot in real time, 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:57.879 but the consequences were immediately physical. 00:07:57.959 --> 00:07:59.779 What happened? When Perry walked back through 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:02.079 the curtain after his match, he and CM Punk got 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.060 into a legitimate physical altercation right 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:07.699 there in the gorilla position, mere moments before 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.060 Punk was scheduled to go out to the ring. Wow. 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:12.680 The situation escalated to the point where Samoa 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:14.920 Joe actually had to step in and physically break 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:18.160 them up so the show could continue. And the fallout 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:21.949 is just nuclear. Absolutely. Tony Khan terminates 00:08:21.949 --> 00:08:24.970 CM Punk's contract entirely, and Jack Perry is 00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:28.589 suspended indefinitely. Santa home. Off television. 00:08:29.209 --> 00:08:31.329 I want you, the listener, to think about the 00:08:31.329 --> 00:08:33.090 gravity of this for a second. Yeah, put it in 00:08:33.090 --> 00:08:35.889 perspective. Think about a clash of egos at your 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:38.309 own job. If you get into a physical fight with 00:08:38.309 --> 00:08:40.950 a coworker in the hallway, you are fired. Your 00:08:40.950 --> 00:08:43.149 reputation is torched. In the corporate world, 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:45.809 you're a massive liability. But professional 00:08:45.809 --> 00:08:49.250 wrestling operates in a bizarre, mirror -world 00:08:49.250 --> 00:08:52.370 reality. He really does. Yes. He was suspended. 00:08:52.669 --> 00:08:54.990 He was sitting at home while the entire wrestling 00:08:54.990 --> 00:08:57.990 internet endlessly debated his actions, dissecting 00:08:57.990 --> 00:09:00.470 every single room. Right. But in this industry, 00:09:00.990 --> 00:09:03.190 legitimate controversy and polarizing heat are 00:09:03.190 --> 00:09:05.470 often the most valuable currencies you can possess. 00:09:06.389 --> 00:09:08.669 Perry realized that what would destroy a career 00:09:08.669 --> 00:09:11.309 in a normal office setting was actually the ultimate 00:09:11.309 --> 00:09:13.490 raw material for a reinvention. Here's where 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:15.789 it gets really interesting, because you'd expect 00:09:15.789 --> 00:09:17.690 a guy in that position to just wait it out, right? 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:20.490 Yeah, do the standard PR apology tour. Exactly. 00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:23.289 Keep his head down, slowly integrate back into 00:09:23.289 --> 00:09:26.240 the midcard. Instead, we get that battle in the 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.580 Valley moment we talked about in January 2024. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.379 Tearing up the contract. Yeah. So why Japan? 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:34.320 Why New Japan Pro Wrestling? Because it allowed 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:36.919 him to circumvent the American wrestling media 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:40.779 ecosystem and build a dangerous new aura completely 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:43.360 from scratch. That makes a lot of sense. He joins 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.259 the villainous House of Torture faction. He starts 00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:49.659 wearing this horrifying black goat mask to the 00:09:49.659 --> 00:09:51.919 ring. It was so creepy. He essentially looked 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.700 at the audience and said, You all want to blame 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:57.500 me for everything that went wrong? You want to 00:09:57.500 --> 00:09:59.440 blame me for your favorite wrestler getting fired? 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:01.860 Fine. I will be your scapegoat. It's a brilliant 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:04.620 pivot. And he brings that radioactive scapegoat 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:08.399 persona back to AEW in April 2024 at the Dynasty 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.059 pay -per -view. A huge moment. The Young Bucks, 00:10:11.419 --> 00:10:13.580 who famously had their own severe real -life 00:10:13.580 --> 00:10:16.000 issues with CM Punk, are in a ladder match for 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.350 the tag titles against FTR. Yeah. A masked man 00:10:19.350 --> 00:10:21.610 interferes, pushes over the ladder and helps 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:23.889 the Bucks win. And then he unmasks. He pulls 00:10:23.889 --> 00:10:27.350 off the mask and it's Jack Perry. He officially 00:10:27.350 --> 00:10:30.169 joins the elite alongside the Bucks and Kazuchika 00:10:30.169 --> 00:10:33.049 Okada. They take it so far that they actually 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:36.090 perform an in -ring attack on AEW president Tony 00:10:36.090 --> 00:10:38.789 Khan. They are blurring the lines of reality 00:10:38.789 --> 00:10:41.289 so heavily it's giving the audience vertigo. 00:10:41.850 --> 00:10:44.169 Seriously. That's the hallmark of this entire 00:10:44.169 --> 00:10:47.299 run. It was incredibly violent and fed entirely 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:49.960 off genuine audience animosity. He's getting 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:53.580 real visceral heat. At double or nothing, he 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:55.940 scores the winning pin on Bryan Danielson in 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:58.480 the anarchy in the arena match. And then he captures 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.000 the vacant TNT championship in a ladder match 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.559 at Forbidden Door. And what he does to that TNT 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:06.899 championship belt is the visual peak of this 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:09.220 entire era. Oh, it's wild. He doesn't just wear 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:12.340 it, he desecrates it. He spray paints the entire 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:15.419 plates black, splatters red paint all over the 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:18.049 center. mimic blood, and he rips off the standard 00:11:18.049 --> 00:11:20.590 strap, replacing it with this warped, tattered 00:11:20.590 --> 00:11:22.269 piece of leather. It looked like something out 00:11:22.269 --> 00:11:24.549 of a horror movie. It really did. If we connect 00:11:24.549 --> 00:11:26.970 this to the bigger picture, the psychological 00:11:26.970 --> 00:11:30.470 brilliance here is undeniable. When he was suspended, 00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:33.789 his career was in a nosedive. Instead of letting 00:11:33.789 --> 00:11:36.929 the controversy define him as a mistake, he dared 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:39.269 the internet to hate him more. He doubled down. 00:11:39.450 --> 00:11:42.070 He took the ugliest, most stressful moment of 00:11:42.070 --> 00:11:45.350 his career. the literal shattered glass and spun 00:11:45.350 --> 00:11:48.529 it into absolute gold. He made himself undeniably 00:11:48.529 --> 00:11:50.909 relevant by leaning into the exact thing everyone 00:11:50.909 --> 00:11:53.690 was already criticizing him for. And it resulted 00:11:53.690 --> 00:11:56.429 in some of the most intense television AEW has 00:11:56.429 --> 00:11:59.450 produced. He defends that blood splattered title 00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:02.009 against Darby Allen in a coffin match at All 00:12:02.009 --> 00:12:04.309 In. Brutal match. And in the blood and guts match, 00:12:04.490 --> 00:12:07.169 Allen literally threatens to set Perry on fire, 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:09.570 forcing his elite teammates to surrender to save 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:11.990 his life. It's a completely unhinged presentation. 00:12:12.009 --> 00:12:14.509 It was. He eventually loses the TNT championship 00:12:14.509 --> 00:12:17.570 to Daniel Garcia at full gear in November 2024. 00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:20.789 And then he just vanishes. A full 10 month sabbatical. 00:12:20.789 --> 00:12:24.190 He is entirely off AEW programming for the end 00:12:24.190 --> 00:12:27.610 of 2024 and the vast majority of 2025. In today's 00:12:27.610 --> 00:12:31.629 landscape, with a 247 content cycle, stepping 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:35.029 away for almost a year feels like career suicide. 00:12:35.730 --> 00:12:38.309 How did he pull that off without completely losing 00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:41.139 his momentum? It requires immense discipline. 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:43.500 Most performers are terrified of losing their 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:45.840 spot, so they overexpose themselves. Right. They 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:48.519 never leave. But Perry understood that the scapegoat 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:51.220 character had burned incredibly hot. And to prevent 00:12:51.220 --> 00:12:54.039 burnout, he needed to starve the audience. By 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:56.220 intentionally disappearing, he allowed the fans 00:12:56.220 --> 00:12:59.019 to reset their expectations. It built a massive 00:12:59.019 --> 00:13:01.679 amount of mystique. Exactly. Absence makes the 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:03.720 heart grow fonder, even in professional wrestling. 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:06.820 Which sets up the next massive pivot. All out, 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:09.929 September 2025. After 10 months in the wilderness, 00:13:10.409 --> 00:13:12.409 Perry makes a surprise return. And the twist 00:13:12.409 --> 00:13:15.149 here is incredible. It is. He doesn't come back 00:13:15.149 --> 00:13:17.190 to rejoin the elite. He actually attacks the 00:13:17.190 --> 00:13:20.389 Young Bucks. He turns face, saves Luchasaurus, 00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:23.429 and reforms Jurassic Express. He's a good guy 00:13:23.429 --> 00:13:25.230 again for the first time since the summer of 00:13:25.230 --> 00:13:27.690 2023. But notice the nuance in how he came back. 00:13:27.710 --> 00:13:29.750 He didn't hit the undo button. What do you mean? 00:13:29.970 --> 00:13:33.629 He didn't regress to being the naive, pure, baby 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:36.769 -faced jungle boy. When he returned, he was billed 00:13:36.769 --> 00:13:40.710 under a new epithet. Oh, wow. It's the perfect 00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:43.110 synthesis of the two halves of his career. Exactly. 00:13:43.549 --> 00:13:46.289 He brought back the Tarzan Boy entrance music, 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:48.789 which gave the crowd that massive hit of nostalgia 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:50.690 and allowed them to pop and sing along. Right. 00:13:51.029 --> 00:13:54.750 But he kept the hardened, serious edge, the darker 00:13:54.750 --> 00:13:57.929 presentation, and the use of his real name that 00:13:57.929 --> 00:14:00.389 he forged during the scapegoat era. So he blended 00:14:00.389 --> 00:14:03.029 them. He successfully merged the beloved indie 00:14:03.029 --> 00:14:05.590 darling that fans originally connected with with 00:14:05.590 --> 00:14:08.230 the dangerous, battle -tested veteran he had 00:14:08.230 --> 00:14:10.929 become through all the backstage drama and grueling 00:14:10.929 --> 00:14:13.029 matches. And that brings us to his current status. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:17.639 in late 2025 and early 2026. He is fully integrated 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.000 back into the top tier of the company, but as 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.600 a hero with a serious edge. Right. After finally 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:24.600 burying the hatchet with the Young Bucks at full 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:27.879 gear in November 2025, he stepped right up when 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:29.940 Darby Allen wasn't medically cleared for the 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:32.039 Continental Classic Tournament. He jumped into 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:33.899 the gold league. And he proved he belongs in 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:36.720 that main event conversation. He did. He finished 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:38.860 the tournament with six points. He missed the 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:41.960 semifinals, but he carried immense momentum into 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:44.879 New Year's Eve at the Dynamite New Year's Smash 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.559 event, where he challenged Ricochet for the AEW 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:49.899 National Championship. Which was a great match. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.879 Now, he didn't win that title match against Ricochet, 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:56.860 but the aftermath of that bout really sets the 00:14:56.860 --> 00:15:00.259 stage for his 2026 landscape. The attack. Right. 00:15:00.490 --> 00:15:03.350 Right after the bell, the faction known as the 00:15:03.350 --> 00:15:07.409 Demand Ricochet, Bishop Khan and Toleona viciously 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:10.129 beat down Luchasaurus. Yeah, and this was basically 00:15:10.129 --> 00:15:12.850 a brutal on -screen write -off to cover for a 00:15:12.850 --> 00:15:15.350 legitimate shoulder injury Luchasaurus had suffered, 00:15:15.529 --> 00:15:18.129 needing time away for surgery. Exactly. So here 00:15:18.129 --> 00:15:21.590 we are, early 2026, and Jungle Jack Perry is 00:15:21.590 --> 00:15:23.950 once again navigating the dangerous waters of 00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:27.009 the roster as a completely solo competitor. It's 00:15:27.009 --> 00:15:29.529 a remarkable cycle to witness. Think about your 00:15:29.529 --> 00:15:31.509 own professional life for a moment. Yeah, that's 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:33.250 a good way to look at it. Think about the phases 00:15:33.250 --> 00:15:35.769 you've gone through. Your naive beginnings, the 00:15:35.769 --> 00:15:37.610 public mistakes you might have made, the defensive 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:40.009 or rebellious phases when you felt misunderstood 00:15:40.009 --> 00:15:42.049 by your peers. It's hard to look back at some 00:15:42.049 --> 00:15:44.769 of those. It is. It's incredibly difficult to 00:15:44.769 --> 00:15:47.429 reconcile all of those past versions of yourself. 00:15:48.789 --> 00:15:51.509 Jack Perry's journey is a master class in integration. 00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:55.330 He didn't erase his past. He absorbed it. Wow. 00:15:55.490 --> 00:15:58.230 He folded the boy, the villain, and the veteran 00:15:58.230 --> 00:16:02.490 into one mature, highly compelling package. When 00:16:02.490 --> 00:16:05.009 you look at the entire timeline, it's wild. From 00:16:05.009 --> 00:16:07.289 the 12 -year -old kid in the crowd at SummerSlam, 00:16:07.730 --> 00:16:10.529 to Nate Coy, to the indie darling who finally 00:16:10.529 --> 00:16:13.269 embraced the Jungle Boy chant. Yeah. We saw him 00:16:13.269 --> 00:16:15.700 reach the top of the Tag Team Mountain. only 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:17.980 to have his heart broken, turn on his friends, 00:16:18.100 --> 00:16:20.779 and embrace the dark side. The villain era. We 00:16:20.779 --> 00:16:23.500 watch him take a very real, very ugly backstage 00:16:23.500 --> 00:16:26.399 fight over real glass, get suspended, and spin 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:28.659 it into a brilliant bloody run as the scapegoat. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:30.779 And finally, we've seen him return from exile 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:33.019 to synthesize it all into a battle -hardened 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:36.850 hero in 2026. So... What does this all mean? 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:38.769 Well, I think this raises an important question 00:16:38.769 --> 00:16:40.669 for you to mull over. Professional wrestling 00:16:40.669 --> 00:16:42.830 is a highly unique art form because the performer 00:16:42.830 --> 00:16:45.330 and the character inhabit the exact same physical 00:16:45.330 --> 00:16:47.929 body. Right, there's no off season. Exactly. 00:16:48.629 --> 00:16:50.970 But in our own lives, especially now with personal 00:16:50.970 --> 00:16:53.789 branding and social media, where exactly does 00:16:53.789 --> 00:16:56.429 our real self end and our public character begin? 00:16:57.070 --> 00:16:59.669 the lines are blurrier than ever. They really 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:01.889 are. Jack Perry showed us that sometimes the 00:17:01.889 --> 00:17:04.190 only way to survive the total destruction of 00:17:04.190 --> 00:17:07.269 your public image isn't to hide. It's not to 00:17:07.269 --> 00:17:10.089 issue a quiet apology and retreat. Sometimes 00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:12.970 the only way forward is to take the broken pieces 00:17:12.970 --> 00:17:15.369 of that image, even the literal shards of real 00:17:15.369 --> 00:17:17.970 glass, and use them to build an entirely new, 00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:20.730 undeniably fascinating identity. Building a new 00:17:20.730 --> 00:17:23.150 identity from the wreckage. Incredible stuff. 00:17:23.410 --> 00:17:25.269 Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into 00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:27.079 the evolution of Jack Perry. and we'll catch 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:27.640 you on the next one.