Jungle Boy has made his name in AEW as one of the top young wrestlers in the world. The former AEW Tag Team Champion has solidified himself as one of the “Four Pillars of AEW” and has a future as an AEW World Champion almost certain if he carries on the path he is currently on.
However, before signing for the company, Jack Perry instead flirted with signing with rivals AEW. He would have earned himself a contract with the WWE, but one small thing about him caused Vince McMahon to turn up his nose and reject the young star from joining NXT.
Keep reading to find out about how Jungle Boys’ contract hopes were dashed and the reason behind him leaving WWE without penning a deal with the company.
He Was Rejected By WWE For Being Too Small
Speaking to The Young Bucks, alongside Jurassic Express teammate Luchasaurus and former AEW wrestler Marko Stunt, Jungle Boy revealed on “Wrestlers on the Road Ordering Room Service” that WWE turned him down for a contract, despite doing extra work backstage for them.
He told Nick and Matt Jackson that WWE offered him a job on the condition that he “put on 30 lbs or whatever” but turned him down on the spot due to his lack of size. Luckily for him, AEW had a much more progressive policy of hiring smaller wrestlers and gave him a five-year contract when AEW was first conceived.
“I did some extra work somewhere else. And they basically told me, they were like, ‘look,’ they were like, ‘if you put on 30 lbs. or whatever, we will give you a job, but the way it is, it’s not going to happen.’ And I was just so bummed.
I was like, ‘it bums me out that that’s the one thing that it gets hung up on because I know what I can do and I can do a bunch of stuff, but I think there are a bunch of guys who are way bigger than me who are not nearly as good and it’s silly to me to get so hung up on that.'”
Jungle Boy Rejected An AEW Contract
Luckily for Jungle Boy, he stayed true to himself and continued doing what he did best. He worked on his in-ring skills and earned a contract with AEW after making his debut in the company at AEW Double or Nothing 2019 (the first AEW show ever). With the performance in the Casino Battle Royal, he earned himself a contract with Tony Khan’s company.
However, it did not come without it’s difficulties. Rumours reported by WrestlingInc suggested that AEW offered Jack Perry, stage name Jungle Boy, a two year contract with the promotion prior to the event, but a set of negations between the two parties was said to have altered the terms of the deal.
It was said that he brought his father, former Movie Star Luke Perry, and their attorney to the negotiations, where they haggled for a contract with a shorter time scale. This would have been so that he could negotiate for a higher contract after just a year once proving his worth to AEW. It also would have given him the chance to sign for AEW a year after his debut, although these details have yet to be proven.
While it has not been reported, it is more than likely that Jungle Boy has signed a lucrative extension with AEW. This is due to his incredible success in the company which included defeating the Luca Brothers for the AEW Tag Team Championships in 2022. He and partner Luchasaurus held the championships until they were defeated by The Young Bucks at AEW Road Rage, with Christian Cage attacking Jack Perry after the match.
What do you think of Jungle Boy in AEW? Let us know your view in the comments or click here to read about how Fandango lost a Championship opportunity in WWE, thanks to The Great Khali.
Umm hellooo Rey is smaller than Jungleboy wtf WWE???