The last few months have proved it: Jungle Boy will never be the AEW Champion.
It’s sad to say, but he just doesn’t have it. The son of Luke Perry was lauded as a future star upon his signing with AEW, heralded as one of the Four Pillars of AEW.
He excelled in tag team action, where he wasn’t required to show much of his own personality. He even had Christian Cage doing the bulk of his mic work when he and Luchasaurus won the tag team titles.
That should have been enough to show he wasn’t good enough, but yet Tony Khan persisted.
Since AEW began, Jungle Boy has always lacked something. In the ring, he is smooth and believable, with a unique move set that is unlike anybody else.
But it lacks something. You never believe he’s going to win the match. You don’t see him wrestle and think that he is a top star in the making.
Maybe it’s his size – he certainly lacks size to compared to anybody else in the company. Maybe it’s the ridiculous giant hair. Maybe it is a lot of things.
The main issue with Jungle Boy as a top star – and one that many struggle with – is microphone skills.
Jack Perry is not a talker, despite his father being one of the most well-known actors in the past 20 years.
You just can’t believe anything he says on the microphone, and this is why Jungle Boy will never be the AEW Champion.
It was horrifically exposed in the build up to Double or Nothing 2023. While the Four Pillars four-way match was one of the most highly anticipated matches in AEW history, the build fell incredibly flat.
While MJF continued to prove how good he is on the mic, it was the other three competitors who had something to prove.
Darby Allin did well – not Elite on the mic, but good enough for a main eventer. Sammy Guevara has his inadequacies, but he did okay, given the circumstances.
However, Jungle Boy was heavily exposed in every talking segment in the feud.
His monologues were stilted and unconvincing. You could tell even he didn’t believe a word he said. It helped make the result of the match incredibly obvious, because there was no way you’re putting the AEW Championship over Jungle Boy’s shoulders.
Jungle Boy is only 26, mind you. And, this was only his second time challenging for the title. He previously lost to Kenny Omega for the belt, during a brief feud between the two in 2021 (where he looked eqully as inept).
The reason the build for Double or Nothing 2023 failed is why his match at Forbidden Door 2023 is one of the least anticipated on the show.
Jungle Boy is challenging SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at the event, although it has suffered the same pitfalls as before.
I think the only way for fans to actually accept Jungle Boy as a main eventer would be for him to work on his mic skills, and finally turn heel in AEW.
“Hollywood” Jack Perry is a gimmick that is going begging, and would be the best chance he has to shake off the cobwebs and achieve something nobody thinks Jungle Boy can achieve – winning the AEW Championship.