During last week’s AEW Dynamite, AEW head announcer Jim Ross kept referring to “Jungle Boy” as “Jungle Boy Jack Perry” ticking off some fans. During his recent Grilling JR podcast, Ross commented on criticism he got from fans.
“It shows you how misguided some fans are,” Ross stated. “They say they love wrestling, but those of us who have dedicated our lives to the business get no breaks and a lot of this is over—I’m a big fan of Jungle Boy—big time. I think he’s gonna be a big star for us.”
Ross added,
“He’s a great kid, very athletic and I’ve been calling him Jungle Boy Jack Perry since day one. That’s like I call Steve Austin ‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ or The Rock ‘The Brahma Bull,’ ‘The Great One,’ whatever. They’re just nicknames that come to my head and sometimes they stick and sometimes they don’t, but for God’s sake, Conrad, is it a peaceful offense to say ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry?”
“Everybody’s a booker, man. Everybody’s a creative genius, everybody’s a booker,” he said. “They got enough knowledge to be dangerous, and this is a very sensitive time in our business for all the information flow on social media gives people the right, in their view, to profess to be somewhat experts. You’re not! You’re a fan! So, differentiate the two things.”
JR continued,
“You’re not an expert, I’m an expert. You’re not an expert, Conrad’s an expert. I’m trying to give ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack even more personality, he’s gonna be a player, man. What is he gonna do when he’s 35? Is he still gonna be ‘Jungle Boy’ or ‘Jungle Man?’ Or ‘Jungle Boy Jack?’ I don’t know what he’s gonna be, but right now in my mind’s eye, I’m giving you all I can because I wanted to get him over and that’s what we did Wednesday night. Our goal is to create new stars and to get these guys over.”