AEW Hot Take: Jack Perry is heading down uncharted territory

Jack Perry is heading down a path with a new persona that will be a challenging character to get over with fans.

Since Jungle Boy made an unceremonious turn on AEW fans, it has presented a lot of questions about what to expect in the near future. These questions are most definitely not new, but they have certainly come across our minds once more.

Jack Perry has been known for having a good guy persona with cool music, a unique ring presence, and typically being part of a team. It didn’t matter if it was with Jurassic Express or as part of JungleHook, Jack Perry had a way of making teams work no matter what. Jungle Boy is heading down a path that is unfamiliar and will test him in ways he hasn’t been tested since coming to AEW.

Can Jack Perry get his new character over with fans?

The moment Jungle Boy cut off his notable entrance music and made it very clear that fans won’t hear it again, it was the first indication of the path he is going down and it will certainly test him. Perry is slowly shedding the image that he has been known for since his debut and looking to introduce fans to something new.

It has all started off on a rocky start since Jack is trying to gel in his newfound voice and persona. However, there were strong indications of Jack looking to find himself again on two separate occasions.

During his rivalry with Christian Cage, it was a highly unorthodox rivalry with a double twist that kept fans questioning it all. It was a very interesting factor that Luchasaurus brought a whole new meaning to double-cross in that rivalry.

With the Jurassic Express being in doubt, it left a lot of uncertainty, just like it did for that rivalry consistently. Jungle Boy presented new elements to his attitude from the ultimate double cross by Luchasauraus and it provided hints that Jack was heading down a new path.

That initial new path led to what looked like a guaranteed ticket to win his second AEW tag team championship as he teamed up with Hook. The team had stronger tag team implications than his Jurassic Express, so it seemed obvious that Perry would be on the heels of another tag title gain.

A recurring theme where nothing is that simple or obvious, Perry decided to turn on Hook at Forbidden Door. It’s obvious that Perry since the beginning of this year has been taking a path that could be seen as unusual.

Since his re-introduction to fans, Jungle Boy reminds us of a good guy who is trying desperately to be bad. Even with him ditching his music, antics, and overall persona, he still screams Jungle Boy regardless. As long as he keeps his nickname, he will always be the same Jungle Boy who once teamed up with Marko Stunt and Luchasauraus.

Even though Jungle Boy still looks like a model citizen as a supposed bad guy, he can still hit a tone that will become unforgivable to most AEW fans. He can deny every aspect of who he was in the past and it could be enough for Jungle Boy to slowly back away from that shadow.

It won’t be enough for him to just deny it, because he has built on this personality since AEW first opened their doors. Truth is, the way he talks, the way he walks, and maybe even how he presents himself in the ring will always have fans looking at him as Jungle Boy the good guy, not who he is trying to be right now.

Time will tell if Jack Perry will rise to the occasion or crumble and quickly resort back to who he has always been to AEW. Historically it could go either way and there is no definitive way to determine this. One can hope that Jungle Boy can rise to the occasion in AEW as he finds his new voice.