AEW’s Jungle Boy: ‘To Even Hear Jim Ross Say My Name Is Cool’

To AEW star Jungle Boy, Jim Ross is the voice of professional wrestling.

On the latest episode of Grillin’ JR, The WWE Hall of Famer openly spoke about the criticisms he’s received as of late for his commentary, specifically as it pertains to Jungle Boy.

Ross has a tendency to say “Jungle Boy Jack Perry,” referencing the superstar’s real name as Jungle Boy is the son of the late actor, Luke Perry. To JR, he sees “Jungle Boy” as Jack’s alias in the same vein of The Texas Rattlesnake nickname for Stone Cold Steve Austin.

“I’m a big fan of Jungle Boy. Big time. I think he’s going to be a big star for us. He’s a great kid. Very athletic. I’ve been calling “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry since day one. That’s like [how] I call Steve Austin the Texas Rattlesnake. The Rock, The Brahma Bull, The Great One, or whatever, they’re just nicknames.”

Also on his podcast, Ross would say that he uses Jungle Boy’s real name in an attempt to share his backstory and give him room to grow because, in Jim’s view, Jack can only be Jungle Boy for so long.

In a new interview with Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, Jungle Boy said that he is not bothered by the choices that Jim Ross makes on commentary because wrestling has evolved since he first started.

“Things are a bit different now than when I first kinda started it. I feel like I got here, at least, on my own merits,” he began. “For me, honestly, to even hear Jim Ross say my name is cool. That’s the voice of wrestling to me.”

Jungle Boy would also add that he has a tremendous amount of respect for JR, and to him, whatever Jim is comfortable with is cool.

He continued, “If that had happened at an earlier age and it were someone else, I probably would have said ‘Can you not do that?’ But I’m not gonna say that to Jim. If that’s what it sounds like to him, that’s cool with me.”

So, it is clear Jungle Boy has no issue with Jim Ross and his decisions on commentary during his matchups. You can catch Jungle Boy in action every Wednesday on TNT for AEW Dynamite.