Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Jungle Boy on his father Luke Perry, Fyter Fest, advice from Cody

Episode Date: June 29, 2019

Jungle Boy (Jack Perry) sits down with Chris in Los Angeles to talk about his father Luke Perry, being part of the Battle Royale at AEW's Double or Nothing, his spot in that match with Joey Janela, putting on more size, why he doesn't watch WWE, his small part in Quentin Tarantino's new movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and more! How can you not root for Jungle Boy? Audio equipment provided by Samson Technologies: bit.ly/CVVSamson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Vleet Show. Chris Van Vleet show. Ladies and gentlemen. Chris! What is going on? Thank you for downloading another episode of the Chris Van Fleet Show.

I'm Chris Van Fleet, but you could just call me CVV. If that's easier for you, it's much easier to pronounce. Rolls off the tongue, too. CVV. Thank you to everyone who's left a five-star review. And thank you for helping pull. Put us in the top 200 on Apple Podcasts for sports and recreation. I mean, the podcast isn't even a week old yet.

You guys are awesome. Now, if you haven't left a five-star review yet, please take 27 seconds out of your day at some point today. And to thank you, the next time I see you, I will give you the best high five of your life. Now, the timing of this podcast is perfect since Jungle Boys in a four-way match at Fighter Fest tonight. We released this with MJF, Jimmy Havoc, and Hangman Page. And I'm not going to pretend like I didn't plan to release this on the same day as Fighter Fest because I did. Jungle Boy's stock is on the rise and I couldn't be more excited for him. He's only 22 years old.

I mean, technically he's 21 when we did this interview. Then his birthday was a few days later. But he just keeps getting better every single time he gets in the ring. And if you saw double or nothing, he's very over. The crowd loves him. So we get into a lot of different things in this conversation, including his famous father, Luke Perry, who passed away suddenly in March,

how he's dealing with that, how he started training when he was 11 years old, why he doesn't watch WWE, a bunch of other stuff. Before we get to that, though, the Chris Van Fleet Show is brought to you by Green Roads, and I'm sure you've heard a lot about CBD. And yeah,

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They have affordable audio solutions for any of your podcasting or audio needs. Head to samsaintech.com to see their entire lineup. Now, this was such a great interview with Jack Perry, with Jungle Boy. We did it at my hotel in Los Angeles. And he lives like four-ish miles away, but with L.A. traffic, it took him almost an hour to get to me. We talk about that in the interview. And because I did this interview with Jungle Boy, Luchosaurus then reached out to me and asked when he can be on the show. So boom, there you go. Keep an eye out for that one soon as well.

Until then, please enjoy my chat with Jungle Boy. I think you might have the best hair in wrestling right now. Oh, thank you, man. Yeah, I don't know. It's my mom's pretty much. But when you have hair like this, what kind of like, what kind of care has to go into it? I probably don't do as much as you would think. I just use a shampoo and conditioner from Costco. I'm pretty long overdue for like a trim or whatever, but it kind of goes with the character. Yeah, you're the Jungle Boy. You shouldn't be trimming your hair.

No, yeah. Yeah, I think they say about split ains and all that, but... I don't know. I don't know either. You have much longer hair than I do. You know much more about this than I would. Yeah, I don't know. I need to ask for some tips and all that.

People will leave them in the comments for you if you like. I don't know. This is probably trashed, realistically, easy. I haven't trimmed it in like three years. Really? Yeah, so I was getting pulled and stepped on and whatever. That's true. I find it helps a lot, actually.

I don't know if I would know how to wrestle without hair. Like for selling, you mean? Yeah, for every, a lot of times, like, I'm about to get hit or whatever. I can just put my hair in the way, and I think it saves my face a lot. Wow. But, yeah, I don't know. I can't really imagine not having long hair, because at this point, it's so, like, it's always in my hair. my face, like a part of what I'm doing.

Right. It's kind of, I'm stuck with it forever. We're sitting here and I think it's two days from your birthday, right? Two days from your 22nd birthday? Something like that. It's on Sunday. Your birthday's on the 15th, right? 16.

16. Okay. So. What day is it? Yeah. What day is it today? Almost 22. Wow.

Do you have big plans for your birthday? No, I don't usually do anything too huge. I kind of just hang out with my family, my good friends. I'm not much of a party guy, actually. So I just kind of hang out. out by the pool. Yeah, kind of simple. You've been wrestling, like, deceivingly long, because you're 21 as you sit here right now,

you're about to be 22, but you've been wrestling, like, it's crazy to say this, because you're 22, half your life. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't really thought about it like that. It is kind of wild. It hasn't all been consecutive, but, like, altogether it is. It's been a while. I started when I was in fourth grade.

that's crazy to say out loud yeah and it was uh my parents took me to do it um they kind of facilitated the whole thing because i used to i would just go out on my trampoline with my sister and you kind of throw her around and whatnot sure um you know and i think it just started me wanting to like clothesline her or whatever but it got to the point where i was like like giving her tombstones and batista bombs and stuff like that and i think my parents got like a little concerned. So they wanted me to go. They said, like, if you're serious about this

and this is something that you really want to do, you've got to do it with other people who, like, want to be doing it. And you've got to learn how to do it safe. Your sister didn't want to do it? I don't know. I mean, she kind of had to be tucked into it a little bit. But I don't know.

She was always cool about it. But yeah, they found a place for me to go learn, and I mean, I couldn't drive then, so they would pick me up from school and take me to train. Wow. And, yeah, they would drive me to shows. Yeah, they were super cool.

But, yeah, it's their fault that I'm in this. What was your debut match? My debut match was in some warehouse, somewhere here in Southern California. I don't know where, and I don't know what promotion or what it was for, but it was against a woman who actually helped to train me a lot. Her name was Nikki. And that was probably the scariest thing I had ever done, being in front of people. people like that. And I remember thinking, because like, I'd been doing the training and I was

like pretty good and all it. And I remember thinking right before it was time to go in front of but I was like, why would anybody do this? It's like the worst thing. But I did it and it went pretty well. And then I still think that now before I go out. I'm always like, I don't, I want to quit right before I walk through the curtain. Yeah. Waiting to go out is the worst part for me. The anticipation, I hate it. But then the second you go out, it's awesome. I'm by time you come back, you can't wait to do it again. So why was there a break in between you doing this in fourth grade and then, you know, continuing it later on? Um, I kind of, I kind of just got over wrestling a little bit. I, um, you know, I was saying, you know, I don't really watch wrestling

that often when I am wrestling. And I got into wrestling, like wanting to wrestle because I love to watch it. And then, you know, I kind of started doing it. And I kind of just, like, I don't, when I'm not wrestling, I don't want to be watching wrestling. And I kind of just got over it, and I got into music, and I got into, I mean, you know, I was in like sixth grade at that point, seventh grade, and I kind of wanted to just be a middle schooler, and I didn't want to have to wake up to go train and blah, blah, blah, and so I kind of, that was that, and I kind of just was over wrestling. And I fully had that phase that I think a lot of people have were like, oh, wrestling's stupid, that's, you know. And then I got back into it. It was kind of an accident, but I ended up being, I was in high school at some point. And I remember I was at my house with this girl, and it was, like, kind of awkward, and I didn't really know what to do. So I was like, I'm going to put on the TV for, like, I don't know, some sort of background or whatever.

And I ended up kind of just, like, sitting on the remote, I guess, and it flipped onto Monday Night Raw. And I was like, I'm just going to watch until the commercial, and then I'll flip it off. Right. And I watched that segment, and then I was like, all right, I'm just going to watch the next one. And so I pretty much ended up ignoring the girl the whole time and just watched the whole level. episode and then I flip back on the next week and I kind of immediately was back into it. And how long ago was this? Yeah, I'm, I'd say that was like six or seven years ago, man.

Okay. Five, six, seven years ago, you might have still had CM Punk there. Yeah, that was. Did you remember some of the segments that really drew you back in? I remember around that time, the shield, the shield was, I don't know if they were new, but that was the first time I'd ever seen them. Yeah, they would be new. And I remember looking at Roman Reins the first time I knew that he was going to be pretty big.

And I kind of just made that little prediction to myself. I was like, that's the guy. I think that was around the time that Punk wrestled Undertaker at WrestleMania, probably before that WrestleMania. Like Randy Orton was still there, I don't know. I was surprised kind of because it was pretty different, but it was almost exactly the same at the same time. I don't know.

It has a way of changing, but never really. changing altogether. It's the constant, you know? Yeah, it was kind of like I'd never left. And there were new faces and whatnot. Yeah. But, you know, it was the same thing. So then from there, how quickly did you get back into training again?

Yeah, it wasn't super quick because then I, you know, I'd grown a bit and like, it used to hurt me a lot when I was a kid. I think my neck was like not fully developed. Like, it used to hurt me a lot to take the bumps. And, um, bumps are like no joke though. People need to realize this. Yeah, no, I mean, here's the thing, like you can say whatever, it hurts. The first time, like, I've trained a little bit.

The first time I hit the ropes, I was like, huh. Yeah, well, I used to get bruises on my back. Of course. And I remember people, people would always tell me that, like, oh, you know, there's a trampoline under it. I wish there was, man. It's a, yeah, so I kind of, I figured I'll give it another shot because I'm older and a little bigger. I think I'd be better at it now. and I'd kept in touch with some people from back then, like through Facebook and all that,

and I kind of, I messaged this guy Fern, who had been my good friend, and I said, I think I want to try it again. What do you think? And he taught down here at Santino's, which is a school in, where, I don't know, somewhere in Southern California here. And I came down to do a private class, and I was super excited, and I took that first bump into media. I was like, this sucks. I forgot. Yeah. Like, this is a, yeah.

So then I kind of, I was like, I took four months. I was like, I don't know about that. And then four months later, I was like, you know, I think maybe I want to try it again. And so I went down and I took the first bump again. I did the whole class, but every time I was like, man, this sucks. Because you kind of have to build up a tolerance for it. So me, you know, like every five, four months, whatever, I wasn't building any tolerance to the bump.

So every time it was like my first bump all over again. And then it's him maybe like a year and a half. I kind of went on that schedule of like once in a blue moon going down and doing it. And then he told me actually that guy, and he said, I know a company and they're doing a cruiserweight tournament. And is that something you'd want to do? And I guess I was just like, you know, I might as well, like, it's kind of now or never. I don't know, I might as well do it.

And so I said, yeah, and he's like, all right, well, it's in three weeks. So I was like, oh, shit, I got to get down to business. And then, yeah, that three weeks I kind of just was right back into it. But I was really surprised kind of once I got over the initial, the hump of getting back into it, how quickly it kind of came back. And I think it's kind of like riding a bike a little bit. I think if it's something you... A very painful bike.

Yeah, a bike you fall off a lot. But it kind of, I just had to remember that, but it was kind of all right there. So if you got out of it for a little while, obviously you're in now, sign with AEW. what's to say, you know, that cycle's not going to repeat itself? I've thought about that before, you know. I mean, and obviously I look at people who go away for a while and then come back and do their thing. I intend to be wrestling pretty solidly now for a while. But, you know, with the rest of my life, I don't know.

I don't think I'd like to be wrestling when I'm 50. Yeah. I don't know if I'm cut out. I think that's pretty fair. Yeah. Yeah. 50, you would be wrestling like 30 plus years. Yeah, yeah, that would be wild.

I don't know. But I think wrestling is more permanently in my life now. Even with like the people I've met, the first time I got out of it, I kind of, I could have just dropped wrestling there completely and I wouldn't have any ties to it. But, you know, this is also big, it's weird now because it's like, it's actually my job. Like, it's what I do. Yeah. And it's kind of, that part is crazy.

Because I used to, when I'd see people, like after I got out of high school, I like two or three years out of high school before this all happened. And I'd see people and they'd like, oh, how's wrestling going? And I'd kind of be embarrassed. I'd just like, you know, it's good. But the truth was I, like, I hadn't made any money. I, like, lost money. I was still living at home. I mean, I pretty much just be getting beat up all the time. Like, I had nothing to show for it, I guess. And I love to do it, but it was, you know, when I'd see these people, I'd be like, I don't know, I don't have anything. So what was the catalyst? What kind of took you? to that next level.

Yeah, so it kind of, I ended up, when I got out of high school, I moved to Santa Cruz for college. And when that happened, I was like, I was not happy at all. And I thought it was pretty much the worst thing that was ever going to happen to me. But what it did, the school, I hated college that year. And the school, it was just totally not right for me. But the people I met up there, like the wrestling scene of Northern California, that really kind of took things to another level for me.

because they, down here I'd only been working like little warehouses and all that. But when I got up there, they were like, they were selling out their little arenas and all that. And I kind of was like, oh, there is something here. It's, you know, more than 13 people will show up to see this. And so, yeah, then I pretty much exclusively wrestled in like Northern California for two years. And I started kind of building a name for myself up there. And like, I got some exposure and all that. And then it really wasn't, it was too.

this past November was when it just blew up for me. And I was up at a show in San Francisco, and I was talking to Brody King. And he was telling me, he was like, I was with Joey Janella this past weekend. He was like watching some of your video clips. And I was like, oh, that's really cool. But I kind of feel, I was like, he watches probably a bunch of clips. He's Joey Janella. He's doing whatever.

And not very long after that, Joey Janella sent me a message. And he was having a show in L.A. and he wanted me to do it. Wow. Yeah, and he told me, I think you're going to blow up pretty big after this. And that kind of freaked me out because I had seen, like, with Marco Stun and stuff,

like Joey has an eye for, you know, the next big thing, kind of. And so really, I did the show in November, and that, it fully took. I got books for PWG the next day. Oh, that changes everything. Which is nuts. I almost threw up when I saw that. Does Joey Ryan himself reach out to you about that?

Oh, for PJ? No, I got emailed by Super Dragon for that. And it was weird because I've never gotten booked through an email before. But someone asked me, they were like, can I get your email? Someone wants to book you. And I was like, all right. Like, I never checked my email. I'm not good at the emails.

So I gave it to him. And I was in a, I was at Hamburger Marys. Have you been there? The Dragon. My sister loves that stuff. And so we were in there. That place is legendary. Yeah, it's wild.

I've been there a bunch. But we were in there, and I was just flipping through my email, and it said PWG wrestling. And I was like, no way, this is nuts. And I showed my dad that. And he kind of just, like, he just gave me this little nod. And I had to leave the restaurant thing because it was too loud. And I really felt like I was going to peop because I was like, this is what? This is nuts.

And so I was sitting out on a curb just kind of like, holding my head like like this is nuts and um i remember talking to my dad that day kind of out on the street because he came out to checkman he kind of told me he's like it's like it's starting like the rest of your life it's kind of starting now wow and so the way before i even did the first pwg i'd i'd been contacted by cody and then that kind of all happened so then it was just like pwg a and then just kind of nuts yeah but i yeah there was like i mean really one night kind of changed everything for me. And I went from, I mean, not a nobody, but no one knew what was really going on with me to

I'm kind of everywhere. Well, you went from being Luke Perry's son to being Jungle Boy, the wrestler, on your own. Yeah, that's been kind of a, you know, the way it's all, I wasn't like, the way it's all worked out now, it's kind of weird, because I was never, like, ashamed to talk about my dad or whatever, but it wasn't something that I ever wanted to bring up and I kind of wanted to stay away from because it was just always kind of, as much, I've always just been trying to do my own thing. And I never wanted to be given things that I shouldn't be getting because of that. Sure. And, you know, so that Jungle Boy is like pretty much the furthest away from Luke Perry that

I can think. It's like a totally different. And I've had a lot of people over, like, the years telling me, you need to use your real name and like be yourself and all. And it's just not what I ever wanted to do. And now obviously it's like, it's still, it's not something I come in the door trying to talk about, but it is what it is. And that for me,

it was just cool to kind of have like the validation of being successful on my own as my own thing and to, I mean, when I was there for a double or nothing a couple of weeks, it was people were, that was crazy. That whole city was kind of, and taken over. But people were coming up to me and like pulling me away from my family and like taking

pictures with me and stuff. And that was kind of wild because, you know, I'd kind of seen that my whole life with my dad. We'd be out and people would be like, hey, can I get a pick? And so it was kind of wild for it to be me for the first time. And it was, I don't know, it felt kind of surreal. It was yeah. Who was with you at Double or Nothing? I had, I think I had eight people with me. I had Like my mom, one of my aunts, I had two of my aunts there, my stepdad. My dad's two best friends, they came out for it. One of my best friends out there. Yeah, pretty much my core kind of family group.

I got to ask you about the head scissors in that match to Joey Janella. Yeah. What happened there? Yeah, so that we, are we supposed to protect K-Fabro? No, no, I don't know. I'll just tell that. So the way it worked out was we were entering in the groups, like the card groups or whatever. And so I was the hearts.

And I'd kind of talk to my group and like whatever it was, I was going to go in and get my one thing in before it all started. And we kind of agreed that I was going to run first. And so we go out and Billy Gunn just started running. Yeah. And I was like, dude, well, so then I was actually racing. Like I started running. But it's hard to run down the ramp kind of. And I really didn't want to fall because I would have been like the worst thing.

We've all seen that before. Yeah, the tightest thing. So I was like, it's not going to be me. So I was trying to race, Bill. And he's fast for an older dude. I was like, damn. He's jacked. So I was running trying to catch him.

And he slid in. I was supposed to do something with Brandon Cutler. And the second Billy slid in, he just started kicking Brandon Cutler. And I was like, no way. This is not going to happen to me right now in front of everybody. Like the biggest thing I've ever done. Yeah. So I grabbed Joey and I was like, dude, help me.

And it was, I don't usually work it, but it was all right there. And I just whipped him off. And like, it just, it all happened right there. And I kind of, I've wrestled to him before, so he kind of knows my stuff. And, but I didn't know he was going to do that to his head. Like, so Joey sold it like that on purpose? Yeah. Oh my God.

But it felt weird to me because normally someone just takes a roll. And like we did it. And I felt something kind of weird. And I got like a really, really loud reaction. Yeah. That was one of the first big pops of the knife. Yeah. And I was like, oh, damn for a head scissors or whatever.

And then I saw it after and I was like, dude, are you? Like, I didn't even realize what had gone on. But yeah, he totally, he's awesome. He's a really generous guy. And he's always trying to help people get over and, like, do this thing and all that. But that was like a perfect example. He just, he took a totally regular move and made it like a moment that, you know, I'll remember and people remember.

So after the match, when you went back to the back, what was the reaction from everyone back there? You know, it was kind of everyone there was kind of in awe, I think, of how big, the thing was. And I think, like, I knew it was going to be big, but when I got there and I saw the setup of it, kind of, and, like, how professional it looked, I was kind of surprised, and then I kind of was like, like, am I really, like, they want me for this?

It's kind of, and I think everybody back there was a little blown away by how big it was. But, yeah, everyone was stoked. I mean, it was an awesome experience for all of us. It was hard to kind of put, It was a cluster kind of with that many people and all that. But it was really cool. Everyone that I talked to is happy with it.

So if you said you don't watch wrestling anymore, do you watch your own matches now? Yeah, I will do that because I watch a little bit. I watch more like highlights than the thing is I haven't watched, I mean before this year, I haven't watched WWV for a long time because I just really kind of got tired of. I flip it on and there's like a 30-minute promo at the beginning of everything. And it's just like, you know, I don't, it's not what I want to see. I was telling you, it's funny because the only people I really had any interest in watching were like Kenny, the Bucks and Cody. And so I got like a New Japan subscription, whatever.

And I was really in when All In happened. I was like super excited about that because I was like, this is what I want to see. Like I haven't been excited about this since I was little. So yeah, I'll watch a little bit. here and there. I watch my own stuff so I can kind of know what works and what doesn't work. Yeah, I don't know. I kind of, I don't like watching myself in a way that I, like, I don't like the way my voice sounds on camera. Sometimes I'm like, I guess, no, like this looks bad to me, stuff I'm doing. It's just something you have to get used to, though. Like, you know, I've been in television for a long time.

You have to get used to the fact that that's what you look like. This is what you sound like. Yeah, that's it. And you just have to get used to it. Yeah. I mean, you're going to have to get used. You're in a film coming up, not just a film, but you're in a Quentin Tarantino film. Yeah. I think maybe that got a little bit blown out of proportion, but... You're still in it. Yeah, I mean, hopefully.

Maybe they kept me out. But, yeah, that was kind of wild because I had... Chris Jericho was kind of like one of the first people I told about that. I think maybe technically I wasn't allowed to say anything, so... Sorry, if I did. It's out there now. Whatever. But that was, like, I'm in the background for, like, probably two seconds, maybe.

which was like five days of filming i'm sure yeah yeah i did a couple to be yeah it um that was something my dad had wanted me to do that and i was telling chris but like that for my dad was like he was so so excited and he told me he was like and i was before into this all the lead stuff but he was like this is like if you got to just wrestle triple h this is like this is it like this is what i've been and um you know he told me he's like if i never work again i'm i'm happy with this this is wow and so he wanted me to do the extra work and he told me he told me it's like i just want you to be in the same thing that i'm in like whether they keep it your footage or not like i we that's something we both will have done

not a lot of people can say that and um you know i i mean i was i thought it was cool but now especially i'm like really happy that it got done but so i ended up i told chris about that and we're just kind of talking and i ended up getting all these messages people from like ABC news and all that like we want to cover your role in the and i was like i don't have a role there's no It's nothing like that. It will end up being on your IMDV now as uncredited, I'm sure. I don't even know if I have one, but yeah, we'll see. You will now.

Someone make one. But yeah, I went to this event. People are like, what can you tell us about your part in the movie? And like, how was, how was fit? And I was like, I sat in a chair all day. I didn't. You'll, like, see the side of it. Well, when we see it, it's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Quintyern 2's new film. Brad Pitt's in it, DiCaprio's in it. Margot Robbie. It's a huge cast. So when we watch the film, what scene should, we'd be looking for? Do you know, I don't know how much I'm allowed to actually. Okay. I think, I think they might actually sue me, but well, I have my hair out, so watch out. Okay, so we just, so look for the hair. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It'll be like that. I took better care of it that day.

Well, you were, weren't probably doing that. There was probably someone doing it. Well, yeah, I washed it and got it already, and then I went and then they redid it anyway. That's, that's how movie sets work, you know? Was your dad always a wrestling fan? Yeah. He was, it's funny. I, it's funny. I I told Cody this too. My dad was a huge, huge Dusty Rhodes fan. And he, like, growing up, he had this, like, Dusty Roads kind of box set, whatever, like, the best of Dusty Roads. And I had this thing when you opened it up, it would talk. Like, it had Dusty talking.

And he just wore it out because you just opened it up all the time and listened to it. And he broke the speaker in it. But, yeah, he was really big into it. Dusty Roads and, like, Rick Flair were his. He just walked around the house doing those. those promos and spiels and all that. But yeah, the other day, I mean, I was going through some stuff, like this bookshelf at his house, and he just has a Dusty Rhodes action figure standing on the bookshelf, which is, I sent Cody a picture of that,

and that I think is kind of cool. Cody's been, like, it's kind of wild because, like, a year ago Cody Rhodes was, like, kind of so far out of my plane. But he's a good friend as well. as kind of like an inspiration and like a mentor. And I guess he's my boss, which I don't. He is your boss. Yeah, which I don't, I don't, he's just such a cool guy and a good guy that it doesn't, it doesn't feel like that.

He's just, yeah, he's been, he's been a good friend, like a supportive guy and I'm, I'm glad to have him. And honestly, the whole, the whole kind of all elite team, it's, you know, I've never been signed to wrestle anywhere else, but I don't imagine it's kind of this close native of a group because they're all really just genuine supportive people. Do you feel like, you know, who his dad is and who your dad is kind of gets you in the door? Yeah, I mean, I feel like when I talk to him about it, I feel like he kind of gets what it's like a bit. And, you know, whether it's like on purpose or subconsciously, you know, I think in a way I've always kind of been trying to fill some big shoes and like trying to kind of be my own guy. I feel like I have to get out from this. it makes it sound bad I don't know

there's kind of a big shadow and like to be successful on my own I think I have to go that much further and do that and I fact Cody totally gets that because if you look at him his dad's a legend and I think

I'm you know I don't I don't know what I think about a lot of people ask me about like the universe like what life after death and like if things are meant to happen or not and I don't really know what I think about that

but I do feel pretty confident that like I'm meant to be where I am with the people I'm with right now. And I feel, I've had Cody and these, I think this is where I'm supposed to be. And I can't really think of anywhere else I'd rather be, honestly. So if we were to have this conversation 20 years from now, you've had this incredible wrestling career. What do you want people to remember you for? I'm trying to think.

I don't, I mean, in a way, what I've kind of learned is wrestling is never what you expected to be. because I didn't make the Jungle Boy thing up. And when I said, I never would have thought, if you asked me four years ago, like if you told me what was going to happen, I don't believe that. What was the name you were wrestling under before? Yeah, I stole it off of the Ultimate Fighter on TV. It was Nate Coy.

And I just took it because I couldn't. I was trying to think of a cool name. But I couldn't, like, I don't know. I couldn't think of anything. And they told me, like, the shows in two days, we need a name for you. And I was on the phone. I was just watching the Ultimate Fighter. And this guy was talking.

I was like, do you know, I'll be Nate Coy? And they're like, what is that? And I was like... So were you Jungle Boy, Nate Coy? No, I was just Nate Coy. Ah. And I went, and I, like, red trunks and black boots and nothing jungle at all. And I was a big Connor McGregor fan.

And I would always see that he would, like, get on the other side of the Octagon and, like, kind of crouch like that, like a monkey. And I was, they put me out first. And I had no, like, crowd pose or whatever. And, like, I was embarrassed. and I was super wet. And I was just in the middle of this warehouse and like downtown with all these people staring at me.

And I didn't know what to do, so I kind of just crouched down like, kind of McGregor because I was like, that's cool. And the announcer guy, he told me, he's like, I have a nickname for you. And I was like, well, what did it? But he wouldn't tell me because we're in front of all these people. And then it just came time for me to be announced

and he said, Jungle Boy Nate Coy. When I first heard that, I was like, are you kidding me? That is so stupid. Like, I was pretty annoyed about it. But then that was the part, that people caught onto. No one was chanting Nate Coy,

because, I mean, yeah, it's kind of a silly name for that. But the Jungle Boy thing, people really like. So how quickly did you go out and get gear to match that? Not very, well, I kind of, the gear, I actually, people were just giving me gear in the beginning. They were, I go, I have these trunks to wear them. And I was like, all right. And I wasn't fully sure then that I was, like,

dead set on wrestling again. But I kind of, it started influencing my style more. And I would do kind of more of the monkey-like style. and I don't know, jungle moves, whatever, I don't know. Honestly, when I first saw that you were signed AEW, because I had heard about you, but I was so stoked, I was like, am I going to be able to do an interview with him? Like, I don't know.

I don't know. Does the Jungle Boy character talk? Like, I didn't know. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, he doesn't, a lot of times. I don't know. That's the thing is like, I never, I didn't plan this character. I didn't like plan this was going to be my thing. Yeah, I don't know.

So I'm kind of just rolling with. with it as it goes. So I guess to go back to your original question, I don't know if in, I don't know if in 20 years I will still be the jungle boy, what will have happened, but I guess I just want to do, I don't know, I just want people to have a good time watching me. And I think it's really cool for me to see little kids because, I mean, that's just what I remember. Wrestling is, it's kind of magic when you first see it. And like before you know, kind of like the ends and outs for whatever, it's just like kind of a magical thing. And I'd never seen anything like it. And I kind of just really captured my imagination and everything.

So I guess to be able to do that to someone, to kids or to anyone else, I think that's pretty much all I could ask for. Do you feel like growing up here in Hollywood or in L.A. Has made you the type of person you are for better or for worse? I think maybe it has, but I think honestly maybe it has like in the opposite way. like my dad was very like as not Hollywood as you could be and like I think a lot of people don't like not knowing him

well they see the photos you know they see the photos that everyone sees from the 90210 yeah if you see pictures like paparazzi pictures of my dad I told Chris this but the worst fashion sense I've ever seen on anybody ever and he wouldn't he wouldn't buy any clothes and I don't buy clothes either but he had like

old pants that like I guess were too big for him and instead of getting a bell he'd take a zip tie and he'd put it in between the two bell loop yeah and he'd zip tie his pants shut and like when he'd come to get me from school I bet can you just stay in the car because like he had this dog that he would bring and he didn't have a leash and he'd take a big scarf that was my sister's and tied around the dog's neck and be walking with these zip tied pants and like he wore a fanny pack before it was like I guess cool which I don't even think it is but always had a fanny pack he had like a and he had glasses that he tied a string around and wore him on a necklace. So that was like what my dad was like.

And I remember not that long ago, one of my headlights was out. And he was like, all right, we're going to change this headlight today. And I was like, can I just take it to the shop or whatever? But he tried to fix his own plumbing. He tried to, yeah. So he was totally like that. And he, you know, he drove like a soccer mom minivan. And I guess kind of, I don't know if he taught me, but like I just got an Instagram and I felt like a real kind of sellout for getting it.

But like my dad, my parents, but they were never into that whole kind of display of things. They were just really genuine kind of, I guess kind of quiet people. How did you pick your Instagram name? I remember when I was in high school, there were security guards at my high school because we used to have to walk down the street. from building to building. And one of these guys was, he's just a cool security guard and asked him to sign my yearbook at the end of the year. And all he wrote, he was like, Jack, the man, the myth, the legend.

That was it. But I thought it was so cool. Like I kind of... So now your name is boy. Yeah, I always liked that. And then I figured just now, Jungle Boy, it's better, just the boy, the myth, the legend. So, and I figured it would be taken. When I typed in, I was like, now you can have it.

So I better swoop that up before anyone gets it. But yeah, that's kind of... I feel like people have this love-hate relationship with Los Angeles. Like, obviously actors live here because there's lots of work here. But any of my friends who moved out here for television hosting or acting, they're like, it's so hard to make friends here. People are not very genuine. They're super fake.

Obviously, the traffic here sucks. Yeah, that's... It's funny when I go other places because, like, this, it took me, like, 30 minutes to get, like, three or four miles to you. So I'll go other place, and it's like somewhere, like, it's seven miles away. I'm like, all right, we got to, like, leave an hour early. Yeah. Like, what do you mean? It takes, like, 20 minutes.

There's something about going from the valley. Take here. I don't know what it's like, it's a bum. I don't know what the traffic system was like, you need to fix that. Did growing up here, did you have a lot of friends who had famous parents too? Yeah, a couple. I would imagine your neighbors would be, like you'd be living in, you know, a place where your neighbors. I mean, it wasn't, it wasn't fully like that.

I had, I mean, you know, like my dad also. his friends, I would like see their kids and all that. And it was kind of, but it was, it wasn't really like, my dad's so wasn't like that, I get it's like, I never thought of him as being famous. So I never really thought, like, it wasn't like I needed other people with famous parents to like relate, like, because it's just my dad was kind of my dad. And a lot of times I was, I was like embarrassed by him at these school events and whatnot. So it was, I knew people.

but it wasn't, I don't know. I guess he kind of just, it's hard to explain what he was like to, because I think the world has such a built-up perception of who he was and all that. Yeah. But he was just... Well, to you, he's your dad. Yeah, and he just really, he's from Ohio,

and he just really was like an Ohio boy, full on. But I imagine when you live in, you know, the type of neighborhood you live in, all your neighbors are actors or directors or producers or whatever. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. I mean, yeah, we used to live in Hancock Park, and it was a pretty, all the houses are pretty big and fancy and all. But again, this is kind of like how my dad was.

He got me a go-kart one year. And we used to go out on the street and I'd be racing this go-kart. And there were people driving like Porsches and all, they were giving us these dirty looks. But my dad was out there with a walkie-talkie, like talking to me in this go-car. And then, like, we would just be out there racing it. Wow. Yeah, so he was kind of, you know, he was like a hillbilly. boy in Beverly Hills somewhere.

I have to say, I think it's so great how openly you speak about your father. Yeah, it, um, you know, it's kind of like, I used to really not try and speak about him at all, but it's, there's nothing, there was a time when I thought I could keep it a secret kind of, but obviously the cat's out of the bag, but it's just, you know, I mean, the whole thing, the whole world, it kind of, everyone knows what's going on, and it's not, you know, I don't know, There are obviously personal things that I don't talk about with him and all. But I guess I also want to know because I fag people. I just want to, he's just a really cool down-to-earth guy.

And it's weird because all the pictures I've seen online are him when he's young with that stupid hair and all the clothes and all that. But, and I guess that's how people think about him. But he just, and really, my dad's, like, main thing was being a dad. Like, that's what he really was into. And he just totally was, he's just a cool. guy, like down to earth and all that. So I just, I guess I want people to know that as much as they can. I'm sure he'd be incredibly proud of everything you've accomplished right now. Yeah, it, uh, it's kind of bittersweet because I do at double-or-nothing especially, I really wished he could be

there, but. Oh, he was. Yeah. And I think he knew before, I think he knew that things were going in a good direction. And, um, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's a bummer, too. It, it, uh, I try to be positive about it, but it's, um, I try to be positive about it, but it's, It's pretty lame. Sure. But. Well, now you got another big match coming out. Yes.

Where the spotlight's on you. Yes. Fighter Fet. Yeah, not you and, you know, 20 other people. Yeah, that's going to be good. That's kind of, that whole segment, too, with Brett Hart was wild. Because I didn't know about any of that before I got there. No way.

No. Cody was just like, oh, yeah, you get the Brett Hart segment. I was like, what? I didn't know. I didn't know he was there even. What? I was like, what is that? Is that, like, something I should know?

But this is going to be awesome. Have you worked any of those guys? Obviously, you worked with them in the Battle Royal. Oh, wow. No, yeah. It's Jimmy Havoc, it's Hangman Page, and MJF. Yeah. That totally. Yes, MJF, my friend, if anyone seemed the interview we did.

Those kind of matches, they're either awesome or they're, like when I was doing it, I would either hate them or I would love them. And it kind of just depends on the other guys in there, because with those kind of things, with that many people, whatever, it's, it has the potential to get really kind of squiffy and all. But with these guys, I'm... Squiffy. It's good word. It's going to, it's going to be awesome. I can't wait.

From the outside looking in, as a fan, I would have to think Hangman goes over in this, because he needs to look strong as he goes into his title match. Yeah, you would think. I don't, I mean, I don't, here's this. I think they also, though, are doing things in a way. I think they know what people expect a little bit. Yeah. I don't know.

I just show up and do what I'm there to do. You didn't even know you were booked on it until recently. No, yeah. They didn't, I just got an email in there. I got, we're buying your plane ticket, so let us know if this. I was like, plane ticket for what? But yeah, I mean, I'm super happy to be there. I wanted to be on it.

Yeah, it's just, it's kind of why. It'll be cool to see, too, because Dublin was like such a spectacle, and it was like this huge thing. And not that this isn't a spectacle, but, now that we kind of got the first one out of the way, I think everyone's probably a little more comfortable. And, you know, I mean, we're saying, we're about to be every week, like, on the road doing that.

Absolutely. And there's going to be more eyes on Fighter Fest because it's free than there were on Double or Nothing. Yeah, and I think this is also just a good time in the beginning to show, this is when we've got to get people interested and show them what it's all about. And, yeah, I really think that this, I mean, it's the slogan, but I think it's going to change the world of wrestling.

Well, it already is. Yeah, I think, you know, I think if you look at double or not, that was, honestly, I thought that was probably one of the best wrestling shows I've ever seen. And it gave me goosebumps. Being there, Cody's entrance, I got full on goosebumps. And it, like, it just made me feel things that I don't feel when I watch wrestling. And I think it's the right time for this. I just think everything's kind of a line. Like, this is the time to do it.

And these are the right guys to do it. Do you have a favorite match of all time? that you've watched that i've watched yeah oh that's hard i i mean i feel like i think when i was it would have to be someone when i was younger because that was when i was like i used to be blown away like by i would sit there i remember i guess i don't know a year i was i was always super into ray mysteria and i remember when whatever year it was he he like entered first in the royal rumble yeah and he ended up winning it at the end and they just totally because it was i came in Randy Orton at the end. And I used to, I used to hate Randy Orton. I was like, this guy's such a

prick, whatever, but like, I don't know, him winning, Ray Mysterio has always been awesome to me because I'm never going to be like a huge guy. But to see him, he's not even, I mean, he's a jacking a lot, but he's a really short guy. But you're bigger than people think. Like, I think people look at your photos and because you're lean, they go, oh, he's 5'7, he, you know, you're like 5'10-ish, right? Like, we're at like the same height. Yeah, I've been trying to get bigger too. It'll come. Yeah, that's what, well, this was so cool because I remember people always used to tell me,

I guess I'm just going to get, like, full on, people used to tell me that you're going to have to take steroids or this isn't going to work. Wow. And that was so kind of like disheartening to me. And I felt like, like, if you look at everything else, like, look at what I'm doing. Like, I don't see why that's that big of a thing. And, you know, I did some extra work for WWB, and they didn't say anything like that, but I was talking to Scott Armstrong.

He's like, you need to get bigger and put on some size. And I knew that, and that's something I'd wanted to do anyways. But, like, when I talked to Cody and the Bucksnot, that was never anything that they said. And it was always, because before it was like, you have to do this in order to be able to do this. And they kind of just wanted me as I was. I feel like you could be like the third young buck. Like the same type of sideburns? People used, I didn't know who they were when I got back into wrestling.

And people who make you look like a young buck. And I didn't realize that those were like people. And I was like, thanks. Like, I don't know what that is. But yeah, people have told me that I'm down. You guys know. Do you have a goal weight that you're shooting for? What's your shoot weight now?

Right now I'm about like 157. Okay. Back in November, it was 145. Dude. Yeah. That's, that's, like, what's. lot. Yeah. So if you can keep adding 10-ish pounds every six months. Yeah, we'll see. I don't know. I had to go to G&C and drop a bunch of money on powders and whatnot, but I'd rather do it this way. I don't, I made,

my dad and I thought about and I was little about steroids and all that. And he made me promise that I wouldn't do it. And I mean, I probably wouldn't have done it anyways because it's just not really my style. But I mean, now especially, that's, it's not something I can do. But not that I know a ton about nutrition, but I work out sometimes. You look good, man. Yeah, thanks. I think that your metabolism is so high right now that you could probably eat literally anything. Yeah, that's just, yeah.

Remember when Taylor Lottner put on all that size for the Twilight films? He was talking about, like, eating cheeseburgers and pizza all day. Well, it's hard for me to eat. Like, I'm not that hungry. Oh, yeah, and you just have to force yourself. Yeah, well, that's the thing. Like, when I wake up in the morning, I'm like, not hungry. I have to wait a couple of, but I'm watching all these videos and, like, you just need to eat

something. The biggest thing that changed my life in terms of nutrition was, do you know who Tim Ferriss is? No. He has a book called The Four Hour Workweek, Four Hour Body, Four Hour Diet, all this things. He says 30 grams of protein in the first 30 minutes of waking up. Yeah. Like jump starts your metabolism, jump starts your body and get your body like craving that protein and rebuilding your muscles. Yeah.

So for me that helped, I don't know, you know, different things work for different people. I found for me once it started, you know, rich piano? Yeah, of course. I like watching. Well, he's going. Yeah. I like watching his videos. And obviously he's going for something very, very different than what I'm going for.

But it's kind of in a way, it's a mindset, I think, kind of. Because once I would force myself to eat a little bit, once I saw myself gaining weight, then I was like, oh man, then I was excited to force myself to eat because it was like, things are working. Are you worried that if you put on size, maybe your abs will go away? A little bit. Well, the thing is, sometimes I don't do that much cardio because I don't, I'm trying not to burn off the... Yeah.

So then every now and again, I'm in the ring. I'm like, do you know, who cares about being big? I can't breathe. Dude, I didn't do cardio until I was like 28. Yeah. I'm trying to find a balance because I want to be a little bigger. But, you know, I can't... But you're, like, genetically predisposed to have abs.

So even if you put on, like, 20 pounds, you'll be fine. I hope, I'll see. I'm, like, 1.85-ish. Yeah. So, like, and I still have abs. Yeah. So you'd be fine. Well, yeah, that was, like, I pretty much had the...

the same, my dad weighed the same as I did and he was 50 and he'd pretty much weighed like 145, 150 his whole life. So I think maybe, I think if I didn't work so, like to get it bigger, I think maybe I'd just stay like that pretty much forever. So like, you know, if you're looking off in the distance here a year or two, are you looking at maybe 180, 190? Like, that would be cool. I don't know. That's possible. Yeah. For sure. That seems crazy for me, but. One of my friends who's a wrestler would set an alarm to wake up in the middle of the night. Yeah. To have a protein shake and then go back to sleep.

Oh, man. I mean, it's a lot of work, man. I see, like, Brian Cage. Oh, God. And, like, people want to, like, talk shit about him for whatever. And, like, oh, he does. But, like, he comes to wrestling shows with two suitcases. And one has a bunch of gear.

And one has a bunch of food. I've never seen Brian Cage without a Tupperware container. This guy's carrying, like, whole chickens around in a bag everywhere he goes. They're not live. No, no. Yeah, he's just got food and rice and like whatever. Like, it's, I don't know if, like, that's a full-time job of just eating. And then he has to wrestle.

Then he has to do the, it's nuts. He's a machine. Yes, I don't know. That guy's. I couldn't do it. Incredible. Yeah. All right, so we're sitting here in June.

It's almost your birthday. Happy early birthday. Thank you. It will be your birthday when this gets posted. Very good. 22. So what's the next six months have in store? Oh, the next six months.

We have Fighter Fest? Yeah, we got it. fighter fast. Fight for the following? I don't know about that. I'll probably know two days before. All out? All out, yeah.

And then TV. Yeah, then TV. That's, I don't know. It's just kind of, it's why. I mean, again, I kind of don't know fully what to expect. I know it's going to be big and I know it's going to be huge, but it's, I don't know. I kind of just have to wait and see.

This is like the calm before the storm. Yeah, that's what I've been thinking because, like, there are like three shows before them. But then it's like every week. Yeah. And then it's on. So I guess I'm kind of just enjoying my, time off before it's, but I'm so excited to get started too. That's the thing. This whole

interview can be measured in metrics. Like your weight now when someone watches us a year from now or like you have like 43,000 Instagram followers right now. Once you guys start doing weekly television, you know, these all be all the metrics, the benchmarks right now that when someone watches this in six months in a year and whatever, they'll go, oh my God, man, Jack's come so far. Yeah, that'll be why. Yeah, I'm just, I don't know. It really is like a dream come true. And it's I don't know. I don't really have the words for it because it's so big. And I kind of, it's wild to me. Like, I'm a part of, it's really also history, I feel like. Like, this is, I don't know, I'm a part of it. And I just can't wait to see how it goes.

And, you know, I was thinking about that to, I get to be in a locker room with, like, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes. And, like, to just be around those guys is awesome. And, like, I think I'm going to learn so much. And I don't know. I'm just. It's going to be awesome. Well, dude, you're doing it. Yeah, man. Congratulations to you on everything. This has been a really enjoyable conversation.

Yeah, this has been fun for me. Yeah, well, thank you. Thanks so much, dude. I appreciate it. That was great. Big thanks to Jungle Boy for coming to my hotel in L.A. And making that happen. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for him.

And if you don't follow me on Instagram, you're missing out because the photo that I took with him. It's actually the thumbnail of the YouTube video as well. It's me and Jungle Boy, and I'm playing. playing like the luchosaurus role. Like Jungle Boy is on my shoulders. That's worth following me alone on Instagram. Thank you to Green Road CBD products. Use my code Chris 15 to get 15% off at greenroadsworld.com.

Also thanks to Samson Technologies at SamsungTech.com to see their full lineup of audio equipment. And most importantly, thank you to you. I super appreciate you downloading this episode because without you, it would just be me talking into a microphone here in my spare bedroom that I'm now calling a studio. Yeah, I say that with their air quotes around it. Studio. So please, if you've listened this long,

just take another 27 seconds to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, which would help so much. Also, keep an eye out for my interviews from Fighter Fest this weekend with Luchasaurus, Jimmy Havoc and a few other little surprise arouse. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s, Back mockumentary.

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Ever heard of then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.