Busted Open: Bully Ray Fantasy Books AEW Spot With Jungle Boy, Hook And Taz
Sunday night's jaw-dropping turn of events between "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and HOOK left viewers fixated on a potential feud between the pair — but there was another clear star of the show, sitting some ways away from where the action unfolded.
After falling short against IWGP Heavyweight Champion SANADA at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in Toronto, Perry would take out his frustrations on tag team partner and close friend HOOK, earning a chorus of boos from the raucous crowd. But perhaps the most interesting part of the angle came from the commentary desk, with an emotional Taz exclaiming "holy s***" and claiming Perry had made a huge mistake by turning on the "Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil" and making a new enemy in the process. The former ECW Champion would also step away from announcing the remainder of the pay-per-view.
On a recent edition of "Busted Open" on Sirius XM, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray praised his long-time friend for adding a sense of realism to the moment.
"The star of that angle last night ... wasn't Jungle Boy. It was Taz," he said. "And not because Taz tried to steal the segment, it's just that it was impossible for the way Taz reacted ... for him not to be the star of the show. Taz did something last night that we don't see Taz do: he took off his glasses. For the first time maybe since the inception of AEW, you saw Peter Senerchia, father of Tyler Senerchia, and I'm using their names for a reason –- that's what we dealt with last night."
Bully Ray raises potential angle with Jungle Boy, HOOK and Taz
Outside of a 35-second match with Jerry Lawler in 2006, Taz hasn't competed inside the ring for over two decades and has cited on multiple occasions the impact of his high-intensity style on his body, particularly his neck. And while Bully Ray doesn't believe there will be any chance of Taz getting physical with Jungle Boy, he doesn't rule out the AEW color commentator remaining a focal point of the bubbling story.
"They are going to have to be very careful about how they handle this, and Taz is going to have to play masterful defense. Those people in AEW are going to want to see Taz dump Jungle Boy on his head and choke him out ... Taz's job is to deflect all of that and get it onto HOOK," he said. "The money is not in Taz and Jungle Boy, he can't do physicality. That's not where the focus needs to be now — it's all on HOOK. But could you imagine the scene and the conflict that will happen if Jungle Boy ever takes HOOK and throws him over the announce desk, right into his father's lap? Would an announcer help a wrestler up? No. But would an announcer help his son up? Maybe. That's a scene I want to see. I want to see the conflict within Taz, I want to see Jungle Boy take advantage of this situation."
"Jungle Boy bottled some good heat," Bully concluded. "They've got to capitalize on that."