David Arquette On How The Late Luke Perry Reacted To Jungle Boy's Matches

David Arquette is perhaps the most infamous celebrity to make his way into the squared circle. While fans are overwhelmingly fond of the actor now, his initial jump into the professional wrestling world was largely criticized. Speaking to Jim Alexander on ReelTalker.com, Arquette revealed he had no intentions to pursue wrestling before he became WCW Champion.

"I wouldn't have ever done [pro wrestling] if I hadn't gotten the title as a promotion at the time to promote my movie 'Ready to Rumble,'" Arquette said. "[WCW] thought it was a good idea. If that didn't happen, I probably wouldn't have."

After being trolled for decades about his WCW Title victory, Arquette decided to make a splash on the independent scene as an active wrestler. He competed in Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, Border City Wrestling, and more. In a 2018 death match against the notoriously violent Nick Gage, Arquette nearly died after being struck in the neck with a light tube. Arquette is proud he was able to gain respect from the wrestling community, but he says he has regrets.

"I definitely have things I would probably done differently," Arquette said. "More so, I've learned from them. You learn things, specifically in a death match – stick to the plan. That time period captured my life in a turning point."

In the acting world, Arquette was good friends with the late Luke Perry, who is also the father of AEW star Jungleboy. Arquette mentioned how Perry was "terrified" of seeing his son in a wrestling ring.

"We were really close, [Luke and I]," Arquette said. "He lived in our house when he got cast on 90210. I asked Luke what it was like watching [Jungleboy], 'is it exciting'? 'No, it's terrifying. He's my son.'

"Jack has got such a great head on his shoulders. He's such a smart kind, incredible wrestler, he gets it. I'm there for him, his biggest fan. I just think the guy is going to be a movie star someday. The way he dealt with the death of his father was super admirable, and just being able to watch him was really impressive."

As a big fan of Luke Perry's son, Arquette is an avid watcher of AEW. While the pro wrestling landscape is much different now than when Arquette was WCW Champion, the actor says he believes we are on the verge of a re-imagined promotional rivalry similar to what went down in the late '90s.

"I think wrestling is the best when you find really great talent and allow them to shine," Arquette said. "Show their strengths and have really interesting booking. There is tremendous talent out there if they allow them to be free. I love the wrestling subculture and how people talk about it and analyze it. It's a really interesting time in wrestling. I think AEW and WWE are soon going to have a true Monday Night war at some point. It was funny to see MJF and Jericho do a musical number. Not necessarily bad – it was a fun change of pace."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Jim Alexander and ReelTalker.com.