All Elite Wrestling star Jake Atlas rose through the ranks of the Southern California independent scene alongside his AEW colleague Jungle Boy and according to Atlas himself, the two men remain very good friends to this day.
“We used to travel so much from California to Northern, to San Francisco,” Atlas said of his relationship with Jack Perry during a recent chat with the host of Highspots Superstore’s Turbo Tuesday. “Obviously, we’re both from L.A. and I think our bond just started there. Like, it’s a six/seven-hour drive there and back and there was just something that we — like, it’s so cliche. He’s probably never heard me say this word. It’s very soulmate-like, like just as least in wrestling," he added.
Atlas made his AEW debut at a set of Dark/Dark Elevation tapings at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, back in January. In what was his first match since September 2021, the 26-year-old defeated Serpentico and earned a handshake from Tony Khan after the bell.
In the AEW locker room, Atlas was able to reunite with Jungle Boy, although the old friends haven't yet shared an AEW ring due to Atlas sustaining an injury shortly after he signed.
"Me and Jungle Boy always being connected in some way, hearing journalists and others like wrestling news sites always comparing our trajectories and where his career has mine, and that really messes with your head," Atlas said during the aforementioned Highspots interview. "I just really, I’m getting emotional just thinking about it, because it really, it’s such, it’s so, it feels like you’re not good enough when you’re constantly being compared, and if I already feel like I’m not good enough, hearing it validated by an external source is like, a horrible feeling. And it makes you not, like, what’s the point of doing this if I’m not going to be good enough?”
After a successful stint on the indie scene, Jake Atlas signed with WWE in October 2019, although his involvement with the company began when he appeared on Stephanie McMahon's episode of Celebrity Undercover Boss in 2018. In that episode, Atlas promised Stephanie that he would one day become the first-ever openly gay WWE Champion. Sadly, Atlas was released by WWE on August 6th along with several of his now-former NXT colleagues including Bronson Reed, Asher Hale, Tyler Rust, Giant Zanjeer, Zechariah Smith, referee Stephon Smith, Kona Reeves, and Ari Sterling.