AEW star Jack Perry has spoken out on Luchasaurus battling a serious health scare, which at one point could have been fatal.
Collectively known as Jurassic Express, Perry and Luchasaurus won the Tag Team Championships back in early 2022. Following the dissolution of the team after losing the Tag Title to The Young Bucks, Luchasurus partnered up with Christian Cage and was renamed Killswitch. However, following All In 2024, where Killswitch helped Cage to win the Casino Gauntlet match, the former Tag Team Champion was noticeably absent from TV for months.
It was later revealed that Luchasaurus, real name Austin Matelson, was hospitalised the following month after contracting pneumonia in both lungs, which resulted in him collapsing at home. Subsequent reports noted that the illness was that bad it could have been fatal.
Speaking with Scott Fishman of TVInsider ahead of Dynamite’s 6th anniversary special, Perry first spoke about the initial conversations he had with his tag team partner, and that it could have resulted in Matelson’s death:
I remember talking to him on the phone a lot during that time. He said, “I have this cold and can’t seem to get rid of it. I’d say for the past two or three weeks.” He didn’t think much of it. People were saying he was tough. That it was a cold. “You’ll get over this.” It turned out it wasn’t a cold but pneumonia. Thankfully, he went to the hospital when he did. He ended up collapsing and was this whole thing. They said to him, “if you didn’t come in right about now, there is a good chance you could have died.” Hearing that puts things in perspective a little bit. He is one of my best friends, not just in wrestling, but the entire world. He could have just died and that would have been it. I don’t know. It was one of those things that makes you look at your own life and think about it.
We got to talking when he was better about what we wanted to do. I think the way it lined up we thought it was something we had a lot of fun doing. We felt there was more meat on the bone, and we could do better this time around than we did the first time. It turned out to be hell on earth making it happen. It was the hardest thing in the world to get all the pieces together to finally do it. There were medical things, physical things, people getting in the way trying to make it not happen, but it eventually came together. It felt like it was the perfect moment when it finally did. I’m super grateful to be back and get that sort of reaction and do it with my best friend. I’m happy he is healthy now and seeing it all come together the way it did.
Jack Perry And Luchasaurus Have Reunited
After a lengthy hiatus, Perry made his return at All Out following the Tag Team Title match to confront former allies The Young Bucks. While it appeared that Perry was in danger of another beatdown, a vignette played to signal that Luchasaurus would be coming to his aid. When Jurassic Express stood tall, Tarzan Boy played through the Scotiabank Arena to the delight of the fans. The former Tag Team Champions are set to appear live on the Dynamite special on October 1.
Prior to the reunion, Luchasaurus first made his return in the UK to confront former ally Christian Cage, which led to Luchasaurus and Kip Sabian facing Cage and Adam Copeland at Forbiddden Door.
Featured image: AEW
