Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn (Mar 1999 – Sep 1999)

Background

Rob Van Dam began training under Ed "The Sheik" Farhat in 1989.[19] He had already appeared on national television for the WWF: during ECW's May 1997 invasion of Monday Night Raw, Jerry Lawler started calling him "Mr. Monday Night," a name that stuck and changed with whatever night he was working.[19] Back in ECW he held the ECW World Tag Team Championship twice with his regular partner, Sabu.[19]

On April 4, 1998, at a Hardcore TV taping in Buffalo, New York, Van Dam beat Bam Bam Bigelow for the ECW World Television Championship.[20] The match aired four days later, on April 8, via broadcast delay.[20]

The reign that followed lasted 700 days and, by the title history's count, 121 defenses.[20] His manager, Bill Alfonso, was in his corner for both of his 1999 pay-per-view defenses against Lynn.[2][3] In that series Van Dam was the heel: arrogant, with a manager who kept interfering.[32]

Jerry Lynn came out of Minnesota. He was trained by former Olympian Brad Rheingans, debuted in March 1988, and spent his early years on the Minnesota independents against Sabu, Al Snow, and the Lightning Kid, later X-Pac.[9] Lynn later credited Sean Waltman with helping him get his first national exposure.[33]

He signed with WCW in 1995 and worked the cruiserweight division, sometimes under a mask as Mr. J.L.[9][18] He left in 1997 after an injury, and he never forgot how. "I had broken bones for them and instead of taking care of me they just turned around and fired me," he said in 2000.[9]

Lynn landed in ECW in 1997 and spent about two years in the mid-card before the Van Dam program started.[18] Cagematch records their first singles match on August 8, 1998, seven months before the pay-per-view series began.[1]

Build-up

Van Dam has told the story of their first match as the one that set everything up. Paul Heyman's plan was simple. "I was sold just beat him in like eight minutes," Van Dam recalled.[11] He thought there was more there: "I really think I can have a good match with him."[11]

According to Van Dam, the match went about twenty minutes, and he came out of it with his gear torn and his nose bleeding.

"My outfit was ripped. My hair is everywhere. My nose is bleeding," he said.[12] "Finally, when I finally beat him 1-2-3 and the crowd just went crazy. Boom, big pop."[11]

Living Dangerously, March 21, 1999. Their first pay-per-view match came at the Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey, in front of about 3,900 fans, with Joey Styles on commentary.[2] It was a straight Television title defense with a twenty-minute time limit.[13] They went through arm drags and leapfrogs into chair spots, including a guillotine leg drop off the guardrail and DDTs onto chairs, with Van Dam's Van Daminator and a string of near falls.[13]

The twenty minutes ran out with no winner. The referee was ready to end it there, but Lynn asked for five more minutes so he could win it outright, and the bell rang again.[13]

In the extra time Lynn hit a cradle piledriver for two. Van Dam came back with the Five-Star Frog Splash and got the pin.[13] The total running time was 21:18.[2]

Hardcore Heaven, May 16, 1999. The rematch was booked with no time limit at all, at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.[3][25] About 2,800 fans were there, and the match went 26:57, the longest on the card.[3] Lynn hit a plancha from the top and a top-rope bulldog, and Alfonso crotched Lynn on the ropes to set up a Van Daminator.[14]

Van Dam backdropped Lynn through the timekeeper's table, and Lynn sunset-flipped Van Dam through a ringside table.[14] Lynn caught the Van Daminator chair attempt, but Van Dam won with the frog splash.[14] Then Van Dam gave Lynn a high five. It was, as one recap put it, "the only time RVD ever showed his opponent any respect."[14]

Heat Wave, July 18, 1999. Two months later, at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, the two were in the same corner against the Impact Players, Lance Storm and Justin Credible.[4][21][24] Sabu got involved and splashed Credible through a table.[21] Van Dam's frog splash landed on Lynn by mistake and almost cost them the match. Van Dam then hit Storm with a Van Daminator, and Lynn finished him with a cradle piledriver at 21:07.[21]

About 3,400 fans were at the Hara Arena, and the show drew a 0.26 buyrate.[4]

ECW on TNN. ECW's national cable debut on August 27, 1999 was a recap show thrown together at the last minute, and the Hardcore Heaven match was its centerpiece in an edited form.[16][17] The series then continued on the new show. A title match taped August 26 at the Queensboro Elks Lodge in New York City and aired September 10 ended in a no contest after 11:01.[5] That episode drew a 0.9 rating on TNN.[5]

Two days later at the ECW Arena, taped for the September 17 episode, the Impact Players attacked Lynn backstage before his title shot.[6][15] Lynn came out heavily taped and wrestled anyway.[15] Alfonso hit him with a chair, and Van Dam won with a Van Daminator at 13:37.[6][15]

Earlier on the same taping, Van Dam's defense against Lance Storm had ended in a no contest after one minute. The episode drew a 0.7 rating.[6]

The Matches

Living Dangerously. The Wrestling Observer gave the Asbury Park match three and a half stars.[1] One reviewer called it "fast-paced, creative, brutal action with very few flaws" and gave it four and three-quarter stars.[13]

Another, reviewing their four pay-per-view matches together, wrote, "Everything is flawless in the first match. Past that it gets sketchy."[32] The show drew a 0.25 buyrate, according to Cagematch's records.[2] About 3,900 fans saw it live, more than the roughly 2,800 who saw the rematch in Poughkeepsie.[2][3]

The finish rested on the time limit. Lynn could have left with a draw. By asking for five more minutes he gave Van Dam the chance to beat him cleanly, and Van Dam did.[13]

Hardcore Heaven. The Poughkeepsie match went almost seven minutes longer and got the higher grade: four and a quarter stars from the Observer and the most fan ratings of any match between them on Cagematch.[1] The show did a 0.23 buyrate, and the Television title match ran more than twice as long as the Taz and Buh Buh Ray Dudley world title match.[3]

Reviewers rated it one of the best things ECW did that year. One gave it five stars and summed it up: "This is what happens when RVD and Jerry Lynn wrestle each other. Awesome throughout."[14] The recap singled out Lynn's top-rope bulldog: "I've never seen that before."[14]

Heat Wave. The tag match ran 21:07, close to the length of their first singles title match.[2][21] It had Sabu's splash through a table on Credible and a frog splash that landed on the wrong man before Lynn's piledriver finished Storm.[21]

The TNN rematch. The September 17 television match got the same four and a quarter stars from the Observer as Hardcore Heaven, in just over half the time.[1][6] A reviewer called it "probably my favorite of the 9000 matches these guys had," crediting the near falls and the backstage attack on Lynn beforehand.[15]

The record. Lynn did not beat Van Dam in any of their 1999 matches.[1][5][6] Cagematch lists fourteen matches between them in all, singles and tag, from 1998 to 2013.[1]

Aftermath

Van Dam's reign ended off camera. At the end of January 2000 he broke his ankle when it caught under the ring apron on a baseball slide, which ruined Heyman's plans for a program with Mike Awesome.[17] On March 4, 2000, Van Dam gave up the title. The title history notes that he was legitimately injured and "The Network forced him to relinquish the title."[20]

Lynn was hurt too. He was out with an ankle injury of his own and returned in May 2000.[9]

Van Dam came back at Hardcore Heaven on May 14, 2000, at The Rave in Milwaukee, against Lynn.[7][22] With Alfonso and Scotty Anton in his corner, Van Dam went for the frog splash, and Anton shoved him off the top rope into a cradle piledriver.[22] Lynn got a near fall, hit a second piledriver, and won in 19:54.[7][22] The Observer gave it three and a half stars.[1]

As Lynn got the upper hand in these later matches, crowds chanted "New F'n Show" at him, a play on Van Dam's own "Whole F'n Show."[32]

That summer Lynn feuded with Yoshihiro Tajiri in a run of matches known for how stiff they were. "You never know where one of those kicks of his is going to be coming from," Lynn said.[9]

Lynn's run peaked that fall. At Anarchy Rulz on October 1, 2000, in his home state of Minnesota, he beat Justin Credible for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 19:35.[10] Referee Danny Daniels refused to count Lynn's first cradle piledriver, New Jack ran in, and Lynn hit a second piledriver for the win while the crowd chanted his name.[10] On the same show, Van Dam failed to take the Television title back from Rhino after a Credible cane shot.[10]

Lynn held the world title for about a month. He lost it at November to Remember on November 5, 2000, when Credible and Steve Corino pinned him and The Sandman at the same time, and Corino then beat Credible for the belt.[28]

By the end of 2000 the roles had flipped. Lynn was a heel with Cyrus of The Network in his corner, and Van Dam was the returning hero after two months away over a pay dispute with Heyman.[31] When Cyrus issued an open challenge on behalf of the new world champion Rhino, Van Dam answered it, and Lynn attacked him from behind.[30]

That set up one more ECW singles match. At Guilty as Charged on January 7, 2001, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, it was the last match on the card.[8][30] Lynn mocked Van Dam's taunt, and Van Dam skateboarded a chair into Lynn's face in the corner.[31]

Cyrus blocked the frog splash, and Van Dam missed it when he tried again. Joel Gertner then ran in, took out Cyrus, and held the chair for Van Dam's Van Terminator.[31] Van Dam won in 19:30.[8]

It was the last match on ECW's last pay-per-view.[32][35] The company filed for bankruptcy two months later.[30] Joey Styles's call afterward: "Rob Van Dam versus Jerry Lynn IS ECW."[18]

Behind the Scenes

Both men describe the series as something they built themselves. Van Dam's version starts with Heyman wanting an eight-minute match and ends with the two of them showing Heyman what twenty minutes looked like.[11][12] "We just had great chemistry, and every time we would wrestle, we seem to remember how the last match went," Van Dam said in 2023.[11]

He also says he won't reuse the spots. More than two decades later, other wrestlers still ask to do the sequences he did with Lynn, and he turns them down. "We just had this unbelievable chemistry that you can't just do," he said.[11]

Lynn has said the same thing more plainly. "Just certain people you have more chemistry with than others. Our styles just clicked from day one," he said, and "We would always try to give the fans something they hadn't seen before, and especially on the pay-per-views, up it a little every time."[18]

In a July 2000 interview he said, "It's always great working with him. It's very challenging and he just brings out all your creativity."[9]

Lynn credited Heyman's approach for making it possible. "(Paul) Heyman lets you go out there and wrestle and do what you like to do," he said. "If you want to go out there and tear it up, then you can just have at it."[9]

ECW fans started calling him "the whole F'n show," a nickname that, as Slam Wrestling put it, came "with all apologies to Rob Van Dam."[9] He was also getting to talk for the first time. "It only took ten years before someone let me do some talking," he said.[9]

The TNN debut shows how much the office leaned on the match. With the first tapings unusable, ECW filled its national premiere with an edited version of Hardcore Heaven.[16][17] One reviewer called the episode "a legendarily terrible episode of television, literally thrown together at the last minute," and rated the edited match about three stars.[16]

Van Dam's relationship with Heyman went bad later. By October 2000, according to one history of the promotion, Van Dam decided he would stop working for Heyman over money he said he was owed, which he put at more than $100,000.[17] That account is secondhand, and the amount is Van Dam's claim.[17] A later review of Guilty as Charged also describes his two-month absence at the end of 2000 as a pay dispute with Heyman.[31]

The dispute changed the booking. Van Dam, the cocky heel of the 1999 series, came back to a big reaction as the babyface, while Lynn worked as a straight heel with Cyrus and The Network behind him.[31][32] The last chapter of the rivalry was built on the two men switching sides.[30][31]

The friendship lasted longer than the promotion. Van Dam has said he tried to talk Lynn out of retiring. "I tried to talk Jerry out of retiring when he retired a long time ago," he said in 2023, explaining that "when wrestlers retire and they wrestle more afterwards, it takes the meaning out of retirement."[29]

Legacy

The Observer's star ratings put two of their 1999 matches at four and a quarter stars: Hardcore Heaven and the September 17 TNN match.[1] On Cagematch, the Hardcore Heaven match has drawn more fan ratings than any other match between them.[1] WWE has since posted their 1999 pay-per-view matches on its own platforms, including the Living Dangerously title match and the Heat Wave tag match.[23][24]

Reviewers did not always agree on the later matches. One called Guilty as Charged "not the best outing the two ever had, but it was still good and not a bad way to close the book" on ECW pay-per-view, and rated it three and a quarter stars.[31] Another averaged three and three-quarter stars across all four of their pay-per-view singles matches.[32]

Their paths kept crossing long after ECW. In TNA they wrestled a Full Metal Mayhem match at Bound for Glory on October 16, 2011, which the Observer rated three and a quarter stars.[26] Van Dam beat Lynn in 15:45 on January 12, 2013, on a card taped for TNA's One Night Only: X-Travaganza.[27]

Lynn wrestled in the first match in TNA history, a four-way for the inaugural X Division title against A.J. Styles, Low-Ki, and Psychosis, with Ricky Steamboat as guest referee.[34] He went on to hold the ROH World Championship, beating Nigel McGuinness at Supercard of Honor, and later became a coach and producer for All Elite Wrestling.[18] In the summer of 2023 Lynn was part of an AEW storyline with Jack Perry that brought Van Dam in to challenge Perry for the FTW Championship.[29]

Lynn announced his retirement in late 2012, planning his last match for March 23, 2013, in Minneapolis, twenty-five years after his debut.[33] Looking back on ECW, he said, "In ECW, there was never a dull moment. It was like a rock tour times 10."[33]

See Also

Sources & Further Listening

1. "Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn" matchguide — Cagematch: The Internet Wrestling Database (14 matches, 1998–2013, with Wrestling Observer ratings). https://www.cagematch.net/?id=91&nr=28&page=3
2. "ECW Living Dangerously 1999" (Mar 21, 1999) results, attendance and buyrate — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=396
3. "ECW Hardcore Heaven 1999" (May 16, 1999) results, attendance and buyrate — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=398
4. "ECW Heat Wave 1999" (Jul 18, 1999) results — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=399
5. "ECW on TNN #3" (taped Aug 26, aired Sep 10, 1999) results — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=402
6. "ECW on TNN #4" (taped Aug 28, aired Sep 17, 1999) results — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=403
7. "ECW Hardcore Heaven 2000" (May 14, 2000) results — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=443
8. "ECW Guilty As Charged 2001" (Jan 7, 2001) results — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=462
9. John Molinaro, "Going to work a blast for Jerry Lynn" (Jul 20, 2000) — Slam! Wrestling interview. https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2000/07/20/going-to-work-a-blast-for-jerry-lynn/
10. John Powell, "Jerry Lynn new ECW champ at Anarchy Rulz" (Oct 2, 2000) — Slam! Wrestling. https://slamwrestling.net/report/jerry-lynn-new-ecw-champ/
11. "Rob Van Dam On Working With Jerry Lynn: We Had Unbelievable Chemistry That You Just Can't Replicate" (Jan 21, 2023), on The Ten Count with Steve Fall — podcast interview via Yahoo. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rob-van-dam-working-jerry-230107148.html
12. "Rob Van Dam On Working With Jerry Lynn" (2023), on The Ten Count with Steve Fall — podcast interview via WrestleZone. https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/1340390-rob-van-dam-on-working-with-jerry-lynn-we-had-unbelievable-chemistry-that-you-just-cant-replicate
13. "ECW Living Dangerously 1999 3/21/1999" — Wrestling Recaps. https://wrestlingrecaps.com/ecw/ecw-living-dangerously-1999-3211999/
14. Arnold Furious, "ECW Hardcore Heaven 1999 5/16/1999" — Wrestling Recaps. https://wrestlingrecaps.com/ecw/ecw-hardcore-heaven-1999-5161999/
15. "ECW on TNN – September 17, 1999: The Best RVD vs. Lynn Match I've Seen Yet" — KB's Wrestling Reviews. https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/04/16/ecw-on-tnn-september-17-1999-the-best-rvd-vs-lynn-match-ive-seen-yet/
16. Scott Keith, "The SmarK Rant for ECW Wrestling on TNN – 08.27.99" — Blog of Doom. https://www.blogofdoom.com/rant/the-smark-rant-for-ecw-wrestling-on-tnn-08-27-99/
17. "All In a Days Workrate: The Definitive History of ECW, part 3" — Rajah.com. https://rajah.com/2005/3332
18. "Jerry Lynn: Unsung Artist of The Mat" — Pro Wrestling Stories. https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/jerry-lynn/
19. Rob Van Dam — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Van_Dam
20. List of ECW World Television Champions — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ECW_World_Television_Champions
21. Heat Wave (1999) — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_Wave_(1999)
22. Hardcore Heaven (2000) — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_Heaven_(2000)
23. "Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn - ECW World Television Championship Match: Living Dangerously 1999" — WWE.com video. https://www.wwe.com/videos/rob-van-dam-vs-jerry-lynn-ecw-world-television-championship-match-living-dangerously-1999
24. "Rob Van Dam & Jerry Lynn vs. The Impact Players: Heat Wave 1999" — WWE.com video. https://www.wwe.com/videos/rob-van-dam-jerry-lynn-vs-the-impact-players-heat-wave-1999
25. "RVD and Jerry Lynn | Their Whole Damn Rivalry" — ProWrestlingPost. https://prowrestlingpost.com/rvd-and-jerry-lynn/
26. "Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam" Full Metal Mayhem, TNA Bound For Glory 2011 (Oct 16, 2011) — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=111&nr=5009
27. "TNA One Night Only - X-Travaganza 2013" (taped Jan 12, 2013) results — Cagematch. https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=90172
28. November to Remember (2000) — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_to_Remember_(2000)
29. "Rob Van Dam Tried To Talk Jerry Lynn, Who Brought Him Into AEW, Out Of Retirement" (Aug 6, 2023), on 1 Of A Kind — podcast via Wrestling Inc. https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1356389/rob-van-dam-tried-talk-jerry-lynn-brought-aew-retirement/
30. Guilty as Charged (2001) — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilty_as_Charged_(2001)
31. "Mike Reviews – ECW Guilty As Charged 2001" — Blog of Doom. https://www.blogofdoom.com/2021/01/07/mike-reviews-ecw-guilty-as-charged-2001-07-01-2020/
32. "Defrost Reviews - Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn" (the four pay-per-view matches) — Rajah.com. https://rajah.com/node/33910
33. Blaine Van Der Griend, "Jerry Lynn saying goodbye" (Dec 12, 2012) — Slam! Wrestling interview. https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2012/12/12/jerry-lynn-saying-goodbye/
34. Blaine Van Der Griend, "Ten years of TNA and its many memories" (Jun 7, 2012) — Slam! Wrestling interview. https://slamwrestling.net/interviews/ten-years-of-tna-and-its-many-memories/
35. "Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn: Guilty as Charged 2001" — WWE.com video. https://www.wwe.com/videos/rob-van-dam-vs-jerry-lynn-guilty-as-charged-2001

Further Listening

• The Ten Count with Steve Fall — Rob Van Dam interview (January 2023) on his first match with Jerry Lynn and their chemistry
• 1 Of A Kind with RVD — Van Dam on Jerry Lynn and retirement (2023)
• The Rise and Fall of ECW (WWE documentary) — company-wide context on the Television Championship and the TNN deal