The rivalry between Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn will go down as one of the greatest ECW feuds of all time.
WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam was a recent guest on The Ten Count with Steve Fall to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about early memories of working with his iconic ECW rival Jerry Lynn, RVD recalled how the first time he wrestled him, Paul Heyman suggested that he beat him in under eight minutes.
“When I first started wrestling Jerry, I think it was ’98, somewhere around there. He wasn’t supposed to be a main event wrestler,” Rob Van Dam said. “According to the office there, you know what I mean? I mean, he was someone I was rockin’ at the time. You know what I mean? Like TV champion and really having these great matches, and then Jerry and I had a match one time in Philly at TV, and I was sold just beat him in like eight minutes.
“And not only did I not like to feel like I shorted the fans, especially at that time, I always felt like I had to go all out and prove that I was doing my part to make sure that their dollar was well spent. So I had the ability to do that. Anyway, Sabu and Paul [Heyman] both were like, you’re here. Jerry’s down here; don’t give him too much. I was like; I really think I can have a good match with him. And really, I thought he was athletic.
“But really, he was a friend of a friend. I didn’t know him. I just met him. But Scotty Anton was the mutual acquaintance. And also, I knew Sabu knew him, and he was known for wrestling with The 123 Kid or Lightning Kid in Global, GWF. So I remembered from that, that he was one of the lightweight, high fliers and I was kind of thrown into that whole category. So I think I can have a really good match with this guy.
“So anyway, we went 20 minutes at the end of the match. My outfit was ripped. My hair is everywhere. My nose is bleeding. Pulling splinters out of my ass. Finally, when I finally beat him 1-2-3 and the crowd just went crazy. Boom, big pop. I felt like I earned that victory, which was fulfilling for me. And I felt like for sure I did the right thing. And we just had great chemistry, and every time we would wrestle, we seem to remember how the last match went.
“So we’d have another counter to it like he knew I was gonna do the go for a high kick and went to land throw a low kick, and then he had to jump to it, and then I know how to fake, and it was just boom, boom, and it brought so much out of each of us that those matches will go down as trendsetters and as matches that I’m very proud to show.”
Over two decades later, wrestlers that Rob Van Dam works with still want to do spots with him that he did with Jerry Lynn back in ECW, but he won’t do it because they don’t have the same chemistry with him that he had with Lynn.
“Still today. When I wrestle somebody that I haven’t wrestled before, somebody usually that’s younger, but most of the wrestlers are,” Rob Van Dam joked. “But I’ll outlive pretty much everybody, but when I wrestle these guys, so often they say, hey, can we do some of that RVD Jerry Lynn shit? And my first thought is like, no. We just had this unbelievable chemistry that you can’t just do.”
READ MORE: Rob Van Dam On Whether He Fits Into Wrestling Today: I Don’t Feel The Need To Adapt, I’m Still Going
What do you make of RVD’s comments? Did you enjoy his rivalry with Jerry Lynn in ECW? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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