Jerry Lynn

Feuding with Rob Van Dam and World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001) Once the feud with Lance Storm was ended, Lynn was booked in a match for the ECW World Television Championship with Rob Van Dam at Living Dangerously in 1999. The finish saw Lynn win the title from Van Dam (the time limit expired and Lynn was awarded the title by referee decision instead of by pinfall or submission). Despite this win, he asked for a five-minute time extension, in which he was pinned by Van Dam after a Five-Star Frog splash. Though Lynn did not win the match, he from then on referred to himself as "The New F'N Show", mocking Van Dam's nickname, "The Whole F'N Show", as well as claiming he would be the wrestler to deprive Van Dam of the title. Though Lynn received several more title opportunities with Van Dam, he was not successful in winning the World Television Title before Van Dam was stripped of the title after suffering a legitimate broken ankle. Around the same time, Lynn also suffered a broken ankle, taking him out of action. On his return to ECW TV, Lynn challenged Van Dam to one more match at Hardcore Heaven, which Lynn won due to interference by Scotty Anton. He eventually lost the title to Jeff Hardy and had a notable match with Rob Van Dam for the WWF Hardcore Championship on an episode of Sunday Night Heat before being released in February 2002, following a knee injury. and Don Callis, and was an X Division mainstay. In the late spring of 2003, he joined the newly formed All World Wrestling League/Big Time Wrestling. However, in February 2004 he suffered a severe shoulder injury, tearing the tendon from the bone in his rotator cuff, when Juventud Guerrera botched a Juvi Driver. Lynn however continued competing, playing a key role in Team NWA's feud with Team Canada. When the storyline ran its course in late 2004 Lynn stepped away from in ring competition and became a TNA road agent, planning matches and coaching younger talent. He has also wrestled in ROH's sister promotion Full Impact Pro on two occasions, wrestling Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in a Three Way Dance, before taking on Aries the next night in a singles match. Lynn has wrestled on ROH's PPV taping on September 19, 2008, in a losing effort to Chris Hero. Then next night Lynn returned to the ECW Arena for ROH's Glory By Honor VII by defeating Kenny King. On September 22, 2008, Lynn was named a full-time member of the ROH roster. Soon after, Lynn was a participant in the inaugural match of TV show Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet, pinning Delirious for the win.

At Supercard of Honor IV, he defeated Nigel McGuinness to win his first ROH world title. At Manhattan Mayhem III, Lynn lost the ROH World Title to Austin Aries in a Three Way Dance, which also involved Tyler Black, on June 13, 2009. He would later enter in a rivalry with Austin Aries, Kenny King and Rhett Titus, leading to an alliance with Delirious.

Return to TNA (2010–2011, 2013) Lynn returned to TNA on the August 5, 2010, edition of Impact!, announcing that he would take on Rob Van Dam one more time at the ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, on August 8. However, on August 7 it was reported that Lynn was forced to pull out of the event due to a back injury and was replaced by Sabu. Lynn reappeared on Impact Wrestling on June 23, 2011, again confronting Van Dam, after which it was announced that the two would face each other on July 10 at Destination X. Lynn wrestled his TNA return match on the July 7 edition of Impact Wrestling, losing to Van Dam in a four-way match, which also included A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels. At Destination X, Lynn was defeated by Van Dam in a singles match. Lynn made his next appearance on August 7 at Hardcore Justice, where accompanied Van Dam to the ring for his match with Crimson. After Van Dam was hit with Crimson's finishing maneuver, Lynn entered the ring and broke up the following pin, causing the referee to disqualify Van Dam. On the August 18 edition of Impact Wrestling, Lynn cost Van Dam another Bound for Glory Series match against A.J. Styles in similar fashion. On the September 1 edition of Impact Wrestling, Lynn turned on Van Dam, costing him his match with Gunner and, in the process, eliminating him from the finals of the Bound for Glory Series and turning heel. The following week Lynn explained his turn by claiming that he was tired of being in Van Dam's shadow and mentioned that Eric Bischoff had helped him realize it. On October 16 at Bound for Glory, Van Dam defeated Lynn in a Full Metal Mayhem match.

As part of his retirement tour, Lynn returned to TNA on January 12, 2013, as part of the tapings of the One Night Only: X-Travaganza PPV, losing to Rob Van Dam in a No Disqualification match. This would be Lynn and Van Dam's final match together.

Independent circuit (2003–2013) Lynn worked for the All World Wrestling League presents Big Time Wrestling from late 2003 to early 2004.

Lynn participated in the East Coast Wrestling Association's eleventh-annual Super 8 Tournament, which he won after defeating Sonjay Dutt in the finals on November 10, 2007, in Newark, Delaware.

In June 2007, Lynn debuted for Anarchy Championship Wrestling (ACW), based in Austin, Texas. Lynn won the ACW Heavyweight Championship in his first match by defeating Scot Summers. Lynn would hold the title for six months and after two time limit draws, Lynn lost the title back to Summers in a no time limit match in January 2008. Lynn continued wrestling for ACW through 2008 and in November, he won the ACW tag team titles with Scot Summers. Lynn and Summers remained tag team champions for over a year before losing the titles to the Submission Squad in January 2010. Lynn returned to ACW for a match in August 2011 and then again at the start of 2012. After announcing that he would be retiring at the end of the year, the rest of Lynn's appearances became known as the retirement tour for the Godfather of Anarchy.

One of Amarillo's independent promotions, West-Texas Wrestling Association, announced January 12, 2008, at their second anniversary show that Jerry Lynn would face Kaos "The Rock Superstar" at WWA's Collision Course 3 on April 12, 2008, at The Nat "Brawl Room", hyping the fact they have two nationally known names facing off in a one-on-one match for Indy supremacy. Lynn would face local star, Mark Wilson, instead, due to an injury sustained by Joey Munoz. Jerry Lynn would return to WWA frequently to face local Amarillo stars. He would also face, and defeat, Justin Credible and Raven, in separate matches in WWA.

Lynn participated in Pro Wrestling Syndicate's Majestic Twelve Tournament on March 22, 2008, in Yonkers, New York. Lynn teamed with Kenny Omega in the first round defeating Tommy Suede and Kevin Matthews. Omega eliminated Lynn in Round 2. Lynn's most recent PWS match was on May 8, 2010, when he defeated Vampiro in White Plains, New York.

On April 25, 2008, Lynn defeated Jason Gory, Shiima Xion, and Davey Richards to win the Super Indy VII Tournament that is held by International Wrestling Cartel. Traditionally, the winner of the tournament is awarded the IWC Super Indy Championship. However, Lynn refused to accept the belt and instead challenged the champion Larry Sweeney to a title match at the next show. On May 17, 2008, Lynn defeated Sweeney to officially become IWC Super Indy Champion. On September 13, 2008, Lynn lost the Super Indy title to kayfabe apprentice Johnny Gargano in a 3 Way Dance, which also included Super HENTAI.

On March 10, 2012, Lynn announced that he would retire from professional wrestling at the end of the year.

On April 28, 2012, Lynn defeated Devon Storm at Extreme Reunion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On September 14, 2012, Lynn made his debut for Chikara, when he, Too Cold Scorpio and Tommy Dreamer entered the 2012 King of Trios as "The Extreme Trio", defeating Team WWF (1-2-3 Kid, Aldo Montoya and Tatanka) in their first round match. The following day, The Extreme Trio was eliminated from the tournament by Team ROH (Mike Bennett, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).

On November 10, 2012, Lynn wrestled for MPX in Bedford, Texas where he won a fatal four way to become the MPX Champion. Lynn immediately vacated the title due to his impending retirement and the match marked his final appearance in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where he spent much of his early career with the GWF. On February 9, 2013, Lynn defeated Lance Storm in his final match in Pro Wrestling Syndicate in the Main Event of the show.

Lynn wrestled his retirement match at the Minneapolis Convention Center on March 23, 2013, which was the 25th anniversary of his debut as a professional wrestler. The event was promoted by Dave Sabick along with his promotion Heavy On Wrestling. He faced Horace the Psychopath, JB Trask and Sean Waltman in a four-way match, in which he was victorious. After the match, the locker room came out to celebrate Lynn's career and he was presented with a trophy.

Return to ROH (2014–2019) Lynn was backstage at Ring of Honor's Best in the World 2014 pay-per-view in Nashville, Tennessee, where he now lives. Sporting a new shorter haircut, this was the first wrestling show he's attended since retiring in 2013. In December 2015, Lynn returned to Ring of Honor where he had a confrontation with ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. At Final Battle 2015, Lynn would be on commentary during the main event between Lethal and AJ Styles alongside Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness. In 2016, Lynn began work for the company as a backstage agent/producer.

All Elite Wrestling (2019–present) In 2019, Lynn signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a coach and producer. On January 19, 2021, episode of Impact Wrestling, Jerry Lynn and Tony Khan debuted by watching Private Party wrestle against Chris Sabin and James Storm in a match when Private Party defeated Sabin and Storm. Lynn interfered in the match, allowing Private Party to win. He made an appearance in Philadelphia following Rampage on October 8, 2021, when Tony Khan called him out alongside Dean Malenko, Taz and Chris Jericho to thank them for inspiring him.

On the September 7, 2022, episode of AEW Dynamite, he was a judge for ROH Pure Championship. On December 10, 2022, he was also a judge during the ROH Pure Championship match at Final Battle, and also celebrated with Claudio Castagnoli following his ROH Championship win.

On the June 8, 2023 episode of ROH TV, Lynn and Stokely Hathaway were announced by Tony Khan as the new ROH Board of Directors.

Professional wrestling style and legacy Lynn uses the Cradle Piledriver as his finishing move. According to him, he used the move after a recommendation from Nova, who was inspired by Dynamite Kid.

Former wrestler Lance Storm described Lynn as "Academy Award winning supporting actor. One of the greatest actors of all time, who was just never cast in that lead role", while sports journalist Dave Meltzer described him as "one of the most underrated workers of the last quarter century".

Championships and accomplishments

All American Wrestling AAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Anarchy Championship Wrestling ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scot Summers Anarchy Elite (2016) Born Championship Wrestling BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) East Coast Wrestling Association Super 8 Tournament (2007) Extreme Championship Wrestling ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Extreme Rising Legend of the Year (2012) Frontier Wrestling Alliance FWA British Heavyweight Title No.1 Contenders Round Robin Challenge (2002) Gateway Championship Wrestling GCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Hardcore Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Heavy On Wrestling Hall of Fame (2013) Independent Wrestling Association East Coast IWA East Coast Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2022 International Wrestling Cartel IWC Super Indy Championship (1 time) Super Indy Tournament (2008) Metroplex Wrestling MPX Championship (1 time) NWA Mid-South NWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (1 time) NWA Total Nonstop Action NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with A.J. Styles (1) and Amazing Red (1) TNA X Division Championship (2 times) World X Cup (2004) – with Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament (2002) - with AJ Styles New Era Pro Wrestling NEPW Triple Crown Championship (1 time) New York Wrestling Connection NYWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time) NYWC Hi-Fi Championship (1 time) NYWC Interstate Championship (1 time) NYWC Hall of Fame (Class of 2019) Premier Wrestling Federation Match of the Year (2004) - with Masato Tanaka Pro Wrestling America PWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) PWA Light Heavyweight Championship (3 times) PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Lightning Kid Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI Comeback of the Year (2009) PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1999) Ranked No. 29 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2003 Ranked No. 281 of the top 500 greatest wrestlers in the "PWI Years" in 2003 Ring of Honor ROH World Championship (1 time) Steel Domain Wrestling SDW Television Championship (1 time) Suncoast Pro Wrestling SPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brady Boone United States Wrestling Organization USWO Heavyweight Championship (1 time) USWO Television Championship (1 time) World Wrestling All-Stars WWA International Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) WWA International Cruiserweight Title Tournament (2003) World Wrestling Federation WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)