#220: Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn, ECW Hardcore Heaven (5/16/1999).

This is for RVD’s ECW World Television Championship.

At the Living Dangerously PPV in March of 1999, RVD defended the championship against Jerry Lynn, a blonde haired exciting high flyer with an aggressive side. That match opened a lot of eyes to not only ECW as a whole, but the two men involved. It was an exciting, unpredictable affair that put both men on the map in the eyes of wrestling fans everywhere. Due to the excitement of their initial meeting, a rematch was imminent.

It was announced that for the Hardcore Heaven event, RVD would be putting the title on the line once again against Lynn, in a match that had fans salivating for more. The pressure was on both men to match – or even top – their first encounter. In front of a rabid crowd in New York, The Whole F’n Show and The New F’n Show set out to steal the show once again, and further their stock in the Land of Extreme.

The ring announcer gives the introductions for both men. Lynn gets booed heavily, while RVD gets welcomed like a folk hero. That’s less of the fans hating Lynn, and more of them just adoring RVD at this point.

The bell sounds, and we are ready for this rematch. They lock up, and Lynn goes right for the arm. RVD reverses and ties up the arm of Lynn, before getting him in a side headlock. Manager Bill Alfonso’s whistle at ringside is already annoying the shit out of me. Lynn with a drop toe hold, but RVD gets a hammerlock in and a pinfall attempt. The fans are appreciative of this wrestling so far. They lock up again, and RVD gets a side headlock immediately. Lynn sends him to the ropes, but RVD shoulders him down. He runs the ropes and Lynn jumps over him. They exchange moves on the ground, where Lynn attempts a leg drop and RVD moves out of the way.

The fans loudly chant “Whole Fucking Show” to RVD. RVD sends Lynn into the corner, and backs away to pose. The fans continue to chant for him, while Lynn patiently stares from the opposing corner. They lock up in the middle, and Lynn pushes RVD to the corner, and taunts him before kicking him in the guts. He catches RVD and catapults him to the corner. RVD cat walks the turnbuckle, and jumps back towards Lynn. Lynn does the same, but RVD catches him and sends him into another corner, and monkey flips Lynn to the middle of the ring. He lands on his feet, and we have another stalemate between the two.

RVD kicks Lynn low, and begins his assault of punches and kicks. He dives off the ropes, but Lynn avoids contact and ends up sending RVD to the outside area. Lynn goes to the top rope, and hits a flying crossbody to the outside onto the champion. RVD tries to reenter the ring, but Lynn drops him with a flying leg drop across the ropes, which gets a nearfall. He chops RVD in the corner, and places him on the top turnbuckle. Lynn brings him down to the mat with a brutal looking bulldog, which gets a 2 count.

Lynn goes back to the top, and Alfonso drops Lynn on the rope, crotch first. He holds a chair to the face of Lynn, and RVD looks to come across from the opposing corner, but Lynn is able to avoid it. He has the chair now, and hits RVD in the head with it. He runs at him, but RVD crotches him on the ropes again, then comes off the middle rope with a kick, which sends Lynn to the outside. RVD is quick to join him out there, stomping at his prone body. He lifts Lynn’s body up and brings him back inside the ring.

Then, he brings him back outside and irish whips him into the ringside barricade. He falls into the waiting arms of the ruthless ECW fans. RVD is back in the ring, and he is showered with cheers. He leaves the ring and dives over the barricade onto Lynn. RVD goes to lift Lynn, but he dropkicks RVD over the barricade. He rolls back into the ring, and Lynn follows him in. Looks like Lynn is busted open. Back in the ring, RVD stomps on Lynn’s head.

He sends Lynn into the corner, but he jumps up and into a pinning combination on the champion, which gets a nearfall. RVD with the Alabama Slammer, followed with a Rolling Thunder attempt. Lynn sits up to avoid it, but RVD is quick with a low spin kick to the face. He goes for Rolling Thunder again, but Lynn gets out of the way. He gets RVD in the corner, and runs at him, but RVD catches him and places him on the top. He brings him down with a Northern Lights suplex, which gets a nearfall.

RVD places Lynn back on the top turnbuckle. Lynn counters RVD’s offense with a sunset flip powerbomb, into a roll up, which gets a 2 count. A clothesline by Lynn follows. Lynn goes to the outside and grabs a table from underneath the ring. He sets it up at ringside, and RVD meets him out there. Lynn sends him into the barricade, and RVD flips him into the fans. Looks like RVD is bleeding over his eye. I have no clue when this happened to either. With the help of Alfonso, RVD hits the Van Daminator, smashing a chair into Lynn’s face with a kick.

RVD brings Lynn back over the barricade and goes to send him into the ring post, but Lynn counters and smashes RVD’s face into it. Now they fight on the apron, and Lynn places RVD on the top turnbuckle. RVD grabs Lynn and throws him over himself, sending him crashing through the timekeeper’s table at ringside! He follows him to the outside and sends him into the barricade. He places Lynn over the barricade on his ribs. RVD goes to the apron, and comes down with a flying spin kick onto the back of Lynn’s head!

Back in the ring, RVD gets a nearfall off of all that chaos. Alfonso throws a chair into the ring, and RVD kicks it right into Lynn’s face. Now on the apron again, RVD sends Lynn head first into the turnbuckle, and places him on top. Lynn looks for a Tornado DDT through the table, but RVD cuts him off and clotheslines him back into the ring. He flies into the ring with a leg drop, which gets a 2 count. Lynn fights back and catches RVD in a sunset flip power bomb to the outside, through the table!

Lynn brings RVD back into the ring, and gets a close nearfall off of that. Lynn kicks RVD in the corner, and Alfonso is in with a chair. He throws it at Lynn, who catches it and nearly walks into a Van Daminator, but Lynn ducks it. He hits Alfonso with the chair and then hits a nice German Suplex on RVD, which gets a nearfall. Lynn goes to the top, but RVD catches up to him with a boot to the face. He grabs the chair and places it on the mat. He goes to the top and attempts a belly to belly off the top. Lynn reverses it, and both men slip off the top. The ECW faithful, ever present to botches, tells them both that they fucked up. Lynn has the chair, and dropkicks it into RVD’s face. That only gets a 2 count, and Lynn is getting frustrated. Lynn goes for sunset flip pin, but RVD reverses it and gets a pinfall attempt of his own. Lynn goes for the Cradle Piledriver, but RVD gets a back body drop on Lynn, who rolls through and gets another nearfall on the champion.

Now on the turnbuckle, RVD knocks Lynn backwards, and then hits the Split Leg Moonsault for a close 2 count. RVD goes to slam Lynn, who counters with an inverted DDT attempt, but RVD counters that with a low leg drop. He goes to the top rope, and comes down with the Five Star Frog Splash! He goes for the pin, but Lynn grabs RVD in a surprise pin attempt, which gets 2. Alfonso brings the chair back in, and RVD hits the Van Daminator on Lynn out of nowhere. He’s back on top, and he hits the Five Star again even harder! That’s enough to keep Lynn down for 3.

The power of hindsight tells us that ECW in its heyday was more of a vibe than anything else. They hit the atmosphere and aesthetic of the 1990s 100% of the time, but more often than not – at least in my research for this book – the matches were hit and misses. ECW is known for having one of the best midcards of the decade, but their main event scene left a lot to be desired. I’m sure if this book ever ends up in the hands of Bully Ray, he’d probably call me a dumbass mark who doesn’t know how the business works. I guess that’s better than criticizing Jon Moxley for going to rehab, isn’t it, Bully?

Anyway, yeah. ECW didn’t always hit, but when they did, they hit home runs. 1999 was a great year for the company. Not only did they showcase the awesome feud between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, but they also gave us this great rivalry, which almost always resulted in great matches. This one is the best of the bunch, to me. It boggles my mind that Rob Van Dam never won the ECW World Championship during the company’s original run. Sure, he won it when WWE launched ECW as a third brand in 2006, but let’s be real – does anyone even count that as true ECW?

He was on fire here, showing every bit of the star power that he had, and that he would have during his run in WWE. The real standout for me, though, was Jerry Lynn. He broke out as a major player during this time, and his effort here justifies that. He’s one of the most underrated workers of his time, and it’s about time he got the credit he deserves. He’s also the nicest guy to ever listen to Death Metal.

Not much in the way of storytelling or psychology here. This is just two guys throwing bombs at the other, in hopes that they’ll stay down. RVD and Lynn always showed great chemistry in their matches, and their series of reversals and counters are extraordinary to watch, especially when you consider the time this match happened. It’s like watching a Junior Heavyweight Japanese match in the United States! Paul Heyman was keen on different styles in ECW, that’s for sure.

I never watched the original ECW – I was too young, and my mom only watched WWE – so I guess I don’t see the appeal of Bill Alfonso blowing a whistle for half the match and constantly getting involved. I wasn’t a fan of it, and it was the biggest negative about this match. Was that Van Dam’s thing back then? I don’t know. Further research in the future will tell me. What I do know is that this match fucking rules. Both guys took each other to the limit, and the match was exciting all the way through. RVD continued to shine as ECW’s most popular wrestler, while Lynn continued to impress as ECW’s next breakout sensation.