I really thought it would be worthwhile to check out the matches of Jerry Lynn outside of ECW. That's really where I know him from. Since I'm starting to look at ROH in 2009, I'm coming across a few matches featuring the man. It dawned on me that I really dig his work. He's really what holds the best RVD matches together and his stuff in ECW with others was always very good to great. Anyhow, I combed through YouTube, an old review and heck through in ECW match I missed in order to do this Spotlight on Jerry Lynn.

vs Lightning Kid  (Sean Waltman) GWF 1991 2 out of 3 falls - Always wanted to see these guys...as in...how good could this really be ? This isn't their best match as that/those were a year earlier but wow! this was move wise light years ahead at times. Perhaps a little more than was necessary but they definitely were pushing the envelope!

Dynamic Lynn (Jerry Lynn) & Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) vs. Coolie SZ (Jado) & Sakigake Gantetsu (Dick Togo) (Universal Pro  05/24/92)  - Two out of Three Falls. First fall is an onslaught of fancy offense from Jerry & the Kid. Gantetsu/Dick is getting the crap beat outta him! Selling it really well. Coolie/Jado gets the tag and there's fall #2. Fall #3 is more about the drama and storytelling and really brings this all together. It's a very good match and one that I had no idea about! Just a lot of fun. Look for "Universal Pro Estrella in Mayo '92" on the 'tube and it's the first match.

Gran Naniwa vs. "Gorgota Cross"  (Michinoku Pro - 08/25/95) - Cross is Jerry Lynn here sorta...Sasuke told him to wear the mask for the tournament. So put the name in quotation marks here. Also on this trip is when Jerry had his Mr. JL mask made. Anyhow, this was all action and near-falls! Really an excellent match and blew just about every other match in the Masked Man tourney outta the water. It was great to finally see Jerry Lynn given a chance to perform in this tournament.

Jerry Lynn vs. Taka Michinoku (ECW 1999) - Not sure on the date but it's at the Elks Lodge/Madhouse of Extreme. Maybe joined in progress or TAKA jumps Jerry. Anyhow, this is about 7 minutes of top notch junior action. So clean but still feels competitive and both guys sell as much as needed in a short match. Happy to see this one...totally missed it for my ECW project... glad to recommend it to you now!

vs AJ Styles (TNA PPV #20 11/06/02) - Pretty much a tank emptying X Division title match. This was fantastic! Tons of excitement and surprises...the only issue that I had was the outside interference wasn't needed. It was a little too much when you already had a great match going... thankfully it didn't spoil the match. I gotta call this a near classic match. TNA has this available and if you're a fan of either guy,go watch it!

vs Juventud Guerrera (TNA 05/03/03) - It's a fun match! It's a little rough at times because of Juvi but they get super complex with the spots and I don't think he can keep up. But it's never sloppy or botched or anything like that. It's a enjoyable match and it totally is worth the 9 minutes... this could have been a great match had everything been as clean & quick as possible. They were swinging for the fences and they hit an off the wall double

Triple X (Elix Skipper & Christopher Daniels) vs Jerry Lynn & Amazing Red (TNA 09/04/03) This was interesting because of the multi generational indie talent involved here. Well holy crap was this an ambitious spot-fu match and they pull it off! I think stylistically Daniels vs Lynn would have been my preference and this felt more like Elix & Red at times. This was around 14 minutes and there's not a dull moment. I could say that they don't sell, that they don't let allow anything to sink in before the next spot...but they did what they set out to do and have a big time fireworks tag title match. If you're interested, search this on YouTube and enjoy. I'm going to call it a classic TNA tag match.

Spanky & Low Ki Vs Justin Credible & Jerry Lynn (06/02/04  Debut show World-1 wrestling) - Lynn & Credible had very good to great matches back in '98 in ECW. Their tags with Tanaka and Awesome are worthwhile. So this piqued my interest. This is new school vs old school. Almost forgot that Jerry has a bunch of experience working with Low Kids back in the early days of TNA. It shows as they continue to have great chemistry. Heck everyone gels here like they've been wrestling each other for awhile. Credible who might be the odd man out, fits perfectly by adding his heel shtick. This is a lot of fun and a very good match. I think I've seen a couple World-1 matches over the years.

Jerry Lynn vs Eric Young vs Taichi vs Mr. Aguila (NWA-TNA PPV #95. shown 05/26/04): You're gonna wanna watch this if you're looking for a spot match with ladders. It's not an overblown spectacle like WWE. It's that TNA type stuff...which is appropriate but, they really do have their own type of match. This seems like a precursor to Ultimate X. Just turn your brain off, watch Jerry Lynn and Eric Young (Aguila & Taichi are window dressing...this could have been Lynn vs EY and it would have been just as good). Fun, fun stuff! (TNA has it listed as PPV #96)

vs Sean Waltman (TNA Sacrifice 2005) - I probably don't give Waltman enough credit for his work. His "look" is off-putting but he's got talent in the ring. Here, Jerry and he really go for it like it's 1995. Seriously there's a couple spots where I was totally surprised they actually did (and didn't just teased) them. This was a blast and I'd probably call it a great match. There's very little to find fault with. Watching a WSI shoot interview on the 'tube and Jerry said this feud was the last time he felt there was real heat. I guess Jerry was bringing up real life history between him and Waltman (specifically Waltman getting picked up by WWF and leaving Jerry behind).

Homicide vs Jerry Lynn (TNA/UWF 06/10/06) - This looked cool because it's an ECW guy going up against a JAPW guy...but you know it's TNA. Anyhow a house show but damn this was TV main event or even PPV quality. They totally could have phoned it in until the finish but nope! Good sequences, high flying, teases and all the big moves capped off by a slick finishing sequence. Very, very good match!

vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH Southern Hostility 2008)
Was trying to watch Nigel vs Lynn at Supercard IV...thought ROH had it up but found out afterwards that its from 2008 Southern Hostility. Still a damn good match...a near classic. Nigel is cleverly desperate and Lynn really is that never say die vet wrestler. I dug the heck outta this. I appreciate surprises and I think it had a few...they do a lot with simple elements. Great storytelling too. Reminds me of Nigel as Pure Champion.

Bryan Danielson & Jerry Lynn vs Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious (ROH Proving Ground 2009) - I'm just geeking watching the pre-match with Jerry Lynn clapping for Danielson and Bryan looks to be having a great time. You know he was picking Jerry's brain in the locker room. But he and Jerry look like buddies talking and smiling before the match. Normally, this is something I'd gripe about but, both guys can instantly turn the intensity instantly. I thought this was a great all action, keep it simple stupid match...and maybe they did get clever towards the end but that was the right time to do it. Just a joy to watch at around 16 minutes or so. Here it is!

I gotta say, none of these matches felt repetitive or that Lynn kept doing the same old moves every year and every match. And he had a pretty long in-ring career (1988 start date I believe) so, he definitely could have phoned it in after ECW (and a very short WWE run)...I'm glad that so many of these matches are available and easy to find. In fact, everything here is on YouTube if you do a simple search. At this point, I think I'm a bigger Jerry Lynn fan than I was even during my ECW watching days. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of him in my upcoming Ring of Honor 2009 project.

Thanks for reading! Stay safe!