Jerry Lynn was one of my favorites in ECW. With the tape trade and later on thanks to YouTube, I was able to go back and look at some of his pre-ECW stuff. The guy was a hard worker in WCW and had one hell of a rivalry with Sean Waltman on the indies. Meanwhile, Waltman was someone who was regularly in a major promotion.
Neither would be considered a top guy at any point in their careers but I always loved this dynamic between them because they were literally the perfect opponents for each other. The 2000s version of this would’ve been Amazing Red and Brian XL or Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto.
Similarities Between Jerry Lynn and Sean Waltman
Both hailed from the same hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a result, the guy to train with was Eddie Sharkey. Waltman had other trainers but he and Lynn would train with the AWA veteran. Lynn debuted in 1988 while Waltman would debut a year later. A few years prior, Sharkey would train Rick Rude, the Road Warriors, and Barry Darsow—so he knew talent and star power when he saw it.
In the early 1990s, they would wrestle in many of the same places—notably in Sharkley’s Pro Wrestling America and the Global Wrestling Federation.
The Rivalry
Now, I saw very little of PWA but their matches in Global (GWF) were extremely enjoyable. Both took big-league positions which put the rivalry on hold. They would clash in the late 2000s when both were free from big contractual obligations—for the most part. At the minimum, at this point, both men had more control over when and where they wrestled.
I will say, there was a period in 2001 when both Lynn and Waltman were in WWE but they didn’t face off.
While the early matches were high energy and exciting seeing them square off over ten years later was dope. They were more seasoned and both got reputations as hard workers and guys to test a wrestler’s mettle against. Sure, the matches were slower but they still had it.
The Rec-List
Since this is a new column, the one concrete rule is that any recommendations made can be found on YouTube. You won’t have to hunt them down. The 2/3 Falls GWF Light Heavyweight Title match from December 1991 is a must-watch. Check out their 2009 showdown below. The match also serves as their final one-on-one confrontation.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
