Rob Van Dam Recalls Trying To Convince Vince McMahon To Hire Jerry Lynn For WWE

In summer 2001, Jerry Lynn wrestled a number of matches on shows such as "Sunday Night Heat" and "Jakked" during his short stint as WWE Light Heavyweight Champion, a title he won by defeating Crash Holly in his debut. While the title was mostly only on display on WWE's undercard shows, Lynn did get to showcase his talents in a memorable, televised match against old ECW rival Rob Van Dam for the Hardcore Championship. Recalling that specific match, RVD revealed on "One of a Kind" that he and Paul Heyman desperately tried to get Vince McMahon to give Lynn a run on WWE's main programs.

"I don't remember specifically, you know, but I remember talking to Vince about it [hiring Lynn]," RVD said. "I didn't know if he saw Jerry and me in this match, [but] we were great together. Did he tell me that I should focus on bigger things? I don't know if that actually happened — a lot of my conversation was through Paul because Paul had to go to agents' meetings a few times a day, and when I talked to Paul, he was always like updating me. Paul had told me that Vince didn't care for, or didn't see anything special in Jerry Lynn."

RVD stressed that although his match against Lynn lasted less than seven minutes, "it was really good" and gave fans an opportunity to reminisce over their iconic ECW battles. "It didn't get him a full-time job — unfortunately," RVD rued. Ultimately, Lynn would be released in February 2002 following a knee injury, ending his WWE stint without him ever making any noise on WWE's flagship TV shows. Lynn would subsequently wrestle for promotions such as TNA and ROH.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "One of a Kind" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.