Jerry Lynn, the TNA star who has been with the promotion from its inception, talked to Wrestling Weekly’s Doc Young and Les Thatcher January 18 about putting the X-Division on the map, his 2004 shoulder injury, miserable times in WWF and WCW, working the independents, and more.
Doc began the program by asking Jerry about what he’s been up to and he said, “I’ve been working a lot” but primarily in matches at various independents. He said, “I love doing the indys. I’m having a blast.” Jerry says he tries to take gigs every weekend but took it easy through the holidays at his wife’s request. She is expecting a baby in August.
Jerry said he doesn’t know where he stands at TNA but is still a regular fixture on their roster and behind the scenes. Jerry confirmed that the shoulder injury he suffered in 2004 is fine, so he’s hoping to see some action soon. In fact, TNA is facing major changes as they look forward to putting on house shows beginning March 17 in Detroit. Jerry thinks that doing test markets and going to the places that ECW used to go to may serve TNA well as TNA ventures out of Orlando.
Les asked Jerry about TNA and how he felt about the direction of the show—specifically the overuse of run-ins at the end of the program. Jerry said “I think that’s been a problem in the business for years.” He added that no one wants a clean finish anymore and joked that he didn’t care whether he wins or loses. He joked that if you look at his win/loss record, “my finisher is counting the lights.”
Jerry said that “everyone wants to be the big bad ass that beats everybody up” and considers himself lucky that he started in the business during the last days of the territories. He says younger guys don’t know what the business is about. He thinks too many guys aren’t even in it for the love of the sport but for the accolades. He said he decided he would only continue to wrestle as long as he’s having fun and he is. Jerry said that there were only two times in wrestling that he wasn’t having fun and that was when he was with WCW and WWF.
Jerry said WWE would have to offer him a lot of money to come back because “money don’t by happiness.” Doc asked him what it was specifically about WWF and he said, “Just the atmosphere. For some reason they don’t want their employees to be happy.” Jerry relayed a story about finishing a great match and having one of the agents tell him to stop using someone else’s signature move which he hadn’t. He figured it was his turn to get “bitched at” but was later relegated to dark matches against try-out guys. He said when asked about Vince McMahon that “Vince was fine to me.” It was other people in the company that made working there miserable.
Jerry took several questions from the chat room including who he thought was the “next big thing.” He cited Samoa Joe but added a caveat, “It all depends on the push.” If a promoter decides to push someone, all the talent in the world sometimes doesn’t matter. Les asked him about Sean Waltman and he said, “I think he’s straightening up a little bit.” Talk turned to the infamous video he did with Joanie “Chyna” Laurer and Jerry said, “No offense to Sean but I really don’t want to see it.”
Asked whether he would consider doing an ECW “One Night Stand” program with Rob Van Dam, Jerry said, “I would only do it if I could get all the money they screwed me out of” plus royalties from the DVDs his matches are on. Jerry said he was shorted close to three months’ pay and 14 pay-per-view bonuses not including what was left on his contract. Speaking of ECW, when Jerry was asked about how he felt about Paul Heyman he said it depended on which period of his life. He did ultimately bury the hatchet for the most part so those feelings wouldn’t be allowed to eat him up.
Listen to the entire broadcast at
http://www.wrestlingweekly.com
Wrestling Weekly featuring Doc Young and Les Thatcher can be heard every Wednesday from 9:00-11:00 pm EST at
www.wrestlingweekly.com
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