The Secret History Of ECW | Wrestling Timelines

March 21, 1999 - Jerry Lynn Vs. Rob Van Dam

At Living Dangerously, Rob Van Dam successfully defends his World Television title against Jerry Lynn in what will become a profoundly influential match. You’ve seen it already, even if you haven’t.

It is the engine of roughly 80% of indie matches that are wrestled thereafter. An intricate, stylised back-and-forth heavy on feints, counters and deception, its take on kung fu chess is blinding. The idea of the match being great and the wrestlers being great isn’t entirely revolutionary, but there’s such a strong emphasis on appealing to the crowd here, on getting the audience to buy into the quality of the fiction, rather than the fiction itself. The goal isn’t heat; it’s praise. These are two different things.

Aspiring wrestlers will fall so hard in love with the RVD Vs. Jerry Lynn series that, over time, many of them will make their stylistic brilliance a key character trait. RVD Vs. Jerry Lynn is the prototypical “banger” before the word enters the wrestling lexicon.

On the same show, Heyman still hasn’t learned. He’s a visionary of a pro wrestling mind, but in many ways, he’s just like every other booker ever: stubborn and resistant to change. He’s in the weeds of the fandom. He knows what gets said about ECW. He books for the people who say those things. So what’s he doing putting Shane Douglas in a 19 minute crowd-killer of a match?

Taz headlines against Sabu in a successful defence of the ECW World title he had finally captured at Guilty As Charged in January. Heyman waited an age to strap Taz up, but Taz is gone by the end of 1999.