WWE: 10 Most Extreme ECW Matches

2. Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam -- Hardcore Heaven, May 16, 1999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZUXT4BxrZ0 Even people who don't like wrestling should be shown this match as an example of what two great athletes at the peak of their careers can do. At Living Dangerously, two months prior, ECW World Television Champion, RVD and Lynn battled to a 20-minute draw. Referee John Finnegan was going to award the match and the title to Jerry Lynn, but Lynn asked for five more minutes, knowing the fans would have booed him out of the building otherwise. In the end, RVD pinned Lynn, but the match stole the show and set up this encounter at Hardcore Heaven. At this point, RVD had been the TV champ for 23 months, and his battles with Lynn usually went 25, 30, and sometimes 40 minutes. So this one was a one-hour time limit, as ECW was always raising the bar and changing standards. The match kicks off with a series of headlocks, hammerlocks, and leapfrog exchanges as both men are so quick and so technically sound. Early on, RVD showboats for the fans while his manager Bill Alfonso aggravates Lynn with his ubiquitous whistle blowing. The New York fans are extremely vocal with chants of "RVD!" and "Whole F*ckin' Show!" throughout the opening minutes of the match. But on this night, Jerry Lynn is looking to become the "New F*ckin' Show" and the new ECW TV champion. Clean breaks, slingshots, monkey flips and plenty of reversals delight the fans as Lynn and RVD go back and forth, until Van Dam is busted open over his right eye. A springboard dropkick from Lynn sends RVD over the top rope crashing to the floor, as Lynn follows up with a plancha off the top rope, with tremendous extension. A guillotine leg drop brings RVD back into the ring as Lynn delivers vicious chops to the chest and a bulldog from the second rope. At this point, Fonzie interjects himself into the match as Lynn is crotched on the top rope. RVD hits the Van Daminator as Lynn tumbles to the outside floor and hits his head, killing his momentum. Bloody and seemingly lifeless, Lynn is whipped up and over the guardrail into the front row, as RVD shows no compassion or mercy. Again, the bloodthirsty New York fans erupt with chants of "RVD!" This is where the match really gets extreme, as RVD takes off like a jet over the guardrail crashing into Lynn. Once back in the ring, the two exchange powerslams, bridging suplexes, and short arm clotheslines in this amazing athletic contest, while reversing cradle piledrivers and tornado DDT attempts. Tables, chairs, and RVD's signature guillotine leg drop onto Lynn hanging over the guardrail gives the fans everything they could possibly want in this hardcore battle. Extreme and brutal, even Fonzie takes a wicked chair shot to the face when he interjects himself into the match one too many times. Lynn delivers his own Van Daminator, trying to put away the champion but RVD comes back with some serious offense along with a split legged moonsault. A stunning Five Star Frogsplash by RVD doesn't get the pin, though, as Lynn shows tremendous resiliency and kicks out. RVD hits Lynn with a Van Daminator, assisted by Fonzie, and ascends to the top rope for another spectacular Five Star Splash to get the win, after an exhausting hard-fought 35-minute battle. After the match, RVD -- who may very well be the cockiest son-of-a-bitch in the wrestling business at this time -- high fives Jerry Lynn in a show of respect, as this match cemented Lynn's place as a main eventer in ECW. It was one for the ages, and an extreme masterpiece in the history of ECW wrestling.