Jerry Lynn in WWF 1997?

[Metalheadbanger Man]

I wasn't sure whether or not to put this in WWE or (W)rest, but I digress.

I was watching some old Saturday Shotgun matches, when I found one that featured Jerry Lynn in a light-heavyweight bout. I had no idea he had matches in the WWF at this time, but it appears as if he did. Does anyone know if he was offered a contract at that time?

Guys like Tajiri and Super Crazy were also showing up in the division in '97. I know they wouldn't have been able to compete with WCW's cruiserweight division at that time, but I really feel like the light-heavyweight stuff could've been so much more in WWF back then.

[rapidfire187]

Hmm, never knew Jerry Lynn showed up in WWF then. That must have been shortly after he left WCW before he showed up in ECW. I know Taijiri and Super Crazy showed up too, like you said, but they were nothing like what we remember them for. I agree that the Light Heavyweight division could have been better, I don't know why WWF didn't try to make the wrestlers in that division seem more important. If the luchadores in WCW were able to get over as much as they did (though admittedly only a few truly got over) then I think the mix of Japanese stars and luchadores that WWF had could have.

WCW had standouts like Rey Mysterio, Psichosis, Juventud, Dean Malenko, Ultimo Dragon and Chris Jericho

If WWF had countered that with TAKA, The Great Sasuke, Jerry Lynn, Tairiji, Aguila and Super Crazy the talent level really would have been pretty similar.

[BlackoutCreature]

Yeah, he worked liked two or three WWF TV tapings between leaving WCW and showing up in ECW. When the WWF didn't offer him a contract, he figured it meant they weren't interested, so he went to ECW. He was then contacted out of the blue by the WWF to work their Light Heavyweight Title tournament and was even advertised for it briefly (Eric Shelly replaced him), but he turned it down saying he already made commitments to ECW.

[chazraps]

The biggest issue with the light-heavyweight division then is how the production truck had no idea how to present them. If you re-watch the tournament bouts, you can tell the usually professional presentation and production values of Raw is War had no idea how to frame these matches or follow the action. Instead of the death-defying lunging and triumph of human athleticism we got in WCW's presentation, we got a bunch of guys doing out-of-frame flippy-dippy moves. There's a reason the crowd is so much more into it than what we'de seen.

[tmoney404]

Great point about the camera work...makes a lot of sense because I always wonder why the Light Heavyweight division sucked so bad in WWF despite having some pretty decent names on the roster. The talent never matched the quality on TV.

[surferrosa12]

I always felt like the Vince and Co. felt forced to start WWF Light Heavyweight division in 1997, due to WCW's success. If they put more effort into it, they could of had a great division. They still got a few great matches out of it, but it definitely could of been more.

[chazraps]

Jan 5, 2012 15:21:34 GMT -5 tmoney404 said:

Great point about the camera work...makes a lot of sense because I always wonder why the Light Heavyweight division sucked so bad in WWF despite having some pretty decent names on the roster. The talent never matched the quality on TV.

Yeah, if you watch the Taka - Pantera match from Raw in '97, it becomes incredibly frustrating how the production was not prepared at all to handle that type of match. On the part of the wrestlers, there's no real botches and several great spots, it just looks horrible on screen because the whole thing is shot from the most unflattering angles possible.

[Joe Galt]

Jan 6, 2012 4:30:48 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Jan 5, 2012 15:21:34 GMT -5 tmoney404 said:

Great point about the camera work...makes a lot of sense because I always wonder why the Light Heavyweight division sucked so bad in WWF despite having some pretty decent names on the roster. The talent never matched the quality on TV.

Yeah, if you watch the Taka - Pantera match from Raw in '97, it becomes incredibly frustrating how the production was not prepared at all to handle that type of match. On the part of the wrestlers, there's no real botches and several great spots, it just looks horrible on screen because the whole thing is shot from the most unflattering angles possible.

Yeah, and the matches looked like recorded dark matches.