Wade Keller: What was your reaction to what Buh Buh Ray Dudley said
on the pay-per-view a few weeks back?
Jerry Lynn: I didn't hear it until I got home and saw it.
Well, I guess I heard after the show was over that TNN and the Viewer's Choice people were
pretty upset about it. And when I heard what it was I was just like, "Well, that's
what's been going on for so long and…"
WK: Was there heat on the Dudley's after that?
JL: I don't know.
WK: But they're gone now, right?
JL: Yeah, they'll be heading to New York (the WWF) pretty
soon.
WK: Have you ever worried about blood and HIV getting spread?
JL: Yes.
WK: Is there something you do specifically to avoid that being an
issue?
JL: I guess for obvious reasons there are certain people
who I will not be involved in a match with if there's blood. Just because of their…
WK: Their lifestyles?
JL: Yeah.
WK: Is that accepted that there are no hard feelings when you say
something like that?
JL: The subject hasn't come up. It hasn't had to come up
yet. But when it does, I mean I will handle it very professionally. I'm not going to make
a big stink of it.
WK: How excited is the locker room about the TNN deal being
concrete? I mean, it's happening, you guys are going national later this month.
JL: Oh, everyone is excited. I'm just afraid all of the
guys are going to want to go out there and blow their whole load in one shot. Now is the
time we've got to slow things down and start building up instead of going out there right
away with the thumbtacks and the flaming tables.
WK: Is the TNN deal seen as the pot of gold everyone's been waiting
for? And do you think that there's high expectations in terms of increase in pay in the
next year or so because of this? Or do you think guys are thinking, "Who knows if
this is going to make things better, but at least we're still alive."
JL: I don't know what everyone thinks. And who knows? From
what I've heard it's only a three year deal and who knows if they'll want to renew it
after three years. Nothing is etched in stone as far as I'm concerned. Every day people
are jumping ship to another company, so all we can do is just make the best of it one day
at a time. And in this business, after all these years, I try not to get my hopes up too
high about anything.
WK: If you were making the same amount of money six months from now
or a year and a half from now, would that be okay? Or are you pretty much counting on
things growing and continuing to improve?
JL: Oh, I'm counting on things growing and improving.
WK: If the TNN deal just keeps the company alive but doesn't end up
increasing your pay more than ten percent, is that going to be okay for and maybe some of
your friends in the company? Or do you think the expectation is that things should go up?
JL: I think a lot of people are expecting that things
should go up. But I would say there are certain people whom, if it doesn't, will still be
happy and if it does, better yet.
WK: You're under a five year deal with Paul E. that's signed?
JL: Yeah.
WK: Signed, sealed, delivered, iron-clad, all of that?
JL: Yeah.
WK: Does that include medical for you?
JL: Any injuries that have occurred in the ring he's taken
care of.
WK: Do you have one of the newer contracts that are including
monthly medical benefits, doctor visits, all that stuff that he's talked about?
JL: Do you mean for out of the ring stuff?
WK: Yeah, if you got sick or got cancer?
JL: No.
WK: Is that something he's talked to you or the locker room about?
Because he's been saying that he's offering full medical coverage to wrestlers and their
families now.
JL: Oh, I didn't know that. I haven't talked to him about
that.
WK: Well, maybe in the next few weeks you'll hear about that
because in the last couple weeks he's said he's offering full medical coverage to anybody
under contract.
JL: No, I haven't heard that. He must have decided that
after I signed.
WK: When did you sign?
JL: It was about a month ago.
WK: Is there anything I haven't talked about that you'd like to get
off your back?
JL: No, that's about it. Oh, here's something I'd like to
say…. If I don't become some big superstar in the business or become mega-rich, it's
all fine with me because just the fact that Eddie Gilbert and Terry Taylor and Paul Heyman
saw something in my work, that alone does it enough for me.
WK: How many years do you want to wrestle?
JL: I'd like to put in another ten.
WK: But like you said, it's okay if you just earn a living - or do
you want in ten years to be able to retire comfortably?
JL: Oh, you know, that would be great. I'd love to be able
to retire comfortably and my main goal is to get a house paid off. But being some big
superstar isn't all that important to me. I love the business, I love what I'm doing, and
I go out there and try to put on the best show possible but if I don't make a million
dollars or whatever, just the fact that those guys saw something in my work says it all
for me.
WK: Do you feel like you're part of a team to a real great degree
in ECW or is it just a decent locker room, but you're not like "Rah-Rah" part of
a team?
JL: No, there's a sense of being a team. If someone gets
hurt, everyone's concerned. It's like a family.
WK: Is it nice that you're on the road with people whom you trust
in that way, not everybody, but enough guys?
JL: Oh yeah. You don't have to worry about someone stealing
something out of your bag or taking a dump in your bag (laughs). No, it's a good locker
room.
