Jerry Flynn

Not to be confused with Jerry Lynn.
Jerry Flynn
Birth name William Brenneman
Born November 21, 1959
Tampa, Florida
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Jerry Flynn
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight 227 lb (103 kg; 16.2 st)
Trained by Boris Malenko[1]
Debut 1989
Retired 2001

William Brenneman (born November 21, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by his ring name Jerry Flynn. Flynn is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1996 and 2000. He is also known for his appearances in Japan with puroresu promotions including Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Presently, Flynn works as a coal mine foreman outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Professional wrestling career

Jerry Flynn's professional wrestling career began with training under Boris Malenko. He made his debut in FMW in 1989. During this time, he befriended fellow student Michael Bollea, later known as Horace Hogan.

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (1991-1993)

In 1991, Flynn debuted in the Japanese shoot style wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi and remained there for a few years. This period also saw Flynn face Masakatsu Funaki on the co-promotional SWS/WWF SuperWrestle card on December 12, 1991.[2]

World Wrestling Federation (1995)

Flynn wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation in June and July 1995 during a tour of the Mid-Atlantic states and Midwestern United States. Flynn made appearances on WWF Monday Night RAW, WWF Wrestling Challenge and WWF Superstars of Wrestling, losing to WWF performers including Jean-Pierre LaFitte, Rad Radford, The Roadie and Waylon Mercy.[3]

World Championship Wrestling (1996-2000)

By the mid '90s, Flynn had worked as a jobber for the WWF, performing in a few house shows before making his way into WCW with help from Brian Blair, a friend of road agent Paul Orndorff, and Mark Starr, who helped gain Flynn a tryout at Universal Studios Florida for a WCW WorldWide taping. He began performing regularly on WCW's secondary TV program, WCW Saturday Night, in 1997 and by the following year was gaining numerous wins over low-card performers. Later that same year, he won a match elevating him to Monday Nitro, the company's flagship program. He then became a member of The First Family, a heel stable managed by Jimmy Hart. However, an injury Flynn sustained led to the eventual disestablishment of the group.[1]

In time, Flynn became a preliminary WCW wrestler in 1998 and 1999. He had a short-lived feud with Ernest "The Cat" Miller and his manager Sonny Onoo after Miller and Onoo attacked Flynn backstage during an interview with Gene Okerlund and cut off his hair. The feud ended when Flynn gained revenge by defeating Miller and Onoo in a handicap match at the Uncensored pay-per-view. Later that year, he unsuccessfully participated in the Junkyard Invitational at Bash at the Beach. In November 1999, Flynn and Juventud Guerrera were arrested for DUI. He then began a feud with mixed martial arts fighter Tank Abbott which Flynn later expressed enthusiasm for. During this time, Flynn's persona emphasized his shootfighting skills including a "shootfight rules" match against The Wall on Thunder.[4] His feud with Abbott culminated at Souled Out 2000 where Abbott defeated him via knock-out in a mere 1:39. Flynn made his final televised appearance on April 17, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro in Eric Bishoff and Vince Russo's office getting berated along with Booker T, Hugh Morrus, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Lash LeRoux.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1998)

In November and December 1998, Flynn returned to Japan, where he wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Flynn formed a tag team with Dave Finlay, with whom he competed in the annual Super Grade Tag League, a round robin tag team tournament. The tournament was won by Keiji Mutoh and Satoshi Kojima.[3]

Independent circuit (2000–2001)

On September 19, 2000 in Tampa, Florida, he also unsuccessfully faced Mike Rapada in a tournament final for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[5] He wrestled a tour of Puerto Rico for World Wrestling Council, where he briefly held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship in February 2001, before retiring.

Mixed martial arts career

Jerry Flynn is a legitimate black belt in taekwondo, and he briefly owned and operated his own school of martial arts. Flynn fought mixed martial arts in the WCC (World Combat Championship) losing to Fred Floyd in an alternate bout.

In wrestling

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 0–1 Fred Floyd Submission (choke) WCC 1 - First Strike October 17, 1995 1 3:02 Charlotte, North Carolina, United States Alternate bout

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Jerry Flynn's OWW Profile". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  2. ↑ Miscellaneous Japanese Events WrestleTapes.net. Retrieved on 7-25-09.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Jerry Flynn". Cagematch.de. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  4. ↑ WCW Thunder - Thursday, January 6, 2000 DDTDigest.com (2000). Retrieved on 7-25-09.
  5. ↑ "NWA World Heavyweight Championship". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 World Championship Wrestling (1998-03-26). "Jerry Flynn vs Goldberg". WCW Thunder.
  7. ↑ Desjardins, Curtis (February 3, 1999). "The Official RSP-W Finishing Moves List". rec.sport.pro-wrestling. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  8. ↑ World Championship Wrestling, TNT (1998-01-12). "Jerry Flynn vs Goldberg". WCW Monday Nitro.
  9. ↑ Cawthorn, Graham (November 21, 2004). "Graham Cawthorn's This Day in Wrestling History". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 2012-12-07.

External links