You can be forgiven for not being aware, but beloved veteran pro wrestler Jerry Lynn actually retired about four years ago. (We all know that pro wrestlers never actually retire, but let’s humor the guy.) The former ECW and Ring of Honor world champion still has a reputation as a pro wrestler’s pro wrestler, and is one of the most celebrated wrestlers whenever people in the business get together and happen to bring him up.
That reputation was more than enough to get WWE to bring him down to the Performance Center for a guest coaching gig. Following in the footsteps of Mike Quackenbush, Sonjay Dutt, Steve Corino and others, Lynn popped in to share his expertise and knowledge with the Performance Center and NXT youngsters. But he showed up sporting a much different look than we’re used to.
WWE’s video team asked Lynn why he decided to finally cut his signature locks, and Mr. JL gave us the most honest answer ever: He’s sick of all the Randy “The Ram” comparisons.
“Just one day, it was getting — the hairline was marching backwards, and it was getting thin on top, and I looked in the mirror one day, and I went, ‘Man, I look just like Randy the Ram. This has gotta go.’
“So I told my wife and daughter, I said, ‘I’m gonna cut my hair.’ And Annabelle looks up at me and says, ‘No, you’ll be ugly!’ And I’m like, ‘Thanks a lot.’
“So it had to go. It was time.”
Lynn looking almost exactly like Mickey Rourke’s character from The Wrestler is a long-running joke; one that began when the very first production images for that movie came out. Sadly, it looks like that joke is now out of date. Let’s leave the memories alone.
