Lynn first joined the World Wrestling Federation in May 1989 as enhancement talent, losing to Rick Martel, and teaming with Ray Brown in a loss to Big Boss Man and Akeem later that night.

Lynn also engaged in a two-year feud with The Lightning Kid which gave both men considerable exposure in North America.

Lynn suffered a broken arm on December 18, 1995, in a match against Dean Malenko that would air one week later on Nitro on Christmas night.

went to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), representing WCW for their annual Best of the Super Juniors league; he placed fifth on Block A with two confirmed points.

Once the feud with Lance Storm was ended, Lynn was booked in a match for the ECW World Television Championship with Rob Van Dam at Living Dangerously in 1999.

Lynn blamed the fans and ECW management for putting him in an unfair situation at the November To Remember, claiming they intentionally screwed him out of the championship for their new golden boy Corino.

[6] He would hold the championship for 37 days and would successfully retain over former champions Crash Holly, Taka Michinoku, Dean Malenko and Essa Rios, as well as Christopher Daniels, Grandmaster Sexay and others.

[14] He eventually lost the title to Jeff Hardy and had a notable match with Rob Van Dam for the WWF Hardcore Championship on an episode of Sunday Night Heat[15] before being released in February 2002, following a knee injury.

[6] After leaving the WWF, he joined the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion and debuted on the Revolution PPV, confronting Eddie Guerrero, who had just won the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship from Psicosis in a three-way match which included Juventud Guerrera.

Lynn would take part in a tournament to determine a new International Cruiserweight champion, but lost to AJ Styles in the finals on the Eruption PPV.

In May 2003, Lynn entered another tournament to determine a new International Cruiserweight Champion, and won the vacant title by defeating Chris Sabin in the finals.

However, in February 2004 he suffered a severe shoulder injury, tearing the tendon from the bone in his rotator cuff, when Juventud Guerrera botched a Juvi Driver.

He came out at Final Resolution to watch a match which was Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and Matt Bentley taking on the team of Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong and Austin Aries.

Lynn continued to make several other appearances throughout the rest of 2006, and even faced Bobby Roode in a losing effort during TNA's first house show in Detroit.

On January 14, 2007, Lynn made his return to regular in ring competition returning to TNA to compete for the TNA X Division Championship against Chris Sabin and then-champion Christopher Daniels at Final Resolution, in which he delivered his trademark cradle piledriver to Daniels and subsequently got pinned by Chris Sabin.

After the match, a masked man (later revealed to be Christopher Daniels) performed the Angel's Wings on Sabin, but also hit Lynn with the title belt.

At Sacrifice, Jerry Lynn won a four-way X-Division battle between himself, Alex Shelley, Senshi, and Tiger Mask (New Japan Pro-Wrestling star also making his TNA debut).

Lynn made an appearance for Ring of Honor, where he wrestled ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness in a non-title match, which he lost.

[18] Soon after, Lynn was a participant in the inaugural match of TV show Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet, pinning Delirious for the win.

[19] At Manhattan Mayhem III, Lynn lost the ROH World Title to Austin Aries in a Three Way Dance, which also involved Tyler Black, on June 13, 2009.

[28] The following week Lynn explained his turn by claiming that he was tired of being in Van Dam's shadow and mentioned that Eric Bischoff had helped him realize it.

Lynn participated in the East Coast Wrestling Association's eleventh-annual Super 8 Tournament, which he won after defeating Sonjay Dutt in the finals on November 10, 2007, in Newark, Delaware.

One of Amarillo's independent promotions, West-Texas Wrestling Association, announced January 12, 2008, at their second anniversary show that Jerry Lynn would face Kaos "The Rock Superstar" at WWA's Collision Course 3 on April 12, 2008, at The Nat "Brawl Room", hyping the fact they have two nationally known names facing off in a one-on-one match for Indy supremacy.

On April 25, 2008, Lynn defeated Jason Gory, Shiima Xion, and Davey Richards to win the Super Indy VII Tournament that is held by International Wrestling Cartel.

Lynn immediately vacated the title due to his impending retirement and the match marked his final appearance in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where he spent much of his early career with the GWF.

[citation needed] On February 9, 2013, Lynn defeated Lance Storm in his final match in Pro Wrestling Syndicate in the Main Event of the show.

[36] Lynn wrestled his retirement match at the Minneapolis Convention Center on March 23, 2013, which was the 25th anniversary of his debut as a professional wrestler.

At Final Battle 2015, Lynn would be on commentary during the main event between Lethal and AJ Styles alongside Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.

[39] He made an appearance in Philadelphia following Rampage on October 8, 2021, when Tony Khan called him out alongside Dean Malenko, Taz and Chris Jericho to thank them for inspiring him.

One of the greatest actors of all time, who was just never cast in that lead role",[44] while sports journalist Dave Meltzer described him as "one of the most underrated workers of the last quarter century".