Exclusive: Interview with Impact Star Matt SydalÂ
Matt Sydal, formerly known in the WWE as Evan Bourne and currently wrestling for Impact, won the IPWA World Title at the promotions Passover event on the 21st of April, defeating the reigning champion by pinfall. Sportskeeda caught up with Sydal after he won the title.
Sportskeeda: First of all, congratulations on your title win. What is the first thing you are going to do as the new IWPA Champion?
Matt: I'm planning on traveling around the country, I have relatives that live here and I'm going to try and meet up with them tomorrow and then I'll go see some of the holy sites. After that, it's back home to training and my wrestling school and back to sharpening my human blade sharper and sharper.
SK: This is actually your second time in Israel, you were previously here for the Rage Megashow on the 9th of July 2017. How did that event compare to this event from your perspective?
Matt: That previous show was a big challenge for me because two days before the show I dislocated my shoulder in the worst in-ring injury I've ever suffered in my career. It was worse than when my ankle came out of the socket. That was a really tough injury but these things happen. I loved that event though, so many cool things happened, from the Von Erichs being there, to Marty Jannetty, and Takanka.
This show really represented the heart and soul of wrestling though. This is the show where wrestling fans aren't going to be fooled by a gimmick. They showed up to watch the best wrestling on the planet and that's what we delivered. The last two matches (Sydal's title win and Jay Lethal versus David Starr), could have been put on in any arena on earth. The idea is to take the best wrestling in the world and bring it here to Israel to give the fans what they deserve.
SK: Finally, the wrestling world is being changed with the introduction of All Elite Wrestling, as someone that has wrestled for both WWE and Impact but now you are wrestling smaller promotions like the IPWA. Where do you see yourself going? Do you feel like you are going to stick to indie promotions or is All Elite Wrestling attractive to you?
Matt: I think AEW sounds like the most fun ride in town, not only that but I feel like it was something that I've been a part of creating even though I'm not an Executive Vice President. What I did by going to WWE, and wrestling my style the AEW style, was let people out there know that there is something else out there and something else coming. I planted a seed and that has been watered by the [Young] Bucks, and now Cody has taken it to his nice garden and we're going to have a botanical garden filled with the world's best wrestler.
I've gotten the chance to wrestle against Fenix, Pentagon, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega. When you get to roll with these guys frequently my confidence in the future of wrestling just grows. I've never been worried about wrestling but everyone else was concerned because people felt like WWE was a sinking ship but now competition exists. Competition exists not just between the shows but within each individual shows between the wrestlers and that kind of fierce competition is how we breed really good wrestlers. That's how we end up with Will Ospreys and Ricochets.