High-flyin' Matt Sydal's star on the rise in wrestling

Will be in London Saturday night with OVW

By Denis House

If you ran into Matt Sydal on the street, professional wrestler might be the last profession you would guess. Standing 5-9 and weighing 177 pounds, Sydal doesn’t have the imposing size of many of today’s top stars, such as Triple H or the Undertaker. But that hasn’t deterred this 24 year old from achieving success in a sport that has been dominated by big guys over the years.

A naturally gifted athlete, Sydal has been thrilling fans around the world with his high-flying style since his debut in St. Louis, Missouri in 2000 at the tender age of 17. Fans from the Midwest to the Orient have marveled at Sydal’s style which includes a collection of martial arts, gymnastics and athletics. A casual fan of pro wrestling growing up, he really took an interest in the sport when he joined his high school wrestling team.

“My teammates were all big fans of pro wrestling,” said Sydal, who will be in London Saturday night with the rest of the stars of Ohio Valley Wrestling. “That really got me interested.”

Then came the moment that Sydal knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler. The date: October 5, 1997. The place: The Kiel Center, St. Louis.

Sydal attended the WWE pay per view “In Your House: Bad Blood” that featured the first ever Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, and from there, he was, as he said, hooked.

“Once I saw that, I started working real hard,” Sydal said. “I knew the odds were stacked against me, with my height and weight, so I started to hit the gym.”

Sydal debuted in October, 2000 for Gateway Championship Wrestling. From there, he competed in IWA-Mid South, Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate, TNA, Wrestling Society X and now, Ohio Valley Wrestling, we he just lost the heavyweight title to Jay Bradley after beating Mike Kruel for the strap in December, 2007.

Along the way, he has battled against or teamed with such stars as A.J. Styles, CM Punk, Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, Colt Cabana and Samoa Joe. And while he has mostly been cheered by the fans, he admits that his attitude was a little more “cocky” while in WSX. “I wasn’t the nicest guy in the world,” Sydal said.

“It’s not about being a good guy or bad guy,” Sydal added. “It’s about standing up for yourself and not letting people walk over you.”

So far, Sydal has done a good job of that. His feud with Bradley started back in November, 2007, the last time OVW was in London. He was one of the men who accepted Bradley’s challenge, and the fans went wild when he hit the ring and gave Bradley all he wanted.

Since then, Bradley has been a thorn in his side, jumping him from behind at every opportunity, then, last Wednesday, beating him for the title during an OVW television taping, this coming just a week after OVW was informed by the WWE that they were being dropped as a developmental territory and that all signed talent, which includes Sydal, would be shipped to Florida Championship Wrestling.

Sydal hopes to face Bradley this Saturday night, as he still has a score to settle before leaving for the Sunshine State.

As a kid watching wrestling, Sydal was a fan of the Steiner Brothers, Bret Hart, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Jr., and also the original ECW. But while he might have been influenced by those wrestlers, he doesn’t feel like he’s a carbon copy of any of then.

“I really like to think of myself as an original,” Sydal said. “A blend of the true old fashioned American wrestling, Mexican and Japanese. In fact, I practice a hybrid form of Mexican and Japanese wrestling called Llabe. I try to adapt to my opponent.”

Sydal said that he won’t let his lack of size keep him from rising to the top of the sport.

“My focus has never been on bodybuilding,” Sydal said. “My focus is being an elite athlete, with agility and speed. Guys like Rey Mysterio, Eddy Guerrero and Chris Benoit, they were widely popular and successful, and I’m trying to follow in their footsteps. I have a larger than life persona, and I think people can relate to me, feel what I’m feeling. I give it everything I have, and I think the fans appreciate that.”

Sydal said that his two years in Ring of Honor is where he really started to come into himself as a wrestler.

“I spent a lot of time with CM Punk and Colt Cabana and I learned a lot from them,” Sydal said. “And I really loved my time in Japan; it was an unique experience. I got to work with some of the best wrestlers in the world, and learned to adapt my style. I gained a wealth of knowledge that most American wrestlers don’t have.”

One major thing that Sydal learned is you have to love wrestling to really succeed.

“If you don’t love it and give 1000 percent, you can’t make it,” Sydal said. “You have to be willing to pack up your bags and go wherever you can.”

Sydal said that he hopes to bring fans back to the sport of professional wrestling, brings the sport back into the mainstream of the general public.

“I would like to be a part of the group that does that,” Sydal said. “We need to bring new fans into wrestling, whether they are 8, 18, 28 or 58, I want to build a fan base all over the world, to connect with people. It’s the best form of entertainment going right now. We need fans like we had back in 1997. We need to hook ‘em back into wrestling.”

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