wrestling / News

Matt Sydal: ‘205 Live Was Planned For 10 Years’

May 5, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Matt Sydal GFW Destination X Impact Wrestling

– Matt Sydal recently spoke with sportskeeda.com, here are the highlights…

On His Inspirations: There were two big eras of my life where I loved wrestling, at the time I watched wrestling and the time I wanted to become a wrestler. Guys like Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, & Dean Malenko. I was a big Bret Hart fan. I even loved guys like D’Lo Brown, so I loved an eclectic variety of wrestlers. Ricky Steamboat. I’ve always had a lot of influences. I’ve been influenced by the ECW era, Tazz, Sabu, Jerry Lynn.

Does he feel that high flyers in the WWE are not given the same opportunity, or that they’re unfairly put in the midcard?: No, it’s different because I don’t care about TV time. I see wrestling very different from other people. Maybe according to certain people, I’ve heard that as a commonality. I’ll be honest; I never felt like I got a lack of time. Now they have their own TV show, and 205 Live didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s something WWE had been planning for ten years. You can’t just make the show appear like that. They work hard to feature all their wrestlers, and they’re trying to maximize the amount of money they can make out of everybody, which is what WWE does really well, and they’ve managed to turn that not only into their own feature, but they could possibly turn that into a brand which travels separately and earns WWE a fourth income. So it’s in the best interest that they feature the cruiserweights. But sometimes there are the iconic people like Conor McGregor and George St. Pierre. You need the Bryan Danielsons, and Nevilles and even the bigger guys. What I’m saying is that there’s no height or weight requirement to be an entertainer, and that’s something that Austin Aries taught me when I was very young, and it shows right now with these incredible, eye-catching performers, and it’s regardless of the height or weight, so that’s my take on that.

His Thoughts on PWG: My analysis is that what PWG has found is the low side of wrestling. WWE is about bigger lights, stronger sounds, more pyro, more more more more. PWG is less. Strip it down, minimize certain things and maximize certain things. Their emphasis is on the live show experience, and they’re able to ride an incredible experience and do everything they can to make the crowd stand up and lose their mind. PWG doesn’t try to do too much or deviate. By running once a month in the same venue for such a long duration has established a special, symbiotic relationship between the fans and wrestlers, and you have to be there to experience it.

What does he want to achieve in Impact Wrestling: I do take it one step at a time, but I’m on my way to the path, and that path is leading me to my destiny. I’ve wanted to become X-Division Champion since I began wrestling. When that belt came out, it was MADE WITH MY NAME ON IT. That was the type of wrestling I wanted to embody. And I believe I’ve done that and carried the torch of the X-division even though I haven’t been in the X-division since it debuted. Now is my chance to get the crown!