Matt Sydal says there’s no easy path to the Pure Championship but he feels like he’s the perfect person to carry on the legacy of the title into this present.
Sydal spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about his return to Ring Of Honor to enter the Pure Championship Tournament. Sydal’s opening round matchup against Delirious airs this weekend and he spoke about not only returning to ROH for the first time in three years, but what the tournament means for the company.
“I’ve been with Ring Of Honor basically since I started wrestling. That was sort of the goal when I got into wrestling, to get to Ring Of Honor. I was there before my time in Dragon Gate and WWE,” Sydal said, “my last match was against Marty [Scurll] for the TV title and I was on a roll so it’s good to be back with Ring Of Honor because I always get the best matches. I always get to wrestle the best in the world, guys like Jay Lethal and Dalton Castle. I know they’re in the A Block, not my block, but there’s just so many good wrestlers in this tournament. It was a big honor to be called to be a part of it considering all the things going on with COVID and how challenging it is to put on an event, my hat really goes off to everybody at Ring Of Honor for putting on this Pure Tournament and really putting a focus on wrestling and really giving a lot of wrestlers a great opportunity.”
Sydal spoke very highly of the other competitors in the tournament, noting Jonathan Gresham is “the guy that I’m most worried about but also most excited to match up with.” He says the goal in Ring Of Honor is to steal the show and have the fans talking about you after the match every night.
“It’s funny because people will tell me and Jay [Lethal] ‘oh you guys were so good back then…’ and [I] could have been the champion then. But if you think we were good then, wait until you see how good we are now because we have not stopped. With the same work ethic, with the same mentality that got us to the dance that first time and that kept us there, we haven’t wavered in our determination. I haven’t wavered one bit in my focus and really, there’s no better time than now for me to be in this Pure tournament because I’ve spent so much time and energy focused on my own personal wrestling school, the SyDojo in Clearwater, Florida, and so I’m training guys in this style. We train in what is very much a Pure style. I have my influences, my original influences that very few other people have from the Dragon Gate system and other places but I really do focus on true, pure wrestling and I’m out there wrestling young, strong and hungry kids every day, three times a week.”
“I’m ready to rumble and that’s why I look forward to getting a guy like Tony Deppen across the ring from me because those are the kinds of challenges that force me to rise to a higher level. A guy like Tony Deppen is a game-changer, somebody who is innovating things and so I’m always on my toes in a match like that. I had so many times where a guy like AJ Styles or Christopher Daniels gave me a match that I wasn’t even ready for and that the fans loved. That’s what I’d like to do against some of the younger guys in this tournament, is really help them find their own personal limits.”
