Matt Sydal Talks ROH Being Able to Compete With WWE, Comments On Being in “Wrestling Purgatory” During His WWE Run

Former WWE and current ROH star Matt Sydal, aka Evan Bourne, was recently interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, and the following are some highlights:

If ROH could compete with WWE with the right TV deal:

“It’s not about competing, it’s about putting on a product that people enjoy, and fostering love for this wrestling art that we all do. If anything, it would probably boost WWE’s numbers because wrestling ebbs and flows together. So if somebody comes in and lights a spark in wrestling, which is what Ring of Honor does, then we light a fire for the entire industry. Wrestling has the ability to get red-hot again at a moment’s notice. Ring of Honor could be the coal that gets that done.”

On being in wrestling “purgatory” at the end of his WWE run:

“Forget wrestling purgatory, I was in life purgatory. One of the hardest things, as someone who has based his entire life on being an agile athlete, was to be literally stuck on a couch for two years. Going from ninja-like agility to unable to walk up the stairs for 18 months. It was very much a trial of my will and forced me to adapt to a whole different life that I never experienced. I wasn’t traveling on the road. I wasn’t wrestling. That’s something I hadn’t done since I was 17 years old. It’s hard to change your trajectory in life, and very rarely do you get the chance to sit back and think about where you’ve been and where you want to go. That’s what I was able to do. Being injured physically reminded me that your body is a temporary vessel. However, you have many things that can last a lot longer, like your mind. If you exercise your mind as much as your body, you’re going to get a lot more mileage out of everything. I was able to gain certain valuable insight that I was able to use to become the best wrestler I’ve ever been.”