WWE Rumors: WWE And AEW Competing For Services Of Former Impact Wrestling Star
Although WWE still has a loaded roster across both main roster brands and NXT, the company is still on the lookout for free agents from other companies and regularly hiring new talents or rehiring returning wrestlers. Former Impact Wrestling star Matt Sydal, who had previously competed for WWE under the ring name Evan Bourne, could be one of these returning talents, though it also appears that Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks’ new promotion, All Elite Wrestling, has plans of going after the veteran high-flyer.
Citing comments made by Dave Meltzer on Saturday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, WrestlingNews.co wrote that Sydal’s contract expired at the start of the new year and that the 35-year-old wrestler has received offers from both WWE and AEW since that time. It might be a few months, however, before he is able to return to the ring, due to his upcoming knee surgery.
“We’ll see what happens with him,” Meltzer was quoted as saying.
“He’s had offers from AEW and I know he’s had offers from WWE … I would think Impact would want him back because he’s good. That’s his situation, he’s a free agent.”
While Meltzer mentioned that Sydal had undergone “minor knee surgery” last week, Ringside News clarified that he was supposed to undergo the operation earlier this month, only for the procedure to get postponed due to unspecified issues with his insurance coverage. He tweeted on Thursday that he has been rescheduled for the coming week, but is still waiting for his “insurance paperwork to get resolved” ahead of the surgery.
Prior to spending over a year and a half as part of Impact Wrestling’s roster, Matt Sydal had competed for various promotions, most notably Ring of Honor and WWE, where he was known as Evan Bourne during most of his seven years with the company. While he had once held the WWE Tag Team Championships with current New Day member Kofi Kingston, as recalled by Wrestling Inc., WrestlingNews.co observed that he was mostly underutilized during his time in WWE.
Matt Sydal Confirms Knee Surgery https://t.co/g4fVdXQYQ4 pic.twitter.com/WX6Guhhq9t
— WrestleZone (@WRESTLEZONEcom) January 18, 2019
For most of the two years leading into his release from WWE in 2014, Sydal/Bourne was sidelined due to injuries suffered in a vehicular accident, per Bleacher Report. He had also been suspended multiple times for violations of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program.
“[We] don’t know if he was considered high risk due to the disciplinary actions or what, but if that’s the issue, why wasn’t he cut? Why pay him to sit on the sidelines for so long?” Bleacher Report speculated at the time.
