Pro Wrestling Chronicle

News courtesy of Mike Johnson at PWInsider.com.

Sydal had garnered interest from WWE and TNA based off of his work on Wrestling Society X, so there was a feeling that this may happen. There was no word of him signing a Ring of Honor contract (despite appearing on their PPV), and within the storylines, he completed his heel turn and joined up with the super agent - “Sweet & Sour” Larry Sweeney - in hopes of making big money. In terms of honoring previous obligations, Sydal is still booked for indy dates in September (most notably PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles tournament and IWA-MS’ Ted Petty Invitational), and I suspect this would allow ROH to keep Sydal’s appearance on the 2nd PPV that was taped in June and debuting in September.

As for the signing itself, I obviously wish him luck. My heart says Sydal could be one of many smaller athletes - along with Paul London & Brian Kendrick, Cody Rhodes, and other developmental standouts (including Teddy Hart) - to provide an alternative to the current slate of large bodies on the main rosters, helping give WWE a more positive image after these last few months. My brain says he’ll languish in Louisville for a while before being quickly used and discarded by WWE “creative.”

As expected in the ROH storyline, Larry Sweeney is going to get some big heat for letting Sydal leave. Ring of Honor’s site published this article today:

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It is no secret that Matt Sydal is wrestling’s hottest free agent. He and his super agent Larry Sweeney will tell you in every interview they cut. Now there are rumors going around that Sydal isn’t a free agent anymore.

When Sydal signed with Sweeney’s Sweet & Sour Inc. he was promised the world. However, Sweeney was also quick to shop Sydal around. The aerial specialist immediately received attention from Dragon Gate, WWE, TNA, another major Japanese company and of course ROH. Sweeney listened to all offers and played the various promotions against each other.

Now Mike Johnson at www.PWInsider.com broke the story that it looks like billion dollar corporation WWE will be the winners in the Sydal sweepstakes. Although nothing is confirmed or official, Sweeney has also just greatly increased Sydal’s price to ROH officials, perhaps out of ROH’s price range.

“I promised Matt he would make a lot of money when he signed with Sweet & Sour Inc. and he will,” Sweeney said. “I look at one thing and that’s the dollar sign. I don’t care about what the fans want, I don’t care about my clients winning tin belts, I care about them making the most money so I can take my cut. With Matt Sydal I bought low and sold high (Sweeney laughs obnoxiously).”

Sweeney’s comments are actually pretty surprising and maybe telling. Sweeney saying “sold” leads us to believe that the deal is done and just hasn’t been announced yet. Sydal is currently on tour in Dragon Gate and unavailable for comment. Sydal is not currently scheduled for any upcoming ROH shows. Has Sweeney closed a deal with another company? Will ROH officials pay Sydal’s increased wrestling fee?

Right now, Larry Sweeney is exactly where he wants to be. He has all the leverage, control of wrestling’s hottest free agent and he is bound to make a profit. The business side of sports has engulfed ROH.