Matt Sydal vs. Delirious from IWA-Mid South 2003

Post by Case Lowe:

In February 2015, Matt Sydal and Delirious rekindled their rivalry in Atlanta for Ring of Honor in a great match. Twelve years prior, the two met in in Highland, Indiana for IWA-Mid South, which happened to be Sydal’s debut for the promotion. Both guys are young, both guys are fresh, and both guys are ready to steal the show. Whoop!

The two lockup to start. Yes, you read that right. The bell rang and Delirious DID NOT run around the ringside area waving his hands all around. Bummer. I was expecting that. I liked their grappling that kicked off the match. Sydal gains the first upper hand of the match with a big Hurricanrana on Delirious. Sydal’s offense early is flashy and crisp, with the exception of a Monkey Flip which Delirious took and subsequently nearly landed on his head. Delirious rolls to the outside, giving Sydal a shot to hit the ropes and land a Baseball Slide. Folks, this was THE BEST Baseball Slide I’ve ever seen. Sydal tries to follow up with a Asai Moonsault, but Delirious shoves him back into the ring.

Lizard Man’s heat doesn’t last for long as Sydal is quickly able to fight back. After planting Delirious with a Facebuster of sorts, Sydal simply asks the Highland crowd, “Do you wanna see something?”. That “something” was a huge Corkscrew Moonsault from the middle rope. Don’t try that at home, please. Sydal doesn’t go for a pin following that, which I found odd. That backfires on Sydal as he quickly finds himself grabbing his nose after getting a Drop Toe Hold straight into the bottom turnbuckle. Once again, however, Sydal quickly bounces back as Delirious finds himself spread-eagle on the canvas, looking up at Sydal. Sydal leaps for a Shooting Star Press, but Delirious rolls to the floor…but not to fear! Sydal lands on his feet! He quickly launches himself over the top rope and onto Delirious on the outside!

Sydal’s great striking continues into the closing stretch as he takes Delirious’ head off with a Superkick the Young Bucks would be proud of. The buck stops there for Sydal as Delirious gets his knees up on a Springboard 450, which quickly leads to the three count as Delirious hits his signature Chemical Imbalance II, which is one of my favorite wrestling moves ever. Seriously, someone on the indie scene needs to pick this up because it looks incredible.

Both guys worked hard here. Sydal as an in-ring performer shined here as you could clearly see he could connect with crowds with his high-flying moveset alone, while Delirious showed a great base for his character that would soon develop into an awesome act in Ring of Honor, among others. Fun match. Nothing to go out of your way and see right now, but certainly something to add to the Watch Later gimmick and save for a rainy day.

Rating: ***