Matt Sydal vs. Delirious – A Classic Rivalry In The Making

The feelings of frustration and disappointment were coming out in droves this weekend during the ‘Race To The Top Tournament,’ particularly after favorites Matt Sydal and Delirious lost their first round matches to Mike Quackenbush and El Generico respectively. It was only nine short months ago that Sydal and Delirious – who most fans and experts already consider to be main event players in ROH – found themselves as the underdogs going into the ‘Survival of the Fittest’ opening round, only to wind up being the final two contestants in the ‘SOTF’ Match. The two high-flyers/technicians put on an excellent display that brought the Cleveland crowd to their feet. It wasn’t just a terrific encounter between two of the fastest rising stars on the independent circuit, it was another terrific encounter between the two. In fact, as ROH would have us believe, these two have quite a rivalry going for them, and it actually dates back to the beginning of the new millennium.

Matt Sydal and Delirious became famous in the St. Louis area – a true hotbed of the industry – when they both got their start wrestling for a local promotion called Gateway Championship Wrestling. From there, they traveled to IWA: Mid South, where they fought frequently over the company’s Light Heavyweight title. In 2004, their feud brought them to Ring of Honor, where at ROH: Reborn Stage 1, the two had one of their highly competitive matches that they would become known for. Sydal picked up the victory that night, as he would again later that summer at Do Or Die III.

Over the next year, Matt Sydal and Delirious would make minimal ripples in ROH. Sydal feuded with Trent Acid before teaming with Fast Eddie for a brief period before their split. In August of 2005, Sydal would be welcomed into Generation Next as their newest member, but still failed to make a splash. The situation would worsen when his valet Daizee Haze turned on him during a critical match in the Gen Next-Embassy feud at ‘Vendetta.’ Delirious had worse luck, as he would continue to lose match after match in ROH, never obtaining the big W. Fortunately for Delirious, the one thing he had going for him was the fans, as his bizarre antics earned him a cult following wherever he went.

But where 2005 proved to be a bust for both Sydal and Delirious, 2006 would turn out to be the breakout year both men needed to establish themselves as main event players in the company. With the feud between Gen Next and the Embassy now in the books, Sydal took to his sometimes partner/sometimes rival AJ Styles as a mentor. After a highly competitive match at ‘Hell Freezes Over,’ Styles invited Sydal to be his tag team partner and together they would challenge for the ROH Tag Team Titles, which were held by Sydal’s Gen Next teammates Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Though Sydal would frequently challenge his stablemates and would almost always come out on the losing end, there was no doubt that Sydal was proving himself to be hungry enough to one day procure the gold. Delirious would finally go on to win his first match in ROH, as he defeated Ricky Reyes in a ‘Do Or Die’ match with the Cobra Stretch. From there, the masked man found himself victorious against at the 100th Show in Philadelphia, where he defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Jimmy Rave, and Jimmy Yang in a Four Corner Survival. Later that night, Delirious would answer the challenge of ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson, but would lose the match via referee stoppage due to a deep laceration on the hand. Despite losing the match, Delirious was not pinned, and was granted a rematch with Danielson the next month, in which he would come up short again.

Then, towards the end of the summer, during the Epic Encounter II when ROH made its return to St. Paul – the site of the original Sydal-Delirious match –, the two met again. Sydal would go on to pick up the victory in a repeat of their first showing, but the action between the two was far from over. If anything, it was only heating up. It was later that fall during the opening round of the ‘SOTF’ that Sydal would go on to upset Davey Richards and Delirious gained an equally surprising victory over Jimmy Rave. It was later that night during the main event that Delirious would finally gain a decisive victory over Sydal and move on to another ROH World Title shot. Before that, Delirious would prove that his ‘SOTF’ win was not a fluke, beating Sydal yet again in another tremendous match later that month at ‘Suffocation.’ The end of 2006 saw Delirious and Sydal on opposite sides of the ring yet again, as they would square off in a Dragon Gate Rules match at Final Battle ’06 that pitted Delirious, Aries, and Strong against Sydal, CIMA, and SHINGO in a stellar match. The end came when CIMA pinned Delirious, thus earning Sydal another win over the masked man.

So far into 2007, there has been no signs of the rivalry slowing down. If anything, it’s only getting hotter. Sydal and Delirious crossed paths again during the FYF: Liverpool event in a two out of three falls match. It should be noted, however, that Sydal’s attitude change to a more cockier one came into full bloom during the match, as he picked up a fall with a low blow, and would later go on to win the deciding fall. The last time Sydal and Delirious met was during the ROH Osaka event when Delirious’ team defeated Sydal’s team in a repeat of their Dragon Gate Rules match from FB ’06, in what was reportedly a show-stealing match. The next time the two are scheduled to face off with each other will be during Night 2 of Death Before Dishonor V when they are a part of the NRC/Resilience Non-Sanctioned Philadelphia Street Fight.

The thing that separates the Sydal-Delirious rivalry from all others is that it has been kept strictly competitive, virtually free of storylines. Since they don’t fight each other on a regular basis and their matches have a tendency to be spaced out over time, and because fans are familiar with their competitive history with one another, there is no need for there to be a storyline to keep their feud fresh. Sydal and Delirious are perfectly capable of using their in-ring action to keep the feud fresh. In this instance, the old saying actions speak louder than words certainly does apply.

Though the Sydal-Delirious feud may never achieve the greatness of or even gain the recognition of Flair-Steamboat or Misawa-Kawada, it is still a feud that will always produce good to great matches every time out, no matter the stipulations or circumstances.

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I'm taking suggestions for next week, if anyone has any. But as far as future ideas for columns go, I think I will be doing some fantasy booking for fun, as well as predictions and responses to the Death Before Dishonor events, as well as a look at upcoming shows, from 'Caged Rage' to the return to the Manhattan Center to the just-announced debut in California at the Cow Palace. Until then, stay honorable.