Evan Bourne hasn’t wrestled in the WWE for 10 years now and it’s been even longer since he’s been seen on WWE TV. The AEW star has now transition into a new character and style than he used to, but in his he was considered one of the most exciting young wrestlers in the world.
In this article, we’ll look at Evan Bourne’s first match in WWE, his last match that you definitely never saw and how an injury cost him his WWE career.
Evan Bourne’s WWE Debut
Evan Bourne made his WWE debut on the June 3rd 2008 episode of ECW. He faced off against Shelton Benjamin in a match that introduced him to the WWE audience for the first time. Shelton Benjamin was given his full entrance as Kofi Kingston sat on commentary for the match.
Bourne was expected just to be another enhancement talent by the majority of the fans. However, hardcore pro-wrestling fans were excited to see him compete in the WWE finally. Under the name Matt Sydal, he competed in ROH, TNA and Dragon Gate and impressed which his incredible high-flying ability and out-of-this-world offence. His Shooting Star Press in particular was a sight to behold, and he was the one who had the move unbanned in the WWE.
While he was expected just to lie down to the might of the Gold Standard, that was not the case. He wowed the fans with his impressive kicks and incredible high-flying moves that took Benjamin off guard. However, Shelton Benjamin soon took control of the match, launching him into Kofi Kingston at ringside with a powerbomb, continuing the pairs rivalry through his attack.
Unable to recover from the assault, Evan Bourne remained on the outside of the ring for ten seconds and was counted out of the match. He lost his WWE debut by count-out but fans were excited to see what else he could do if given the chance. Eventually he was and he became one of the most exciting wrestlers in WWE history, before injury and drugs cost Evan Bourne his WWE dream.
Evan Bourne’s Last WWE Match
Evan Bourn’s last WWE match took place on an NXT Live event against Sami Zayn on March 28th, 2013. The match was in the first few months of Sami Zayn being signed to the WWE. At the time, he was wrestling under his real name, which is Rami Sebei. He was wrestling without a mask, which was a rarity for the former El Generico. Zayn has since become a huge star without the mask and the name Sami Zayn has become bigger than El Generico ever was.
There is no footage of Evan Bourne’s final match in WWE. It is known that the bout took place at the FCW Arena in Tampa, Florida and that Bourne picked up the victory of Rami Sebei. It’s likely he won the match with his patented Shooting Star Press, although we’ll never know. There is little information surrounding the match, mainly because a seperate NXT show featuring Randy Orton ran at the same time as this one. All we know is the match did take place, and you can read about the rest of the matches from the show on Wrestleview.
The match came a year after Evan Bourne was in a dangerous motorcycle accident. He broke his foot in four places and dislocated it in five, an injury that almost cost him his ability to walk, let alone wrestle again. However, after a year of recovery and rehab, he managed to get back into ring shape and wrestle against Sami Zayn in his final WWE match.
He would not appear again nor wrestle for WWE before his release in 2014. He was fired from the company alongside a number of other WWE wrestlers, including Drew McIntyre, Brodus Clay and Jinder Mahal – three future world champions.
Matt Sydal later went to work in Japan, where he was banned from after being caught with marijuana. He now wrestlers for AEW in a tag team with his brother, Mike Sydal. He had a hilarious moment in his debut match during a Casino Battle Royal where he slipped and fell attempting to do his famous Shooting Star Press move.