Matt Sydal Recalls Iconic Randy Orton Mid-Air RKO

Matt Sydal has spoken about the iconic mid-air RKO he took from Randy Orton on the July 12, 2010 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw.

The spot has gone down in history as one of the most memorable moments in the history of the show, and probably the best RKO of all time.

Speaking with Wrestling Inc, Sydal spoke about the inspiration for the move and how happy he was with the execution, saying:

“I had been on a show in Highland, IN. It was IWA Mid-South, and it was M-Dogg 20 (Matt Cross) and B-Boy. M-Dogg for the shooter, and B-Boy hit him with the cutter. The place exploded. So we were on tour in the Ohio area, and M-Dogg was actually an extra at the show. And I had mentioned to Randy on Sunday because it seemed like we were a leading to a Money in the Bank match, and I had sort of mentioned that that would be something I would want to do in the Money in the Bank match. Mentioned it to Randy, that was Sunday and then on Monday, we went out there and did it.

“It was just beautiful, perfect timing. It was great because it was a move that I had established. It’s a move that he had established. It wasn’t just two random people just doing it for fun. It really was two people’s specialties colliding.

“I don’t want to take all the credit for it. One, not my idea, and two, if you watch the way it was filmed, it was filmed perfectly. It was shot flawlessly. Randy goes down. They cut to me climbing, but the climbing shot is super super tight. You almost forget that Randy’s there. He’s out of the picture, and it’s not until I jump that they cut to the second shot. And then you can see Randy popping out of nowhere and catching me. It was art. It was masterfully shot.

“It was just the perfect moment, and I mean every single night, we go out there and try and create a moment like that. Every single night, you try and make that magic happen, but this one, all the stars lined up. Randy was perfect. My jump was just where it needed to be. The guys behind the scenes had it orchestrated so beautifully that all I had to do was jump and the rest wrote itself.”

Sydal was in action on last night’s AEW ‘Late Night Dynamite’, during which he lost to Shawn Spears in the main event.

The former Evan Bourne hasn’t yet been announced as signed by the promotion and he’s still competing in the ongoing Ring of Honor Pure Tournament.

• rko
• Randy Orton
• matt sydal
• wwe

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