Training and independent circuit (2000–2007) Korklan was on his
high school wrestling team, he did
Taekwondo when he was younger as well. While a senior in high school, Korklan began training with the
St. Louis, Missouri-based Gateway Championship Wrestling (GCW) promotion. After three months of training, Korklan began wrestling for GCW in October 2000, becoming the first person under the age of 18 to receive a wrestler's license in Missouri. Sydal lost the title to
Delirious on June 26, 2004. Sydal teamed with
Daizee Haze in an
intergender tag team match against Delirious and
MsChif, of which the male wrestler on the winning team would become champion. Haze pinned MsChif to win the title for Sydal.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–2005) Sydal wrestled on
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)'s first monthly pay-per-view event,
Victory Road. He participated in a twenty-man
X Division Gauntlet for the Gold match. Sydal was a candidate in an online poll to determine who would meet
Christopher Daniels for the
TNA X Division Championship at
Sacrifice, but was not chosen.
Ring of Honor (2004–2007) (left) in Ring of Honor during 2006 Sydal (along with his valet, Daizee Haze) debuted in
Ring of Honor at
Reborn: Stage One on April 23, 2004, defeating his nemesis, Delirious. Following a brief feud with
Trent Acid, Sydal teamed with Fast Eddie Vegas as The Air Devils, a name chosen by ROH fans. They only teamed once, on February 25, 2005, at
3rd Anniversary: Part 2, defeating The Ring Crew Express. After the match, Vegas turned on Sydal and joined the
heel stable,
The Embassy. On August 12, Sydal and Haze joined Austin Aries,
Roderick Strong and
Jack Evans in
Generation Next, a stable in the midst of a feud with The Embassy. In late 2005, Haze turned on Sydal, leaving him and Generation Next and joining The Embassy. Generation Next fought The Embassy in several multi-man tag matches, culminating in a
Steel Cage Warfare match on December 3, which Generation Next won. At
Man Up, Sydal wrestled his final match for ROH, losing to long-time rival Delirious. There, he aligned with CIMA, Don Fuji, and Jack Evans to form the stable New Blood Generation International. He also became a part of CIMA's Typhoon stable. At Wrestlejam, Sydal teamed with Generation Next stablemate Roderick Strong to win the $10,000 Tag Team Challenge. He dropped the title to
Genki Horiguchi on March 25. Sydal was a part of the short-lived
MTV promotion,
Wrestling Society X, where he competed as a
heel against Jack Evans,
Scorpio Sky and the
Human Tornado. He began a feud with
Syxx-Pac over Sydal's
valet and on-screen girlfriend
Lizzy Valentine, but WSX folded before they ever had a match.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2007–2014) Developmental territories (2007–2008) Following the expiration of his WSX contract and the close of the promotion, Korklan signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Sydal debuted in
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) at its October 10, 2007 TV taping, defeating
Jamin Olivencia. In December, Sydal defeated Mike Kruel to win the
OVW Heavyweight Championship. On February 7, 2008, WWE announced it had ended its affiliation with OVW. As a result, Sydal lost the OVW Heavyweight Championship to
Jay Bradley.
Singles competition (2008–2011) Sydal made his debut for the
ECW brand on June 3, 2008, as a
face character. He lost a match by
countout to
Shelton Benjamin, after he was thrown at guest commentator
Kofi Kingston. The following week on
ECW, he was renamed as Evan Bourne, and teamed with
Kofi Kingston to defeat Benjamin and
Mike Knox. In the following weeks, Bourne defeated
Matt Striker,
Nunzio, and
Chavo Guerrero Jr., using the
shooting star press as his
finishing maneuver. Two days later, during a six-man tag match on
ECW, Bourne landed a
dive from the ring on his right ankle, dislocating it and tearing his deltoid ligament. Surgery was not necessary, but Bourne was not medically cleared to return to the ring until March 17. On December 8, he won the "Best Finishing Maneuver" Slammy award for his shooting star press. On June 29, Bourne was traded to the Raw brand, and made his debut that night as the first of three wrestlers in a
Gauntlet match against
WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the November 2 episode of
Raw, Bourne lost a
United States Championship match to The Miz. On the December 29 episode of
ECW, he defeated Mike Knox in an "ECW Homecoming" match to qualify for the "Homecoming Battle Royal", which would decide the opponent for ECW Champion
Christian at the
Royal Rumble. Bourne lost a non-title match to WWE Champion
Sheamus on the January 4, 2010, episode of
Raw. The following week on
ECW, he competed in the "Homecoming Battle Royal" but was the first man eliminated. On the March 8 episode of
Raw, he defeated
William Regal to qualify for the
Money in the Bank ladder match at
WrestleMania XXVI, which was won by
Jack Swagger. The May 31, 2010 episode of
Raw opened with Bourne being assaulted by
Edge, after Bourne proposed Edge put his spot in the
WWE Championship match at
Fatal 4-Way on the line in a match. Later in the show,
John Cena chose Bourne to replace his scheduled tag team partner, Randy Orton (who was earlier "injured" by Edge), in a match against Edge and Sheamus. Bourne pinned Sheamus to earn the victory for his team. Two weeks later, Bourne defeated
Chris Jericho by disqualification. Jericho had threatened the referee and attacked Bourne while he was in the ropes. At Fatal 4-Way, he pinned Jericho in a rematch. The following night on
Raw, Jericho challenged Bourne to a third match, stating he would leave WWE if he lost; Jericho pinned Bourne to win the match and stay with the company. On the July 5
Raw, Bourne teamed with Randy Orton to defeat Jericho and Edge. Bourne competed in the
Money in the Bank ladder match at
Money in the Bank on July 18, but lost. On September 19, at
Night of Champions, Bourne teamed with Mark Henry in the Tag Team Turmoil match for the
WWE Tag Team Championship. They were the final team eliminated, by
Drew McIntyre and
Cody Rhodes. On the October 11
Raw, he lost a match (to decide who would be on Team Raw at
Bragging Rights) to
CM Punk, and was subsequently assaulted. This assault was the storyline reason to remove Bourne from television. In reality, he had shoulder surgery. Bourne returned on the February 28, 2011 episode of
Raw, defeating Sheamus after Sheamus was attacked by
Triple H before the match. On May 23, he began feuding with Jack Swagger, with the two trading victories on several episodes of
Raw. Bourne then defeated Swagger at
WWE Capitol Punishment to end the feud.
Air Boom, injury and departure (2011–2014) belt in 2011 On the August 22, 2011, episode of
Raw, Bourne won his first championship in WWE. He and
Kofi Kingston defeated
David Otunga and
Michael McGillicutty for the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the August 29
Raw, the team was named Air Boom and made their first title defense, defeating Otunga and McGillicutty in a rematch. At
Night of Champions, Air Boom retained the title against The Miz and R-Truth when The Miz was disqualified for attacking the referee. At both
Hell in a Cell and
Vengeance, Air Boom retained the title against
Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. On November 1, WWE announced it had suspended Korklan for 30 days for his first violation of the company's wellness policy. Bourne returned to television on December 5. On December 18, at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Air Boom retained the Tag Team Championship by defeating
Primo & Epico. On January 15, 2012, Air Boom lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Primo and Epico at a house show. The following night on
Raw, Air Boom was awarded a rematch, but failed to regain the championship. This was Korklan's final televised match and appearance with the WWE to date. The following day on January 17, Korklan was suspended for 60 days for his second failure of a wellness test. In March 2012, Korklan was involved in a motorcycle accident which broke his foot in four places and dislocated it in five. After a year-long absence, Bourne returned on March 28, 2013, at a
NXT live event, defeating
Sami Zayn in his final WWE match. The following year, on June 12, WWE announced that Korklan had been released from his contract, ending his six-year tenure with the promotion. Korklan revealed in a 2020 interview that he received an offer to return to the company to compete in the 2016
Cruiserweight Classic but declined.
Return to ROH (2014–2017) Sydal made his return to Ring of Honor on September 27, 2014, losing to A.J. Styles at the
Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. In November, he was part of the
2014 Survival of the Fittest tournament, won by
Adam Cole. He unsuccessfully challenged Jay Lethal for the
ROH World Television Championship at
Final Battle 2014. At
Supercard of Honor IX Sydal defeated
Moose,
Tommaso Ciampa,
Caprice Coleman,
Cedric Alexander, and
Andrew Everett in a Six-man mayhem match. On August 21, 2015, Sydal defeated
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Yujiro Kushida in a non-title match, after which Kushida accepted his challenge for a title match. At
Survival of the Fittest Sydal was defeated by
A. C. H. in 5 match in the Best of 5 Series. The next night Sydal was defeated by
A.J. Styles. At
Final Battle Sydal teamed with
Alex Shelley and
A. C. H. and defeated
The Addiction and
Chris Sabin in a Six-man tag team match. On February 6, Sydal scored an impressive victory over former ROH World Champion
Adam Cole. At
ROH 14th Anniversary Show Sydal teamed with
Kushida and
A. C. H. as they were defeated by
The Elite (
Kenny Omega and
The Young Bucks) for the
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. At
Global Wars (2016) Sydal teamed with
Kushida and
The Motor City Machine Guns and they were defeated by
Bullet Club (
The Young Bucks,
Tama Tonga and
Tanga Loa) in an eight-man tag team match. At War Of The Worlds, Sydal was defeated by
Hiroshi Tanahashi. On April 15, 2017, Sydal made his return saving
Frankie Kazarian from
Marty Scurll and
Hangman Page. On May 12, during the third night of the
War of the Worlds tour, Sydal was unsuccessful at winning the
ROH World Television Championship against Marty Scurll. The match marked Sydal's final appearance for ROH.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2014–2017) Sydal made his PWG debut on the second night of
Battle of Los Angeles on August 30, 2014, by defeating
Chris Hero in the opening round of the
namesake tournament. However, Sydal was eliminated from the tournament by
Kenny Omega in the quarterfinal round on August 31. At
Black Cole Sun, Sydal teamed with
Chris Sabin to defeat
The Young Bucks. At
From Out Of Nowhere, Sydal was defeated by his tag team partner
Ricochet. At ''Don't Sweat The Technique'', Sydal and Sabin defeated
The Monster Mafia (
Ethan Page and
Josh Alexander). At PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2015 – Night 1 Sydal defeated
Fenix in the First Round of the Battle Of Los Angeles, The next night Sydal was defeated by
Will Ospreay in the Second round. At PWG All Star Weekend 11 – Night 1 Sydal was unsuccessfully at winning the
PWG World Championship against
Roderick Strong, The night Sydal was defeated by
Trevor Lee. At PWG All Star Weekend 12 – Night 1 Sydal teamed with
Ricochet as they were unsuccessfully against
The Young Bucks for the
PWG World Tag Team Championship. At PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2016 – Night 2 Sydal teamed with
Ricochet and
Will Ospreay as they defeated
Adam Cole and
The Young Bucks, The match was given a 5 star by
Dave Meltzer. At PWG Mystery Vortex IV Sydal defeated
Pete Dunne. On March 18, 2017, Sydal and Ricochet was involved in a triple threat tag team for the
PWG Tag Team Championship which was won by
Penta el 0M &
Rey Fenix. On June 16, at Man On The Silver Mountain, Sydal was defeated by
Sami Callihan. Sydal entered the 2017 Battle Of Los Angeles being eliminated in the first round by
Penta El Zero M. The next day he and Ricochet were defeated by The Leaders Of The New School(
Zack Sabre Jr. &
Marty Scurll). On night two of PWG All Star Weekend 13, Sydal was defeated by
Trent? in a three-way match also including Rey Horus.
Return to the independent circuit (2014–2019) Sydal became active in the UK scene in 2014, most notably in
Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), feuding with
Will Ospreay. They came up short in the bout, when Cima tapped out to Yoshino. After another year away from Dragon Gate, Sydal made a surprise return to the promotion on June 28, 2015. On July 20, Sydal and Ricochet unsuccessfully challenged
Naruki Doi and
Yamato for the
Open the Twin Gate Championship. On February 7, 2015, Sydal debuted for
Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE), unsuccessfully challenging
Paul London for the FWE Tri-Borough Championship. On October 3, 2015, at a show in
South Korea, Sydal briefly held the PWF Lord Of The World Championship, defeating Namsuk Kim, before being defeated in an immediate rematch. This was his first singles championship since leaving WWE. In March 2018, Sydal competed in
Westside Xtreme Wrestling's 16 Carat Gold 2018 Tournament. He lost in the first round to
Lucky Kidd. Sydal competed for the
Border City Wrestling Heavyweight Title in a fatal four-way that included
Cody Deaner,
Johnny Impact and
Kongo Kong. This took place at the October 6, 2018 BCW/Impact Wrestling event BCW 25th Anniversary. At
All American Wrestling's event AAW Unstoppable 2018 on November 24, 2018, Sydal teamed with Colt Cabana in a losing effort against
David Starr and
Eddie Kingston. Sydal would then face
Marty Scurll at CWA Christmas Showdown 2018 in
San Juan, Puerto Rico. In November 2018, Sydal took some time off to have surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee with an estimated recovery time of six months. At the same time,
Dave Meltzer of the
Wrestling Observer reported that Sydal was no longer signed to Impact Wrestling as of January 1, 2019, and that there was interest from
WWE and
All Elite Wrestling to sign Sydal. In April 2019, Sydal won the
IPWA Heavyweight Championship in a match against Gery Roif at
Israeli Pro Wrestling Association's Passover Bash. His next appearance for a major promotion would be at RevPro's Epic Encounter 2019 in May, where he would defeat A-Kid. He has since defended the title against local wrestler Yuval Goldshmit and WWE Hall of Famer "Bad Ass"
Billy Gunn.
Evolve (2014) On August 8, 2014, Sydal made his debut for
Evolve, defeating
Johnny Gargano. The following night, Sydal unsuccessfully challenged
Ricochet for the
Open the Freedom Gate Championship in the main-event of Evolve 32.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2015–2016) On September 23, 2015, Sydal made his debut for NJPW at
Destruction in Okayaka, teaming with
Hiroshi Tanahashi in a tag team match, where they defeated
Bad Luck Fale and
Tama Tonga. During the same event, the new
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega nominated Sydal as the first challenger for his title. On October 12, at
King of Pro-Wrestling, Sydal unsuccessfully challenged Omega for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On October 24, Sydal and Ricochet entered the
2015 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating
Time Splitters (
Alex Shelley and Kushida) in their first round match. On November 1, Sydal and Ricochet defeated
The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) to advance to the finals of the tournament. On November 7, at
Power Struggle, Sydal and Ricochet defeated
Roppongi Vice (
Beretta and
Rocky Romero) in the finals to win the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Tournament. On January 4, 2016, at
Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Sydal and Ricochet took part in a four-way match for the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by The Young Bucks. On February 11 at
The New Beginning in Osaka, Sydal and Ricochet defeated The Young Bucks and
reDRagon (
Bobby Fish and
Kyle O'Reilly) in a three-way match to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Roppongi Vice on April 10 at
Invasion Attack 2016, before regaining the title on May 3 at
Wrestling Dontaku 2016. Later in the month, Sydal entered the
2016 Best of the Super Juniors. He finished the tournament with five wins and two losses, tied with
Ryusuke Taguchi, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Taguchi in their head-to-head match. On June 19 at
Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, Sydal and Ricochet lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to The Young Bucks in a four-way elimination match, also involving reDRagon and Roppongi Vice. On July 3, Sydal and Ricochet teamed up with
Satoshi Kojima to defeat The Elite for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On July 20, Sydal, representing ROH, entered the
2016 Super J-Cup, defeating
Kaientai Dojo's Kaji Tomato in his first round match. On August 21, Sydal defeated Will Ospreay in the second round of the tournament, before being eliminated in the semifinals by
Pro Wrestling Noah's
Yoshinobu Kanemaru. On September 25, Sydal, Ricochet and Kojima were stripped of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship due to Sydal failing to make a scheduled title defense at
Destruction in Kobe. Sydal missed two shows over three days, officially due to "travel issues". It was later revealed that he had actually been arrested upon entering the country (
see below). He was replaced at Destruction in Kobe by
David Finlay, who afterwards also took his spot as Ricochet's regular tag team partner. Sydal's profile has since been removed from NJPW official site.
Return to Impact Wrestling (2017–2019) Championship reigns (2017–2018) Sydal made his return to
Impact Wrestling on the April 27, 2017
Impact Wrestling TV taping, defeating
Trevor Lee in his first match. On the May 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal defeated
Eddie Edwards and after the match they shook hands. On the May 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal competed in a fatal four-way match which was won by
Andrew Everett. On the June 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal won The Sony SIX Way X-Division Elimination Match. On the June 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal and
Sonjay Dutt defeated
Low-Ki and
Trevor Lee. On the July 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal defeated
Braxton Sutter. On the July 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal defeated El Hijo del Fantasma and Low Ki in a 3-way dance. On the August 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal,
Alberto El Patrón and Sonjay Dutt lost a six-man tag team match to
Lashley, Low-Ki and Trevor Lee. On Augustv 17 at Destination X, Sydal defeated Lashley. On the September 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal was defeated by
Eli Drake in a match for the GFW IMPACT World Heavyweight title. At
Bound for Glory, Sydal competed in a Six-way lucha rules match for the Impact X Division Championship but failed to win the title. On November 10, 2017, Sydal defeated Ethan Carter III to win the Impact Grand Championship. On March 8, 2018, Sydal defeated
Taiji Ishimori to win the Impact X Division Championship in a match that Sydal's Grand Championship was also on the line, thus becoming a dual champion. On March 15, it was revealed that
Josh Matthews was his "spirit guide" thus allying himself with Matthews and turning him heel. On March 29, Sydal lost the Impact Grand Championship to
Austin Aries in a match that Aries'
Impact World Championship was also on the line. On April 12 episode of Impact, he attacked
Petey Williams during Williams' match with Matthews causing a disqualification loss for Matthews. At
Impact Wrestling Redemption, Sydal defeated Petey Williams to retain the Impact X Division Championship.
Alliance with Ethan Page and departure (2018–2019) On the April 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Sydal successfully defended his Impact X Division Championship against
Brian Cage by count out. However, Sydal would end up losing the title to Cage at
Slammiversary XVI in July. He would lose a rematch for the title at the following episode of
Impact Wrestling. Following his loss he attempted to recruit
Rich Swann to be his partner, however Swann denied him. This resulted in a feud between the two. Sydal would beat Swann in their first encounter due to interference from the debuting
Ethan Page. Sydal would go on to form a team with Page based around following Sydal's teachings of "seeing through your
third eye." Their team would lose to Rich Swann and his surprise partner
NWA National Champion Willie Mack at
Bound for Glory. On the November 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Sydal and Page lost a Tag Team Championship match against
The Latin American Xchange. Sydal later lost an X-Division championship qualifying match to Page. Korklan left Impact when his contract expired on January 1, 2019.
Return to Evolve (2019–2020) On October 25, 2019, it was announced that Sydal would return to Evolve under his WWE ring name "Evan Bourne". Despite speculation, he denied that he would be returning to WWE. On November 9, Sydal was defeated by Leon Ruff due to count out in his return match after Sydal suffered an injury during the match. He returned the next month unsuccessfully challenging
A. R. Fox and Leon Ruff for the
Evolve Tag Team Championship alongside
Andrew Everett.
All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2020–present) At
All Out, Sydal was a surprise entrant in the Casino Battle Royale drawing in as the Joker. During the match, Sydal botched his Shooting Star Press finishing move as he slipped on the ropes and landed on his head (
kayfabe caused by Michael Nakazawa oiling up the turnbuckle). Despite this, he was able to continue the match and was eventually eliminated by
Eddie Kingston. On the September 22 episode of Late Night Dynamite, Sydal faced
Shawn Spears in the main event where he was defeated. On the October 6 episode of
AEW Dark, Sydal picked up his first victory in AEW when he defeated
Michael Nakazawa. On the November 11, 2020 episode of
AEW Dynamite, Sydal, who had been on a four match winning streak, fought Brian Cage in a FTW title match, losing for the first time in five matches. On November 17, 2020, after months of appearing at AEW shows despite not being under contract with the company, AEW confirmed that Sydal was now officially signed with the company. On September 7, 2022
AEW Dynamite, he was a judge for
ROH Pure Championship. Sydal returned to ROH, now owned by
Tony Khan as a sister promotion to AEW, reformed his tag team with
Christopher Daniels, defeating The Outrunners (Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd) on the February 26, 2023 episode of Ring of Honor. On the June 6 episode of Ring of Honor, Sydal defeated Zack Clayton, after the match he challenged
ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe, which he lost. In June 2024, Sydal underwent surgery on his right foot to address a long-term injury dating back to a 2012 motorcycle accident. The procedure involved breaking and re-fusing multiple bones and inserting hardware to stabilize the foot, which he described as ending over a decade of pain. Following the surgery, Sydal was inactive for over a year, with his last match prior to the procedure taking place in May 2024. He has competed in 2 other matches so far in his return. ==Other media==