Sami Zayn may have turned heel prior to his first WWE Championship win, but the outpouring of support from fans and fellow wrestlers feels a lot closer to that of a babyface. The beloved midcarder who has consistently done great work, no matter how much time he’s been given, has gotten a steady stream of tributes and positive social posts since the moment he finally won a world championship. Apparently, he got a couple of fun surprises backstage too.
WWE dropped a behind the scenes video yesterday of his longtime friend Becky Lynch surprising Zayn with a visit from his BFF Kevin Owens. Owens has, of course, been off WWE television and mostly absent from the lockerroom for more than a year after he sustained a potentially career-threatening neck injury, but no one was going to keep him from an opportunity to celebrate with his friend. Check out the video…
That video has gotten more than three hundred thousand likes on Instagram alone, and it’s also blowing up on other social media accounts. It’s not difficult to understand why either. Zayn is one of the most well-liked and respected guys in the entire business. He’s a selfless worker who has continually gotten other people over and sometimes lessened himself within storylines for the benefit of other people. He lost world championship matches over and over again, and it was widely assumed WWE would never reward him with the big belt.
I’m definitely not of the opinion that everyone deserves a moment with the big title. It needs to mean something to hold the WWE Championship, and because of that, not everyone should have the chance to hold it. The exclusivity is why it matters, but the entire point of wrestling, at least from my vantage point, is to get over and make a connection with the crowd. The goal is to make people care and generate intense crowd reactions, and Zayn has been making crowds pop for more than a decade. He earned this moment, and from a storyline perspective, his surprise win has made WWE feel more unpredictable and more interesting than it has in months.
I have no idea how long Zayn is actually going to hold the belt. The initial rumors that he was going to be a brief transition champion and drop the strap to Brock Lesnar ahead of his match with Obi Femi proved unfounded. It seems like he is going to go into SummerSlam with the title, and he may even walk out of it with the title. Personally, I hope he does. He doesn’t need a Roman Reigns type run at the top of the card, but if he’s at least given time to do something interesting with his run, it should be a lot of fun.
