Sami Zayn has explained why he decided to name-drop AEW during an episode of Monday Night Raw.
Back in May 2019, Zayn mentioned AEW during a segment on Raw. This took place just one night after AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV event.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was reportedly furious over the name-drop.
Why Sami Zayn Mentioned AEW
Speaking to Cultaholic Wrestling, Sami Zayn reflected on dropping those letters on a WWE show (h/t Wrestling Inc).
“What happened is the timing of that is sometimes forgotten. You’re referring to the electric chair segment which was a totally unscripted segment. The timing of that segment was very interesting because it was the next day after AEW had just had their first-ever pay-per-view. It was a very hot topic at the time. It was hot off the heels of their first pay-per-view and it was hot off the announcement that AEW was going to be a company.
“It was so new and so fresh and we felt that it was going to be on everybody’s minds. I felt like it was bound to come up, and it kind of weirdly didn’t. At that point in the segment, some of the questions I thought would’ve been a lot more provocative because it was unscripted. While I was out there, I felt like a lot of the questions were a bit flat. Me using my judgment, I figured this needed some pizzazz, so I brought it up myself.”
Zayn admitted that his AEW line wasn’t provoked by any of the fans. He simply went with his instincts. The former NXT Champion expressed his belief that his hunch was correct since people still talk about it today.
