Sami Zayn hopes to win his second championship in as many WrestleManias when he challenges Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER next month.
On Monday Night Raw, Zayn emerged as the victor of a Gauntlet Match to determine the Austrian’s next challenger. The match featured Zayn, Chad Gable, Shinsuke Nakamura, ‘Big’ Bronson Reed, Ricochet, and JD McDonagh of the Judgment Day.
The match started with Ricochet, the man GUNTHER dethroned in June 2022, taking on McDonagh. The One and Only pinned McDonagh before Bronson Reed eliminated Ricochet. Zayn would be the fourth entrant in the match and would eliminate Reed. He would then eliminate Nakamura and Chad Gable to get the win and the coveted title shot.
Sami Zayn as Intercontinental Champion
Zayn is a three-time Intercontinental Champion and won the title for the first time in March 2020. After opting to take a break from WWE programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Zayn would be stripped of the title but in storyline claimed to still be the champion when he returned to TV in August that same year.
At Clash of Champions in September 2020, Zayn was crowned the Undisputed Intercontinental Champion but lost the title to Big E in December. His third reign began in February 2022 but he would lose the gold to Ricochet mere weeks later.
WWE WrestleMania 40
This year’s WrestleMania will be the fifth annual two-night WrestleMania, a tradition that began with the Covid-19 pandemic. The show will also be the first WrestleMania following the launch of TKO Group Holdings last September. The card for the show so far is as follows:
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship)
- Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley (WWE Women’s Championship)
- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch (WWE Women’s World Championship)
- Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
- GUNTHER (c) vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
