Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn’s match with WWE U.S. Champion John Cena was laid out this week to include Bret Hart’s involvement, as we all saw on RAW on Monday night, however things didn’t quite go as planned from there.
The plan was for Zayn to lose but in the process, get over as a big star in front of an audience in Montreal that WWE was sure he would get a huge reaction.
What’s interesting is that this was not apparently going to be Zayn’s official full-time debut on the main WWE roster, even though he was originally scheduled to wrestle on SmackDown again this week. Due to the injury he sustained at RAW, SmackDown this week had to be re-written.
While there’s still no definitive word regarding the specifics of the injury, reports from those close to the situation have described it as “serious.”
There was talk in the locker room on Tuesday night at the SmackDown television tapings that Zayn would be out of action for a few months. Others claimed WWE had not yet received a report from the doctor yet, so it could be anything.
If Zayn is going to be out of action for a few months, WWE would have to cancel his match against NXT Champion Kevin Owens at the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable special on May 20th.
With Zayn out of the picture, if that turns out to be the case, the leading candidates for his replacement in the match with Owens would likely be Finn Balor or Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze in a number one contender match, with the winner of that buot earning the shot at Owens.
NXT star Sami Zayn made his singles debut on Monday’s RAW, answering John Cena’s US Title Open Challenge but coming up short in an exciting and competitive match. Zayn injured his shoulder prior to the match while standing on the ring steps and waving his warms to get the crowd hyped.
Zayn, who was out of action with a shoulder injury in March and April, is believed to have injured his rotator cuff on RAW. There’s no confirmation yet if he tore it, but WWE should post an update soon.
Zayn is scheduled to challenge WWE NXT champion Kevin Owens at the next NXT Takeover special on May 20th.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official website blog on Tuesday afternoon, posting a number of thoughts on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Below are some highlights.
On Dean Ambrose: “I like the fact that Dean Ambrose returns to more relevancy as he’s now in the main event of Payback along with Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns in a WWE Title bout that will feature the three former members of The Shield which speaks well to the productivity of WWE NXT. I’d love to see this be an elimination rules four way but it’s likely to be a traditional Fatal Four Way where the first man to score a pin or submission is declared the winner which means that the WWE Title holder has no championship advantage and cannot retain the title via disqualification or count out. These bouts can be feast or famine but have the potential to provide adequate drama in the expected Payback show closer.”
On The New Day: “Hopeful that New Day really studies some of the great wresting villain groups IE the Freebirds and others to ?begin to acquire the traits that will propel them to the next level. Opportunity is here for these three and with out of ring preparation and study they can become much more valuable to WWE as they are already easy to dislike which bodes well for antagonists. I’m much more encouraged by their current positioning than them being fan favorites but they n eed to learn a variety of villain nuances.”
On Lana’s rumored push: “Curious to see how this Lana/Rusev business plays out. Lana has ‘it’ and may end up being a bigger star than Rusev as stranger things have happened….see Sable and Marc Mero. I still like Rusev’s upside no matter his present creative role.”
On Bret Hart and Sami Zayn: “Thought the utilization of Bret Hart in Montreal was spot on as he gave Sami Zayn a magnificent “rub.” Zayn and John Cena had an excellent presentation that the fans genuinely cared about and it seemingly suspended the audience’s disbelief and the fans emotionally invested in their home towner who made his RAW debut. It played well on TV. Good booking.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– WWE is touting the fact that they have had over two billion total views on YouTube in 2015 already.
– Several pro wrestling personalities are praising the Sami Zayn vs. John Cena segment and match at last night’s RAW on social media. Below is a tweet from Jim Ross with him giving his take on the match.
– Speaking of industry feedback to Zayn’s performance, Triple H compared it to the debut of the man he faced last night, John Cena. “The Game” tweeted the following:
As noted earlier, Sami Zayn suffered a shoulder injury last night on RAW and will be undergoing an MRI later today. The injury actually took place prior to his match with John Cena. During his entrance, Zayn was raising his arms to get the crowd excited and it looked like he tweaked it.
Zayn showed signed of injury earlier in the match but continued working through it. At one point the referee threw up the “X” symbol and a WWE trainer checked on Zayn.
He did appear on the stage for the post-RAW Pat Patterson Appreciation Night celebration, but his shoulder was bandaged up.
It’s worth noting that Zayn was out of action earlier this year with a similar shoulder injury.
Zayn is scheduled for more upcoming WWE TV tapings but that could obviously change pending the results of his MRI.
As it turns out, Sami Zayn really was injured during his “U.S. Open Challenge” match with John Cena on Monday’s RAW in Montreal.
Zayn reportedly injured his shoulder while trying to get the crowd pumped up as he was heading to the ring prior to the actual match.
He ended up working the match anyways, despite the fact that the referee threw up the “X” symbol shortly into the match and called for the trainer to check on him.
Raw crossed the border into Canada this week as Payback rapidly approaches. Ambrose found a way to sneak into the main event, Ryback and Bray Wyatt continued their feud, and John Cena issued his most epic open challenge to date. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Randy Orton opened the show by discussing the upcoming Payback pay-per-view. He was only a sentence or two into his soliloquy before being interrupted by Roman Reigns. The two went back and forth for a few, with Reigns saying that Orton “won’t be standing” in two weeks. Orton then read his resume, eventually asking Reigns how many times he’s been a World Heavyweight Champion. Oddly enough, the New Day then interrupted the two, as they vowed to spread the “power of positivity” due to all of the negativity in the ring. Overall, there was some humorous dialogue during the segment, it was nice to see the company booking the tag team champs with the main eventers, and it set up a handicap tag match to start the show.
The opening contest was a three-on-two handicap match between the New Day and Orton and Reigns. During the opening moments, the action was pretty slow, with the faces working over Xavier Woods before Big E came in and hit Orton with a big belly-to-belly suplex. New Day controlled the pace after that, as they isolated Orton and made quick tags. After the break, Reigns took Orton’s place in the New Day’s corner as Xavier Woods attempted to wear him down with a side headlock. Reigns finally hit up Orton with the hot tag and he hit an amazing powerslam on Kofi Kingston after he attempted to utilize a springboard. From there, New Day was getting squashed with Superman punches, DDTs, and RKOs. Reigns and Orton couldn’t keep it together though, as Reigns accidentally hit Orton with a spear and cost his team the match. This match was solid because it made the tag team champions look strong as a cohesive unit, it furthered the tension between Orton and Reigns, and was a fundamentally sound way to start the show. It also set up the main event after Kane made an appearance and announced that Orton and Reigns would compete one-on-one to close the show.
Former members of the greatest stable in recent history collided when Seth Rollins faced off with Dean Ambrose. Kane made the match and announced that if Ambrose were to be victorious, he would be added to the main event at Payback. Ambrose took control early by hitting a massive clothesline at ringside. From there, he worked the champ over while the crowd totally ate it up. Rollins eventually regained control, dominating and dictating the tempo during the middle of the match. Ambrose came back after avoiding a springboard and hitting a tornado DDT. The Lunatic Fringe hit Rollins with a series of clotheslines before executing a bulldog and going into Air Lunatic mode by diving to the floor through the middle ropes. Both guys were able to taste victory with near falls before Rollins destroyed Ambrose with a brutal powerbomb into the barricade. In the end, Ambrose was seconds away from hitting Dirty Deeds before J&J interfered, but it wouldn’t matter as Ambrose would dispose of the goons, roll up Rollins for the win, and secure his spot in the main event at Payback. Awesome match and angle by having all three members of the Shield battle for the title.
King Barrett had a coronation ceremony of sorts after cutting a promo and declaring, “All Hail King Barrett.” No matter how many times they reboot this guy, he makes every gimmick work. He teamed with Sheamus in a tag team match against Neville and Dolph Ziggler. Barrett and Ziggler started the match, with the King pummeling the Show Off with clubbing blows and kicks to the midsection. The action would go to commercial rather quickly after Ziggler took control and sent Barrett sailing to the floor. Sheamus took control during the break and had Ziggler in a headlock after the action returned from break. Ziggler tried to mount a rally but got hit with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Neville and Barrett would both be the recipient of tags, with Neville flying all over the place and dominating Barrett for the most part during a fast-paced frenzy. He wanted the Red Arrow, but Sheamus would distract Neville and allow Barrett to hit the Bull Hammer for the victory.
John Cena cut a passionate promo discussing how he will never give up before issuing another open challenge. None other than Bret “Hitman” Hart answered the call. Hart sadly wasn’t there to fight, but instead to introduce a “great wrestler.” Before he could introduce anyone great, Heath Slater interrupted the legend and got laid out for his troubles. The Hitman then introduced Sami Zayn, much to the surprise of the Montreal crowd and everyone watching at home.
The action was already underway after returning from break, with Cena reeling at ringside. The doctor checked on Zayn after taking a belly-to-back suplex – a move that was obviously done to make Zayn look strong in defeat. Cena and Zayn traded punches before Cena hit three of the Five Moves of Doom before Zayn countered the Five Knuckle Shuffle into a pinning combination. Cena once again was forced to retreat, allowing Zayn to launch himself over the top rope and take out the champ on the floor. Zayn’s inexperience would show as Cena caught him slipping and locked in the STF, even though the upstart challenger would reach the ropes and lock in the Koji Clutch from out of nowhere shortly thereafter. After Cena failed to hit the AA, it became apparent that they were setting up his signature DDT through the middle ropes on the floor, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. After a bit of hesitation, Cena connected with an AA, but Zayn would kick out at two as the crowd cheered. Zayn would eventually succumb to Cena, however, after the champ hit his springboard stunner and another AA. This featured so many memorable spots, the in-ring psychology was great, and it put Zayn over as a worthy competitor even in defeat as he prepares to become a permanent main roster fixture in the near future. Match of the Night, and probably one of the best matches of the year as well.
Ryback’s program with Bray Wyatt continued as he joined Renee Young for an interview. The crowd was dead at first and mostly chanted “Goldberg.” He at least made a good point with the Goldberg chants when he said, “If you ignore it, you just keep doing it.” The Big Guy talked about the adversities he’s faced in his career while talking some smack on Wyatt, eventually winning the crowd back as they joined him in a “Feed Me More” chant. The New Face of Fear then appeared on the big screen and cut a promo saying that Ryback will soon fade away. The segment wasn’t anything special, but both guys cut articulate promos and it advanced their feud, so it’s hard to consider it anything but a positive.
The main event competitors weren’t even making their way to the ring until 11 o’clock, so it was obvious this was going to be very short. Rollins and associates would quickly make their way to ringside and announce their various roles in the match. Orton went for an RKO within seconds but Reigns would avoid the attack. The action was brawling in nature, with few wrestling moves being utilized throughout the match. Rollins guested on commentary during the match and was pretty humorous. When Rollins joined the Authority last summer, he lacked confidence on the mic and some questioned whether he could be a solo star. He’s certainly proven all of the haters wrong over the past year. This would of course end in disqualification after Kane interfered and attacked Roman Reigns before the entire Authority went after Orton. Reigns would dive over the top rope and take them out before being sent into the ring post by Rollins. They isolated Orton and had the upper hand on both Orton and Reigns before Ambrose arrived to make the save. Rollins would take a spear, Reigns would fall victim to an RKO, and Ambrose would be the last man standing after taking out Orton with Dirty Deeds. The wrestling match itself wasn’t that great, but it was a solid way to end the show, put over the fatal four way main event, and perhaps most importantly, get Dean Ambrose back into the main event picture.
Two surprise appearances took place on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and both of them happened durinng John Cena’s “U.S. Open Challenge.”
After issuing his regular weekly challenge, Cena waited to find out who was going to accept, only for WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart to come out to wild applause from his Canadian fans.
Hart tried to introduce who he callled a great wrestler, when instead Heath Slater came out. Hart nailed Slater with the microphone and made the introduction to the person he was trying to in the first place — former NXT Champion Sami Zayn.
Zayn came out to wild applause from the Montreal fans to his regular upbeat NXT theme song to answer Cena’s “U.S. Open Challenge.”
Zayn gave a game effort in the match, but ultimately lost after Cena hit him with a Springboard Stunner and an Attitude Adjustment back-to-back for a clean pinfall victory.
After the match, Cena made facial expressions like he was shocked how good Zayn was. He raises Zayn’s hand and leaves the ring to him. He claps and walks backwards as Zayn plays to the crowd, who go nuts for him.
– Brie Bella has been hinting on social media that she will be winning the Divas Battle Royal on RAW next Monday and will be challenging her sister, Nikki Bella, for the WWE Divas Championship.
– Seth Rollins, who headed out for WWE’s tour of Europe on Tuesday, tweeted the following:
Your ring announcer for the evening is Dasha Kuret. Greg Hamilton is your in arena host and MC.
– The show opens up with Sami Zayn coming out and cutting a promo, putting over the Orlando crowd and talking about how NXT has grown and sold out shows in Columbus, Cleveland, and San Jose and it wouldn’t have been possible without the people of Orlando. He then went on to talk about how the last month wasn’t so great to him and that he was disappointed he was not medically cleared to compete in all of those big shows. He says he has a rematch due and he’s going to win his title back from Kevin Owens. This brought out Tyler Breeze who claimed he was the number 1 contender. Bull Dempsey came out and said that while everyone else was pulling the load, Sami was sitting at home and Bull should be the number 1 contender. Baron Corbin came out, and stared them down. Corey Graves came out and said he anticipated something like this would happen and he called William Regal. Smi Zayn would compete in a number 1 contender’s match, but his opponent would be the winner of a Battle Royal held tonight.
Match 1: Battle Royal. Competitors listed by order of elimination: Noah Pang-Potjes (doing a Hawaiin gimmick, complete with lei’s and hula music), Sunny Dhinsa, Sammy Piscatelli, Josh Woods, Steve Cutler, Sawyer Fulton, Marcus Louis, Tye Dillinger, Angelo Dawkins, Mike Rallis, Elias Samson, Colin Cassady, Simon Gotch, Enzo Amore, Bull Dempsey, Tyler Breeze, Dash Wilder, Aiden English, and Baron Corbin (thanks to some help from Tyler Breeze). Winner: Scott Dawson who goes on to face Sami Zayn later tonight.
Match 2: Solomon Crowe def. Chad Gable. Good, solid match. Dillinger came out and held up the number 2. This will be explained a bit later.
Match 3: Bayley and Alexa Bliss def. Dana Brooke and Carmella. Bayley wins with the Bayley to Belly suplex. There were a lot of fun spots meant to get crowd reaction and the fans ate it up. You can tell Brooke and Carmlla are still very much works in progress. At one point, Brooke went to take a head scissors from Bliss and didn’t quite get flipped over and it looked like she nearly knocked herself silly. Still, it was an entertaining match.
Match 4: Tyler Breeze def. Baron Corbin. Breeze won with a rollup and his feet on the ropes. A bit of a rough match in places. You can tell Baron still needs work in places, but not a bad match by any means. After the match, Baron lays out Tyler with the End of Days.
– Sami Zayn returned to the ring at last night’s NXT live event in Tampa, FL. He defeated Baron Corbin, who worked as a heel. A fan who attended the show said that Zayn looked great.
– Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge has officially been renewed for another season, which kicks off August 2nd. CMT announced today:
“Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge (Aug. 2): The ultimate badass competition show returns with host Steve Austin as he brings eight elite athletes to his Broken Skull Ranch to test their strength, stamina and endurance. Each episode sees contestants go head-to-head until the last man or woman standing earns the right to take on the toughest obstacle course in America, the “Skullbuster,” for a chance to win $10,000 in cold, hard cash.”
– Playboy has published an article about a writer who attended WrestleMania 31 under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
NXT Champion Kevin Owens isn’t the only top NXT star currently out of action with injury. Sami Zayn, the man he defeated for the championship at the most recent NXT TakeOver event, is also currently dealing with an unspecified injury.
Zayn was advertised for both of this month NXT live events from Ohio, but did not wrestle at either show and just cut in-ring promos.
His most recent match was with Tyler Breeze at a live event on February 20th. Prior to the Ohio shows, Zayn wrote on Facebook:
“Thanks to everyone who came out and supported NXT in Ohio this past weekend. I meant every word I said. This is a group that is taking control of our own destiny and taking over the industry in the process. Revolution is in the air and thanks for being a part of it.”
WWE ran an injury storyline for Zayn after his match against Kevin Owens at TakeOver, but a report in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is the first indication he’s legitimately hurt.
– The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and Kalisto) vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a tag-team match to determine the number one contenders for the NXT Tag-Team Championship has been announced for this week’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
– Speaking of NXT, former NXT World Champion Sami Zayn is now officially on Facebook. You can check out Zayn’s page at Facebook.com/SamiZaynWWENXT.
– Lucha Underground and Ring Of Honor star Alberto El Patron will be coming out with a new YouShoot DVD produced by the folks at Kayfabe Commentaries on March 17th. The DVD will be available at KayfabeCommentaries.com.
– Former WWE Diva Melina Perez will be the guest on this week’s Jim Ross “Ross Report” podcast, which will be available on Tuesday night at approximately 9pm EST. at PodcastOne.com.
This time, Jericho simply stated that he has a “ton” of thoughts on DeMott stepping down as head trainer in NXT, however he didn’t get into detail.
Jericho put over Bray Wyatt as an “excellent” performer, and also revealed Finn Balor, Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn to be his favorite talents in NXT.
Speaking of Jericho, he will be the subject of next Monday’s post-RAW special on the WWE Network, as WWE will premiere a 30-minute preview of the new “Road Is Jericho” DVD and Blu-ray immediately following RAW.
Below is the official synopsis for the special.
“A first look at Jericho’s new home video! Jump in a limo and ride with Chris as he shares his favorite stories while traveling the country.”
Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn recently spoke to Sport360.comabout being the first Arab champion in WWE. Zayn (real name Rami Sebei), who was born to Syrian parents in Montreal, Canada, joined the WWE crew for this past weekend’s tour of Abu Dhabi. He said:
“It’s very cool to come here and represent my people. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do in terms of being an Arab presence in an Arab market as I don’t think a lot of people have been able to do it in wrestling.
“Certainly in the WWE there has never been a positive Arab image so if I can contribute to that then I feel great about that. Not just for myself but the whole Arab market.”
Zayn is thankful that he can “be himself” and has not been saddled with a controversial (or largely racist) gimmick like Muhammad Hassan was several years ago.
“I’m very proud that I can be myself. I’m not trying to be Arabic, I’m just being me and I happen to be Arabic. I think that might be refreshing to some people and it’s a bit more realistic than these pantomime villains we’ve seen before.
“Hopefully I can change some people’s perceptions being a down-to-earth human being that happens to be Arabic. Whether you’re Arabic or Portuguese it doesn’t really matter. A dude’s a dude!”
“You don’t get a lot of Arabs in wrestling so being able to represent is huge to me and honestly some-thing I’ve always dreamed of.”
– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan praised Kevin Owens following his NXT TakeOver: Rival match with Sami Zayn on Wednesday evening. Hogan tweeted the following:
Congrats to Owenmania the new champ made me believe again brother!! WWE your in trouble HH
– In a recent radio interview in Milwaukee, CM Punk spoke about going from WWE to UFC and training with the Roufusport team. Punk noted the following during the interview:
“I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody this. If you watch NASCAR and you want to race in NASCAR, but you give yourself every excuse why in the world not to do it. I have a 9 to 5 job, a wife, kids, I can’t afford it. Too expensive. And then you eliminate all that and just go after what you want to go after. That’s just something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans who impressed them more in last night’s Tag Team Turmoil match on SmackDown, Roman Reigns or Daniel Bryan. With nearly 9,000 votes cast, Bryan is leading with 62% of the vote.
– WWE.com has another poll asking fans if the referee was right to stop the Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn NXT Title match at Takeover on Wednesday. With over 8,000 votes, 57% have voted, “Yes – the official’s duty is to protect a Superstar’s well-being.” 43% voted, “No – a match should end by pinfall or submission.”
– Alex Riley returned to the ring at last night’s WWE NXT TV tapings and began a feud with a top NXT star. Riley received a huge reaction from fans and was reportedly in tears after one match due to the response. He tweeted the following about the experience:
– Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn did not appear at Thurday’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, where WWE taped 4 weeks of shows. There’s been a lot of speculation that Zayn will be the next NXT star to be called up to the main roster. He’s currently on tour with WWE in Abu Dhabi.
– WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Edge tweeted the following about Wednesday’s NXT Takeover Rival show, specifically Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville and new NXT Champion Kevin Owens:
Last night, NXT held their fifth special event, entitled Rival. It was a night of change, as two titles changed hands and a new number one contender was crowned.
The jewel of the night was easily the main event, where fans saw Kevin Owens destroy his former friend Sami Zayn and snatch away the NXT Championship almost as quickly as he won it. The match started off well, with Owens initially playing the cowardly heel, leading to an impressive spot where Zayn leaped over the referee and top rope in order to take out Owens.
In all, the match was booked perfectly. There was some great in-ring psychology between the two, as Zayn injured his head at one point in the contest after performing a moonsault to the floor. While being checked out by the medical staff, Owens capitalized, hitting multiple powerbombs before the referee was forced to stop the contest. In the end, the juxtaposition of Owens laughing and celebrating his victory while Zayn lay motionless was the perfect way to pass the title to Owens while furthering the “broken friendship” storyline.
The other title change involved Sasha Banks finally capturing the NXT Womens Championship from Charlotte in a fatal four-way match. Anyone who’s seen Charlotte and Sasha compete over the past few months knew this wouldn’t disappoint and it certainly didn’t, as each competitor had some time to shine.
One of the more impressive moments was Charlotte performing a diving crossbody to take out all three of her opponents. Overall, it was nice to see Sasha pick up the victory, and ultimately the title, by pinning the champ in the middle of the ring.
– Sami Zayn posted a new tweet commenting on his loss to Kevin Owens at last night’s NXT TakeOver: Rival special, as well as his booking on the main roster for their upcoming tour of Abu Dhabi. Zayn wrote the following:
The following are results of the NXT TakeOver: Rival special, which aired live on the WWE Network on Wednesday, February 11, 2015.
– Hideo Itami def. Tyler Breeze in an excellent opening match. This was a solid match to kick off the special. The crowd was hot for it throughout. In the end, Itami picked up the “W” with a running kick to the face.
– Baron Corbin def. Bull Dempsey in a No DQ match. Dempsey dominated a lot of the action throughout the majority of the match, however in the end, Corbin hit his End Of Days finisher for the 1-2-3.
– Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy def. The Lucha Dragons to retain the NXT Tag-Team Championships. This was a solid tag-team match with a ton of fast-paced, high-flying spots. In the end, Blake hit a top rope frog splash on Sin Cara for the pinfall victory.
– Finn Balor def. Adrian Neville to become the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. Balor did his elaborate entrance, which as usual, received a big reaction from the crowd. Neville dominated a lot of the action throughout, including multiple believable near falls, however in the end, Falor hit a giant double foot stomp off the top rope to score the win.
In the latest weekly sit-down video interview with Michael Cole, Triple H hypes tonight’s NXT TakeOver: Rival special on the WWE Network.
HHH told Cole that it’s a great time to be a WWE fan and a WWE Network subscriber, because NXT TakeOver: Rival is free for fans who signed up in February.
He spoke about some of the matches scheduled for tonight, putting over the Hideo Itami vs. Adrian Neville number one contender’s match and calling the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens NXT Championship match a “very personal and emotional battle.”
You can check out the complete Triple H interview above.
NXT Champion Sami Zayn recently spoke with the folks at the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show to promote his title defense against Kevin Owens at the NXT TakeOver: Rival special, which airs live tonight on the WWE Network.
Below are highlights from the interview:
On his NXT Title win at R Evolution: “Professionally, if anybody had followed my story going into the match, it was the culmination of like a year of chasing for this championship so the payoff was huge for the fans. It’s funny because we’re essentially two good guys, two fan favorites, we’re popular with that audience, but then I think they had just been pining to see me win after coming up short so many times, coming so close and not quite making it, that the atmosphere in the building was just electric.”
“I can’t even really compare it to anything honestly, it was one of the most unique atmospheres that I’ve been a part of and certainly they were very vocal and gave me their full support which meant the world, so when that 1-2-3 hit the mat the place just exploded. It’s amazing because I almost feel like it transcends what we think about wrestling, it was like a party. When your team wins the cup or your team wins the championship. You’re high-fiving strangers, you know what I mean? It had that kind of atmosphere, which is huge and to be the reason for that is so powerful to me and is why I do what I do. ”
“From a 100% real perspective, when I joined the WWE after 11 years on the independents there were a lot of questions whether I would survive in this environment. Because the independents are the independents you know, anything goes. Okay, you got over out there, this place is gonna chew you up and spit you out. So it was very symbolic on a very real level of conquering a system I was told would chew me up and spit me out. So there was a lot of vindication in winning.”
On an NXT Title Match at WrestleMania: “Part of NXT’s appeal to me especially amongst people like yourself, like you’re saying lifelong wrestling fans who are sort of like discovering NXT and being like ‘Wait, this is the kind of wrestling I used to like’ or ‘I like this.’ It’s succinct. It’s an hour-long, you’ve got some great wrestlers, and you’ve got great storytelling, and it’s simple and it’s gritty.
While at the same time, it’s so funny people forget it’s PG, it’s a PG product, but it’s so real and gritty and people almost lose sight of that. The whole point I’m trying to get at is, it’s sort of carved out its own little niche within this giant wrestling company that is the WWE. We’ve almost carved out our own underground following, it almost has a cult following, which is so strange to say because it’s part of the world’s biggest wrestling company.
So, I think if you were to have an NXT World Championship Match at WrestleMania while obviously for me personally I would be a huge thrill, I don’t think you can necessarily capture the magic of what NXT is and really harness it and put it on full display for the world to understand it, on such a grand scale like that.”
“When you take the product out of its environment and throw it on a grand stage I think it would lose something there.”
On NXT Touring: “These shows in Cleveland, these shows in Ohio, Columbus, this is the start of something definitely in the works I think, and in the plans, to get NXT out on the road a little more and I think people are pining for it obviously. Just working all these WWE live events in towns I’ve never been, I’ve been on Raw once in September, and even at that my music will hit and I’ll get a really good response because NXT’ just building, there’s this undercurrent. So, fans want to see this product and I think they are excited about it. There’s no question in my mind that throughout the course of this year we’ll definitely see NXT going out on the road more often. Obviously that begins with fan support. If the support is there the demand is there we’ll be there.”
On Kevin Owens: “The amount of history we have, Kevin Owens and myself, over the years, never mind guys like Cesaro or Seth Rollins or Daniel Bryan who I met on the independents, Kevin and I broke out of Montreal, the little Montreal independent bubble, in front of 50 people in basements, bars, and pool halls. We broke out of that together. Our names have been synonymous with each other for our entire careers from 2002 on or 2003 on. The connection is very, very deep. It was a very special night [Takeover: R Evolution] for me because obviously, I had sort of arrived in my own sort of way by winning this NXT Championship. I felt like it was a coming out party of sorts. Here I am and a the same time Kevin Owens had debuted earlier that night. So it was like this is our night. Like, holy crap here we are, both of us in WWE. You’re here now, I’m here now, I’ve got the title, we are doing this, and then BAM! So to say that this match is personal or means a lot to me is the understatement of the century here.”
NXT Champion Sami Zayn is currently overseas in Abu Dhabi doing promotional work ahead of WWE’s tour of the city later this week. Zayn will fly back to the United States on Wednesday and will defend the NXT Championship against Kevin Owens at the live TakeOver: Rival event from Florida. He’s then flying back to Abu Dhabi for WWE’s tour, which runs from Thursday-Saturday.
Unless Zayn misses the first leg of the Abu Dhabi tour, he won’t be able to appear at Thursday’s post-Takeover NXT TV tapings. If Zayn misses those tapings and is off television for several weeks, it puts the future of his title reign in question.
It’s worth noting that Zayn is being advertised for Friday’s NXT live event in Florida, so we’ll post an update when more details become available.
We’re all familiar with the WWE. It’s the most profitable and prevalent wrestling organization in the world, and the primary focus of our coverage here at SEScoops. However, what about the rest of the wrestling world?
I decided to compile a list of 25 non-WWE wrestling matches that every fan should see. In order to qualify, each match had to meet three conditions:
An organization other than the WWE put on the match.
The full-length match is available on YouTube.
The match is something every wrestling fan should see.
The matches are listed at random and not ranked. The intention here isn’t to inspire debate regarding where a match should be placed on the list, but simply to provide fans with the opportunity to catch up on some classic matches they may have missed over the past few years. Already seen every match on the list? Relive your favorite moments again. Never seen a single one of the matches? You’ve got hours of material at your disposal, so sit back and enjoy.
25. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xy7KkH7NdY
24. Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (Ring of Honor Weekend of Thunder 2004)
23. Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) vs. Davey Richards (NJPW Circuit 2010 New Japan Alive)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXyAM9-9gHc
22. Ricochet vs. Kyle O’Reilly (IPW 10th Annual Super Junior Heavyweight Tournament)
21. The American Wolves vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Indypendence Day 2008)