WWE Superstar and former Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn took to social media to react to the Logan Paul vs Floyd Mayweather fight. The contest took place over the weekend and saw the YouTuber turned boxer Paul take on one of the greatest of all time, the 50-0 Mayweather.

Prior to the fight, Logan Paul made multiple appearances on WWE programming around WrestleMania 37. Paul was part of the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens feud heading into the event, and received a Stunner from Kevin Owens following the match between the two at ‘Mania.

Logan Paul also recently appeared on WWE’s The Bump to discuss the Fanmio PPV event. The contest follows in a line of ‘celebrity’ vs fighters boxing contests that last saw Logan’s brother Jake Paul defeat former MMA fighter Ben Askren.

Sami Zayn on Logan Paul

“I’ll say this, @LoganPaul no doubt worked his ass off and proved a lot of people wrong” Sami Zayn tweeted. “But if he never meets Sami Zayn, he never realigns his perspective.”

“And no chance he goes 8 rounds with Floyd Mayweather” Zayn continued, weaving in a bit of character work into the tweet. “I’m glad to have played my part in this historic bout.”

Logan Paul is currently teasing a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, but that isn’t confirmed to be happening at this time.

Would you like to see Logan Paul return to WWE? Let us know in the comments

Logan Paul was already confirmed during this week’s Friday Night SmackDown to be the special guest at Sami Zayn’s premiere of the documentary trailer on next week’s SmackDown. But that’s not the only time the social media star would be involved in WWE programming, because according to reports he might be involved in more than just a segment on the weekly show. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, Paul will be involved in the WrestleMania 37 match between Zayn and Kevin Owens. While Meltzer wasn’t able to confirm if Paul will play the role of special referee in the match, he did say that the YouTube personality will be involved in some way. Paul and Bunny will be the two celebrities for this year’s WrestleMania, it was added in the report.

Logan Paul was announced this week for making an appearance at next week’s episode of SmackDown after his recent interactions with Sami Zayn on Twitter. During this week’s SmackDown, we saw Kevin Owens hosting the KO Show with Sami Zayn present as his guest. During this segment, Zayn announced that he will be hosting a “red carpet premiere” for his documentary next week with Paul as his special guest.

A match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens was also announced for WrestleMania during the show as the longtime rival Owens challenged Zayn at the “Grandest Stage Of Them All” with him accepting. Meanwhile, Logan Paul and Zayn have been exchanging messages on Twitter for the past few weeks, with Paul siding with Zayn regarding the purported conspiracy against him. “Hey man, I noticed you started following me on here. Check your DMs, I sent a bunch of raw footage that my documentary crew has collected over the past few months. What you saw was the tip of the iceberg. No one understands how bad @WWE has it out for me. Judge for yourself. Thx,” wrote Zayn to Paul on Twitter.

It was confirmed on Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown that Kevin Owens will be facing Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 37. The two men have a storied past and look set to add another chapter in April at the ‘Showcase of The Immortals.’

Appearing on Talking Smack, Kevin Owens discussed the upcoming bout against his long-time frenemie.

“It’s really hard to put into words what it means to our careers because we’ve been joined at the hip since we met, in what, 2002. That’s almost 20 years ago,” Owens noted on Talking Smack.

“I like to say we’re more like brothers than friends because we never chose to be friends with each other, right?” Kevin Owens continued. “Sami and I, where we came from, Quebec, it was really hard for people to get outside of the province and make their names in wrestling. But when we started getting a bit of a buzz.”

Kevin Owens on Sami Zayn

“All these wrestling companies — independent companies — would bring us together, and we had no choice” Owens added. “They’d say, ‘We want the best two, and that’s you two.’ That’s why I like to say he’s more of a brother than a friend.”

Kevin Owens finished by saying that Zayn is one of the ‘best in the ring,’ and he hopes to ‘knock some sense’ into the conspiracy theorist when they meet at WrestleMania 37.

“Of course, the last few weeks — last few months — the Sami Zayn that’s been coming out is not exactly the guy I’ve known for almost the last two decades” Owens said.

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“Yeah, sure, maybe he’s a prick, but I’ve always respected the hell out of him. But the problem I’ve had the last few months is this conspiracy theory stuff that he’s harping about in this alternate universe that he seems to live in. It’s taken him away from being one of the best in the ring. At WrestleMania, I get to knock [some] sense into him. If I’m going to do that to my brother, I can’t think of a better place to do it at than WrestleMania.

YouTube star Logan Paul has been announced for making an appearance at next week’s episode of SmackDown after his recent Twitter exchange with Sami Zayn.

This week’s episode of SmackDown saw Kevin Owens hosting the KO Show with Sami Zayn as a guest, following up from last week’s episode of the show where Zayn attacked the former universal champion with a Helluva Kick.

During the segment, Zayn announced that he will be hosting a red carpet premiere for his conspiracy documentary on the Blue Branded show next week and Paul will be his special guest:

The company also announced a WrestleMania match between the two during the show when KO challenged his long-time rival to a bout at the Show of Shows and the former NXT champion accepted this challenge.

WWE has been building towards an appearance from Paul recently. It started when Sami Zayn said that his documentary will do “Logan Paul numbers” in terms of viewership during the March 12 SmackDown episode.

• Several Matches Booked For WWE WrestleMania 37

The YouTube star responded to this name drop on Twitter. The two have been exchanging words on the social site since then, hinting that the company was building towards something.

There is no word yet on if this will be a one-off appearance for Logan Paul but with WrestleMania being around the corner; it’s possible that he will end up getting involved in the announced bout between the two WWE stars.

Sami Zayn has reached a major milestone in his career as a pro wrestler. Zayn is currently celebrating 19 years since he had his first wrestling match. Zayn said that he had his first wrestling match almost two decades ago, and that he has done well.

He acknowledged the milestone on Twitter to his followers, thanking everyone who has been part of his journey. Zayn wrote, “I had my first wrestling match 19 years ago today. I’ve done well. Thanks to everyone along the way.”

Sami Zayn’s Career

Prior to joining WWE, Sami Zayn worked for Ring of Honor famously under the ring name El Generico. His gimmick was that of a masked Mexican luchador with the “Olé!” catchphrase. Zayn wrestled as El Generico masked from his debut in 2002 until 2013.

He only started performing unmasked until he joined WWE. His first match however was at the FLQ promotion in Quebec back in his home country of Canada. He would wrestle as Stevie McFly in March 2002 in his debut. Zayn would debut the El Generico character a few months later in July 2002 at a IWS Scarred For Life event.

Sami Zayn has achieved much success in the indies in different territories. In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Zayn won the PWG World Championship two times as well the PWG World Tag Team Championship five times.

In WWE, Zayn debuted on the main roster on the May 4, 2015 episode of Raw. He was introduced by Bret Hart in Canada during John Cena’s “US Open Challenge”. Since then, Zayn has seen moderate success in his career and went on to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship two times.

Sami Zayn is currently working at the SmackDown brand and has been involved in the Intercontinental Championship scene. He teamed with King Corbin against the Street Profits in a losing attempt during last week’s Friday Night SmackDown.

• Sami Zayn Recalls Accidentally Hitting Two Hall of Famers With Helluva Kick

Sami Zayn did something that was unexpected live on WWE TV just days after All Elite Wrestling held their first pay-per-view Double or Nothing event back in 2019.

He name-dropped AEW during a segment on Monday Night Raw, which would be the first time the rival promotion’s name was mentioned on WWE programming.

The first and unfortunately the only edition of the Electric Chair segment saw Sami Zayn taking unfiltered questions from members of the audience and answering them while sitting on an apparently real electric chair. The segment aired on the May 27, 2019 episode of Raw, just two days after Double or Nothing.

Sami Zayn recalled the segment in an interview with Sportskeeda, stating that he anticipated that questions about the AEW would be submitted by the audience as the debut of the promotion was topical at the time, but to his surprise nobody went for the low-hanging fruit.

“So it was right on everybody’s mind. It was super, super fresh and I think they had just announced this TV deal. They had just announced that this wasn’t just going to be a pay-per-view. This is going to be a competitor and all this sort of stuff. And they tell me that we’re doing this segment where it’s legitimately, you know, unplanned questions and anybody could ask anything. So at the time this was the number one topic in the wrestling world. So you kind of expected to be asked about it,” Sami Zayn said.

Zayn revealed that the idea behind the Electric Chair segment was that it was supposed to an unscripted and unpredictable segment. Seeing the questions he got, Zayn felt that it doesn’t have the risky vibes that was the point of the experimental segment. So instead, he took it upon himself to mention AEW on the otherwise lifeless segment.

“As I was out there, I was like, this doesn’t have these vibes, these questions are too sterile. So I felt like it was upon me, it was incumbent upon me, to sort of make it controversial. And the fact that we’re talking about it now, all this time later, you know I hate to say I was right, but I kind of think I was right to do it,” Sami Zayn explained.

While Sami Zayn was able to elicit a reaction of shock by viewers, it wasn’t so favorable for him backstage and the Electric Chair segment was nixed just after its debut.

Sami Zayn recalled that he accidentally hit two WWE Hall of Famers with his Helluva kick, describing one of those incidents where he hit so hard that he could feel the skull of his opponent through his feet.

The Helluva Kick is Sami Zayn’s finisher move, and while it looks dangerous, is harmless enough if executed properly. Such a move is best left to be performed by a professional like Sami Zayn, but even he is prone to occasional mistakes. And mistakes against two legendary WWE Hall of Famers, no less.

Sami Zayn revealed in a recent interview that when he was wrestling X-Pac at CHIKARA King of Trios 2011, he made a mistake and hit X-Pac in the face a bit too hard with his finishing kick.

In an interview with Fox Sports, Sami Zayn was asked when was the best Helluva Kick he’s ever delivered. While Zayn stated that he doesn’t remember when he executed the move best, he does remember a couple of times when he botched it.

“Best? I don’t know how to say best, but there’s a couple of guys that I really smoked with that kick and they’re the last guys you would ever wanna smoke that badly,” Zayn said. “And one of them was the 1-2-3 Kid, X-Pac — Sean Waltman. I wrestled him on an independent (sic) in 2011, and again, I was so excited about this match. I have so much respect for this guy, a genuine trailblazer, deserves both Hall of Fame rings, if not a third one for his individual contributions to the business.

“I’m in the ring with him and we’re having this match, and I guess I just- I don’t know, maybe I ran too fast, I don’t know what was going on, but I absolutely obliterated him. Obliterated him to the point where I could feel his skull through my foot — it’s very hard to explain. Upon contact I was like, ‘Oh, that was so much harder than I wanted to do that. That’s too much,'” Zayn recalled/

Sami Zayn then revealed the other name that he absolutely “smoked” with his foot on the face — Jushin “Thunder” Liger.

“And the other one, another legend, is Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger. Wrestled him in Los Angeles in, maybe, 2009-10? Same thing. The last guy you’d ever want to hurt, and again — must’ve had a little too much momentum. Absolutely obliterated him,” Sami Zayn concluded.

Current WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn has revealed he “pitched hard” to have himself partnered with Riott Squad member Liv Morgan.

Zayn shared the news in a tweet, commenting on the recent WWE Network documentary focusing on Liv Morgan, Liv Forever.

He shared how much he enjoyed the documentary before noting how he wanted to be a part of his gimmick when he first started the “The Great Liberator” character. Zayn also accompanied the tweet with a short clip of Morgan sneezing on him as he walked by.

“I pitched hard to get @YaOnlyLivvOnce with me, but she got drafted to Raw. There is SO much to her. Can’t wait to see her one day become Womens Champ.”

As Sami Zayn highlighted, Morgan would end up drafted to Monday Night Raw at the time. She was involved in the controversial Lana and Bobby Lashley wedding storyline. She went on to rejoin her former Riott Squad partner Ruby Riott. The reformed duo would eventually be moved back to SmackDown following the 2020 WWE Draft. She was recently a part of Team SmackDown during WWE’s recent Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Zayn, meanwhile, recently faced off against Daniel Bryan during last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown. He successfully defended his Intercontinental Champion against “The Planet’s Champion,” defeating Bryan via count-out.

The Clash Of Champions PPV saw Sami Zayn winning a brutal Intercontinental Championship ladder match in a pretty unique fashion, which became one of the talking points coming out of the show.

The former NXT champion was competing against AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy in the bout and he actually handcuffed both his opponents before going on to win the match.

During his recent interview with Metro UK, Zayn was asked if the brilliant finish was the idea of Sami himself or any other competitor of the bout and he revealed that it was Jamie Noble who came up with the spot:

“I wish I could take all the credit for that [ending], but actually Jamie Noble’s a real genius, he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”

• Also Read: Wade Barrett Reveals The Match Which Could Tempt Him To Make In Ring Return

Sami then went on to praise the match saying that he is really proud of it and he explained that it was a great match because it had a little bit of everything:

“I think it was a really good match, and I’m really proud of it, it had what I like about wrestling, which is a little bit of everything. There was a lot of character work; there was a lot of just good in ring action, some spectacular stunts, and some dramatic storytelling.

That’s the cocktail I like about pro wrestling. I like when many different elements come together, and that’s what I feel like that match was, for me.”

Apart from this, Sami Zayn also talked about the match between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso at the same PPV and more. You can check out his full interview at this link.

The battle to find out the true WWE Intercontinental Champion was an impressive spectacle, but it was Sami Zayn who pulled off the win. 

WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Zayn in a Ladder Match took place at the WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view event.

On paper, fans had high expectations for this contest, and based on feedback on social media, it appears those expectations were met. 

Some notable spots included Styles sending Zayn bouncing off a ladder in the corner. Zayn was climbing the ladder, but Styles threw a small ladder at him. Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb off a ladder to Zayn through another ladder. Near the end of the match, Zayn put a handcuff through the earlobe of Hardy and attached it to a ladder. Zayn then handcuffed Styles to a different ladder before getting the titles. 

Zayn decided to pull himself from television due to concerns about COVID-19 and WWE later stripped him of the championship and set up a tournament to crown a new champion.

Styles, Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak, Elias, Hardy, King Corbin, Sheamus, and Shinsuke Nakamura were confirmed as competitors. Eventually, Styles won the tournament finals and became the champion only to drop it to Hardy. 

When Zayn returned to TV on the August 28th episode of SmackDown, WWE played it up as Zayn being the real champion. 

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Sami Zayn has made his return to WWE television. 

The former WWE Intercontinental Champion did so during Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX. It happened after Jeff Hardy had successfully retained the Intercontinental Title over Shinsuke Nakamura in the opening contest.

After the match, Zayn walked out with the old version of the title and had a staredown with Hardy on the stage as if WWE was teasing a champion vs. champion contest. 

Zayn told him that he never lost the title and that he’s the real champion. He then hit Hardy with a big boot after staring down AJ Styles, who had just lost the championship to Hardy. 

It was reported back after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that Zayn decided to pull himself from television due to concerns about the virus. WWE later stripped him of the championship. 

Back on the May 15th episode of SmackDown, WWE announced the full bracket for the Intercontinental Title tournament. There were 8 competitors in the tournament.

Styles, Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak, Elias, Hardy, King Corbin, Sheamus, and Shinsuke Nakamura were confirmed as competitors. Eventually, Styles won the tournament finals and became the champion. 

• Sami Zayn’s Mobile Health Clinic Arrives In Syria

Sami Zayn has been raising money to purchase a mobile health clinic to provide medical relief in Syria. In total, Sami has raised over $57 thousand along with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) Foundation for the project.

Zayn announced recently that the mobile health clinic has arrived in Syria. It is able to treat up to 126 patients a day.

“Launching the mobile clinic was delayed by a heart attack, border issues, and yes, a global pandemic, but it is here now! So far, it has treated an average of 126 patients/day. Donate at SamiForSyria.com to help cover operation costs. Thank you all for making this happen,” Zayn Tweeted.

“We need your help to continue operating the Sami for Syria Mobile Clinic, including paying for the fuel, warehouse rent, and other operational costs. Help Sami and SAMS bring urgently needed medical care to families and children impacted by the crisis in Syria,” reads the Sami4Syria website.

• Sami Zayn Not Working Causing ‘A Lot Of Unhappiness’ In WWE

Zayn hasn’t wrestled for WWE since WrestleMania 36. He defeated Daniel Bryan on the show to retain the Intercontinental title. WWE later stripped him of the title as he began no longer participating in the tapings from the Performance Center.

The semi-finals of the WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament are set.

The second batch of matches in this tournament took place on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on FOX.

Those matches saw AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura with Styles going over and Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy with Hardy being victorious. 

WWE held the first batch of matches last week that saw Elias defeat Baron Corbin and Daniel Bryan beat Drew Gulak, who departed from the company after the match after his contract had expired with WWE and the company deciding to nix the talks about a new deal when he asked for more money. 

WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament Semi-Finals

Now, Bryan will battle Hardy while Elias is slated to take on Styles in the semi-finals of the tournament. 

WWE announced when the finals will take place. It will take place next week on SmackDown.

WWE presents the Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 14, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center that will air on the WWE Network. Time will tell whether the finals go down at this show.

• Sami Zayn Not Working Causing ‘A Lot Of Unhappiness’ In WWE

The absence of Sami Zayn from WWE has been a hot topic of discussion among wrestling fans and reports suggest that it has caused ripples within WWE as well.

So far the company had not provided any official reason for the absence of the former Champion but they are now claiming that he is out with an injury.

The promotion had vacated the Intercontinental Championship last week but they hadn’t given any reason for the same and instead, they just claimed that Zayn was unable to defend the title.

However, the company posted a preview of the announced IC title tournament this week in which they claimed that the former champion is out with an injury.

For those who don’t know, Sami Zayn was booked for WWE tapings after WrestleMania but he decided to pull out of the shows over coronavirus concerns.

His decision hasn’t sat well with the WWE officials and reports claim that the former NXT star’s call has caused a ‘lot of unhappiness’ within the company.

The officials have since made the decision to strip Sami Zayn of the Intercontinental Championship and announced a tournament for the crowning of a new champion.

• Also Read: Sami Zayn Comments On Being Stripped Of The IC Title

Sami Zayn made the call to pull out of the WWE tapings due to concerns of coronavirus and it appears that his decision did not sit well with the company officials.

According to reports from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is a ‘lot of unhappiness’ within the company that the former champion used the option they gave people who don’t want to wrestle in the current situation.

Meltzer added that he knows of “several people in the company who are not comfortable at all about working right now but were not about to take WWE up on the offer for job security reasons, and this was before all the firings.”

Sami Zayn won the Intercontinental Championship at Elimination Chamber in March and he successfully defended the title against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 36.

However, the former NXT Champion has not appeared on WWE TV since the mega event. He was booked for the April 23 episode of SmackDown but the high flying star made the decision to pull out of the tapings over health concerns.

A decision was then made to strip Zayn of the IC title and the company has announced a tournament for the crowing of a new champion starting from SmackDown this week.

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The company has previously stated that the employees who choose to stay home will not face any consequences but before Zayn, Roman Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania 36.

Since then, the company has not only ceased the mention of the former world champion on their programming but they also edited him out of the replays for WrestleMania 31.

Now the treatment of Sami Zayn only complicates the matter further and we will have to see how both these stars are treated when they make their return to WWE TV.

Sami Zayn is now a former Intercontinental Champion after WWE stripped him of the title earlier today. WWE has since stated that a tournament will commence with the winner being declared the new champion.

Sami Zayn is not happy about this decision. He took to Twitter to make his feelings on the subject known.

“I disagree with this decision and no matter what anyone says, I am still undefeated and therefore still the Intercontinental Champion,” Zayn Tweeted in reply to WWE’s announcement.

Also today, the WWE on Fox Twitter account asked fans who the next Intercontinental title holder should be. Zayn offered up a response to the question.

• Sami Zayn Stripped Of IC Title, Tournament Announced

Sami Zayn and Intercontinental Championship Statistics

WWE’s Intercontinental Championship dates back to 1979. Pat Patterson was the inaugural champion after winning a tournament (that didn’t actually happen) in Brazil. Zayn won the title in a 3-on-1 handicap match from Braun Strowman with help from Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro. It was the 174th title reign in the belt’s lineage. 85 different wrestlers have won the title at least once.

Chris Jericho holds the record for most reigns with the title, having held it on 9 occasions. Pedro Morales holds the record for most combined days with the belt, having held it for 619 days. The Miz is second in both categories. He’s held the belt 8 times for a total of 597 days.

The Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn has been stripped of the title and WWE has announced a tournament for the crowing of a new champion.

The news was announced just recently and it was noted that WWE is declaring the title vacant because the former Champion is unable to compete and defend the championship.

Sami Zayn has been away from WWE programming for a while and he was last seen on WWE TV during WrestleMania 36 where he defended his title against Daniel Bryan in a one on one match.

It was reported recently that the former NXT Champion was booked for the April 23 episode of SmackDown but he pulled out of the show due to coronavirus concerns.

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This move from the officials is especially surprising because the company has previously told its employees that they would not face any consequences over the decision to pull out of the shows amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Intercontinental Championship was Sami Zayn’s first title in the WWE main roster since his debut on Raw 5 years ago during the May 4, 2015 episode of the show.

The high flying star is not the only wrestler to have pulled out of WWE shows. Roman Reigns infamously decided against working his WrestleMania 36 match with Goldberg and he hasn’t been mentioned on WWE programming ever since.

The now-former champion has not reacted to this change as of this writing but we will keep you posted on any development in the situation.

WWE is set to address the status of a championship that is held by a certain star this week. 

According to a report by POST Wrestling, the company will do so later this week, which is likely to be Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX since it has to do with the Intercontinental Title.

The championship is currently held by Sami Zayn. The reason for the address is due to Zayn being off of television. 

In fact, he last worked a match for WWE last month when he successfully retained the Intercontinental Title over Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 36. 

Last month, Zayn revealed in a post on Twitter that recently had his wisdom teeth removed. At the time, people believed that this is the reason for his absence from television. 

However, there’s also the belief that Zayn has decided not to wrestle during the COVID-19 outbreak due to concerns he has with getting it. Thus, he has not worked the recent tapings at the closed-set Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. 

This came at a time where WWE reportedly told employees what they did not have to work during the coronavirus pandemic should they choose. They were also told that if they didn’t work the tapings then it would not be held against them in the future.

• Sheamus On Wanting The Intercontinental Championship, Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn has not been seen on WWE programming in recent times and new reports suggest that it’s his own decision which has prevented him from making an appearance.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current Intercontinental Champion was originally expected to be part of last week’s episode of SmackDown.

However, he was written off the show after Zayn made the decision to not travel to WWE Performance Center in Orlando over coronavirus concerns.

• Also Read: Renee Young Has Heat For Recent WWE Backstage Incident

Both AEW and WWE have previously told their employees that they are free to not work the shows amid the pandemic and their decision will not be held against them in the future.

Sami Zayn is the second big-name which seems to have taken advantage of this advisory after Roman Reigns pulled out of his WrestleMania 36 match with Goldberg.

The former NXT star has not been seen on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 where he successfully defended his title against Daniel Bryan in a one on one match.

• Also Read: Kofi Kingston Reveals Who Put Together His Royal Rumble Moment With Brock Lesnar

Zayn’s partners Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura have been appearing on shows in recent weeks and they both have been working their own storylines without the current champion.

It’s worth mentioning here that the former NXT Champion noted on twitter that he had his wisdom teeth taken out recently which may be the reason why he wasn’t written into storylines prior to this week’s SmackDown from which he pulled out.

There is no news on when Sami Zayn might return to Television but it’s believed that Roman Reigns will not make his comeback until the pandemic is contained in some way and the same could be true for Zayn as well.

Sami Zayn successfully retained his Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania over Daniel Bryan. He hasn’t been on Smackdown since, however. Zayn recently revealed on Twitter a possible reason for his absence. It appears the current IC champion recently had his wisdom teeth removed.

The unofficial dentist of pro-wrestling, Dr. Britt Baker DMD, had some advice for Zayn as well.

Sami Zayn Critical Of Anti-Lockdown Protests

While Zayn is likely having trouble speaking in the aftermath of his surgery, he has been vocal on social media. Most notably, Zayn has been critical of the anti-lockdown protests in the United States.

Sami Zayn Talks “The Artist Collective”

• Details On Sami Zayn Working As Manager Instead Of Wrestling

Sami Zayn’s faction on Smackdown is now being referred to as “the Artist Collective.” The stable consists of Zayn, Cesaro, and Shinsuke Nakamura. He talked a bit about his current role on Smackdown during an episode of WWE’s “the Bump”

“It’s funny because even though I’ve made a name for myself as a guy who could go in the ring. Now I’m doing that just in a different avenue just by running my mouth, so it’s kinda interesting to me too,” Zayn said on the show.

• Cesaro On His Partnership With Shinsuke Nakamura And Sami Zayn

The title reign of Sami Zayn as WWE Intercontinental Champion continues as he was not dethroned by Daniel Bryan. 

Zayn did so when he beat the former WWE Champion to retain the championship at Saturday’s (April 5, 2020) WWE WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the WWE Network.

This championship bout was set up last month when WWE booked an interesting match on Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. This saw a contest between Drew Gulak and Shinsuke Nakamura. 

The stipulation of the contest was that if Gulak beat Nakamura then Bryan would get an Intercontinental Title match. 

Gulak ended up beating Nakamura on the show. As a result, Bryan earned the right to challenge Zayn for the strap at WrestleMania 36.

At the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event last month in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center, Braun Strowman Strowman defended the title against Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Zayn in a 3-On-1 Handicap Match.

This contest served as the co-main event and saw Strowman get pinned by Zayn in the match earning him the title.

Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction in the next few weeks. 

What are your thoughts on Daniel Bryan not winning the WWE Intercontinental Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Sheamus On Wanting The Intercontinental Championship, Sami Zayn

Braun Strowman’s reign as the WWE Intercontinental Champion didn’t last long as he was dethroned by Sami Zayn. 

The title change happened when Strowman defended the title against Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Sami Zayn in a 3-On-1 Handicap Match.

This contest served as the co-main event spot on the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view card at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that aired on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network. Zayn pinned Strowman in the match earning him the title.

The four stars have been feuding for the past few months. Back on the January 31 episode of SmackDown, Strowman defeated Nakamura to win the Intercontinental Championship.

This marked Strowman’s first reign as the champion. It was a surprising outcome considering that Strowman won the title recently and he was a big favorite according to oddsmakers throughout the week in the betting odds. 

As of this writing, there haven’t been any reports regarding the creative direction for Strowman and the Intercontinental Title for WrestleMania 36. Time will tell where WWE goes from here.

What are your thoughts on Sami Zayn being the one to dethrone Braun Strowman to win the Intercontinental Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Braun Strowman Is “Willing & Ready” For Possible Bray Wyatt Match

Fans have been wondering why WWE has booked Sami Zayn as a manager instead of an active in-ring performer. 

It turns out that Zayn is working as a manager because of a creative decision, not because of an injury, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. He’s been the manager of Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura for months.

Although there had been speculation that the reason why WWE put him in a manager role was due to him dealing with shoulder issues over the last year, that’s not the case.

It turns out that Sami is currently not injured. Instead, he’s not wrestling regularly because this is the role WWE creative has for him right now.

It was noted that Zayn was medically cleared from shoulder issues a while back. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when Sami might return to regular in-ring action. 

Zayn has worked some matches since before being moved as a manager last summer but mostly multi-man matches on live events.

His last match at a TV event, which was a dark match at a SmackDown episode in Detroit, Michigan, saw Braun Strowman & The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) defeat Cesaro, Sami Zayn & Shinsuke Nakamura in a six-man tag team match. 

Cesaro On His Partnership With Shinsuke Nakamura And Sami Zayn

WWE Superstar Sami Zayn has recently been accompanying current Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn acts as Nakamura’s hype man, often assisting the champion in his matches. In a recent interview with DC 101, Zayn spoke about the importance of representation in pro wrestling. He also noted how the modern product is doing good work in breaking stereotypes.

“For me personally, it’s one of the things I love about this generation,” Zayn said. “Shinsuke’s gimmick doesn’t revolve around him being Japanese. Like me, being Arab, I’m not coming out with a turban or acting the way the Iron Sheik acted. I’m a performer who happens to be Arabian.”

Zayn then pointed to Finn Balor and Mustafa Ali as other examples of Superstars breaking through without relying on antiquated stereotypes. He believes that this new mentality helps to root all of WWE’s Superstars and characters in a relatable reality, ultimately creating more compelling storylines.

“Finn Balor, he’s an Irishman and it’s not like he comes out with a box of lucky charms or waving an Irish flag talking with a funny accent to be Irish. It’s just a lot more rooted in reality of who we actually are and not playing this caricature or this stereotype of our background. So, I applaud Mustafa Ali for that for trying to break that. It’s something I have been interested in as well.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

WWE has shown off a new design for the Intercontinental Title. 

During Friday’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena on FOX, current Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn were doing an in-ring segment. 

This is where Zayn noted that he wanted to give Nakamura a gift for being a stud, which is when he showed off the new title belt. 

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results & Live Coverage (11/22)

This comes one week after Bray Wyatt showed off the new look of the WWE Universal Title, which has different side plates and a blue leather strap. 

Nakamura won the secondary title on the Smackdown roster when he pinned Finn Balor for the shocking win on the WWE Extreme Rules pre-show back in July. 

WWE holds the Survivor Series pay-per-view event on Sunday, November 24, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena and will air on the WWE Network. 

At this show, Nakamura will take part in a battle of the secondary champions as he’ll face WWE United States Champion AJ Styles and NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong at this show.

What are your thoughts on this new title belt design? Do you like this design or like the classic look?