Sami Zayn Achieves Historic First At WrestleMania 39

Written by Craig Ballantyne • Published 2nd April 2023
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn holding up Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at WWE WrestleMania 39

The main event for the first night of WrestleMania 39 saw Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens challenge The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship in a match months in the making.

The crowd inside SoFi stadium was fiercely in the corner of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens throughout the bout, and the emotional story between the two sides rose to a climax near the end of the match when Kevin Owens tagged in Sami as Jey Uso was the legal man.

Jimmy tried to interfere and save his brother, but Owens delivered a Stunner to stop him. this allowed Zayn to hit an emotional Helluva Kick on Jey to get the win.

Sami Zayn made history at WrestleMania 39

As well as being a personal first for Zayn, his closing the show at WrestleMania was also a first for WWE as he is the only Muslim to wrestle in the main event on The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Zayn, who is the son of Syrian immigrants, has been open about his faith in the past, in particular speaking out against the Trump administration’s ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority nations back in 2017.

He explained in an interview with ESPN that year that he felt he was in a unique position to speak out as well as change the way Arabs are perceived in Western media, saying they are often given villainous roles.

“Ever since I was a kid and growing up and watching things like the ‘Naked Gun’ movies, there was always this stereotype about how Arabs were perceived and portrayed. I’ve never watched those Arab villains in the movie and felt like that was me.

“They were nothing like me, and now I get to just be me — and hopefully being me strikes a chord with a lot of young Arabs and non-Arabs, honestly. We’re really not all that different.”

As well as this, he has been supportive of fellow Muslim star Mustafa Ali in his own efforts to shatter stereotypes.

“Wasn’t long ago where being Arabic or being Muslim (or ‘looking’ like either) automatically meant you’d portray a bad guy. Always thought it was a load of s**t and I’m glad @AliWWE is representing. Looking forward to watching this.”

Zayn has acknowledged his achievement of main eventing WrestleMania by promoting his Sami for Syria campaign. The campaign raises funds for the Syrian American Medical Society Foundation’s mobile medical clinic which provides medical services in conflict-affected areas of Syria.