Sami Zayn’s recent rise to main event status has been as impressive as it has been surprising.
At no point in his WWE career to date has Zayn been positioned as a potential top star within the company, but that has now changed. The former NXT Champion’s storyline has catapulted him into a position at the top of the card amid huge support from fans.
This rise has drawn parallels with fellow unlikely WWE main event stars Mick Foley and more recently Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan). Despite not being the preferred option by WWE and numerous stop-start pushes, Danielson was crowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XXX with fans forcing the company’s hand.
A similar rise in fan support also saw Kofi Kingston win his first, and to date only, World Championship at WrestleMania 35.
However, according to a new report, Zayn holds an important advantage in the eyes of WWE over both Danielson and Kingston. Rather than being someone who is just popular among fans at live events, Zayn has also had a positive impact on television ratings.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer notes that this makes Zayn “more attractive” to the company.
“A huge key aspect of this is also it’s the first time Paul Levesque has ever been put in this position. Vince McMahon was many times, and his usual reaction was to change Mania and give people what they wanted short-term, with full belief that it was just doing that and not being committed to the change. He’d do the belt change, but still go with the idea that the champion can’t be the top star no matter how the crowd reacts, because he knows best.
But the difference between this and Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston, who both came out of Mania as champions but the plan was to take it from them at SummerSlam and put them back in the position “they should” be in, is that Zayn in and actual numbers mover. There was not that evidence with Bryan and Kingston, which actually makes him more attractive.”
Will Sami Zayn Be In The Main Event Of WrestleMania?
Sami Zayn’s incredible popularity has led some to wonder whether he will be added to the main event of WrestleMania 39 featuring Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes. Zayn is of course due to challenge Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Reigns at Elimination Chamber.
It has been reported that original plans call for Zayn to lose this match, before teaming with Kevin Owens at WrestleMania.