At Elimination Chamber, Sami Zayn came close to defeating Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship but was unable to achieve the fairytale ending he and the WWE Universe had been hoping for.
Zayn gave everything he had against The Tribal Chief and looked to be on the verge of victory on more than one occasion. However, interference from first Jimmy Uso and then Paul Heyman led to Reigns brutalising him with a steel chair and hitting a massive Spear to continue the most dominant title reign of the modern era.
Triple H compares Sami Zayn to Mick Foley
Zayn’s unconventional rise to the top has earned him comparisons to Hall of Famer Mick Foley, who achieved his own Championship dreams during the Attitude Era despite not meeting the archetype of a ‘top guy’.
One of Foley’s greatest rivals during that period was Triple H, and WWE’s Chief Content Officer offered his own thoughts on the comparisons during the post-Elimination Chamber press conference.
“[Zayn is] just a really special performer that in some ways, not in all ways, but in some ways reminds me so much of a Mick Foley in that his connection to a crowd.
“One minute can make you laugh, the next minute you can have so much sympathy for him. He’s just, he connects on such an emotional level that I think it’s hard to put it in words and that makes it something really special.”
During the same press conference, Zayn opened up about his feelings following his loss to Reigns and admitted that, despite the bout being a dream come true, there is part of him that wished he had the storybook ending to his story that everyone was hoping for.
H/T to SEScoops for the above transcription.