On Wednesday, May 20th, World Wrestling Entertainment presented their latest WWE Network special, NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. The show had lots of hype heading into it, and why shouldn’t it have? This night was to be the culmination of a six month story line between former best friends and now bitter enemies Sami Zayn and NXT Champion Kevin Owens. The two were to battle in the main event for the NXT Championship in a rematch from February in which Owens brutalized Zayn to the point of referee stoppage, awarding the match, and the title to Kevin Owens.
For weeks on end it was all any NXT fan could talk about. So much time and effort had been put into this showdown that you knew something big was going to happen. WWE had even had both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens appear on RAW recently in order to get people introduced to these characters and have them sign up for the Network in order to bear witness to their match. Now that the event is over I can tell you with certainty that the match was memorable, and as a result, one man’s name has been on the lips of the wrestling world: Samoa Joe.
If you’re confused, imagine how Sami Zayn must feel. To understand his frustration we have to go back about 365 days, to a time when Zayn was getting huge cheers from the NXT Universe and his work was being praised as the best in the company. WWE decided to have Zayn chase the NXT Championship for months on end, always getting cheated out of the big win and moment. Finally on December 11th, Zayn got his big win and moment, but it would be very short lived, as he would be attacked by his best friend Kevin Owens, who happened to be making his debut that night.
Owens powerbombed Zayn on the ring apron and took him off of television for weeks. Once Sami came back, he was ready for his first title defense, against the man that attacked and betrayed him, Kevin Owens. Their first encounter was vicious, as Owens tore apart Zayn and was awarded the match by referee stoppage. What must have made things even harder for Zayn was listening to a large section of the crowd vocally cheer the decision, and chant the name of Owens while he lay there in great pain.
In the back of his mind somewhere, Sami Zayn must have believed that it was the sparkle and shine of a new champion, and eventually those fans would realize who Owens really was. They would begin to see that Sami had worked just as hard as Kevin Owens to get where he is today, and maybe even harder as Zayn had to leave his most well known and popular persona behind, while Owens was allowed to continue being himself in NXT. They would see Owens for what he really was. Instead, the cheers only became louder for Owens while Zayn recovered on the sidelines. Even still, Zayn and his fans new that when he came back, he would get a rematch, he would get the championship back, and all would be balanced again. All the swerves and false starts would be over and he would finally have his run as champion.
Soon after returning to Full Sail University, Zayn made his intentions known and after some clever goading on his part, secured the big rematch with Owens. After a few weeks, Sami Zayn was chosen to take part in the John Cena United States Championship open challenge live on RAW. The show was being broadcast from Sami’s home town of Montreal, Quebec, Canada and there is no doubt it had to be one of the proudest moments in his life. Sami represented both his countrymen as well as NXT with pride, but disaster struck when early on in the match, Sami Zayn suffered a shoulder injury that left him wincing in pain. Showing the heart of a champion, Zayn fought through and despite not winning the match, won the respect of not only millions of new fans, but the United States Champion himself, John Cena.
Suddenly, the big question being asked by NXT fans was if Sami Zayn would even get to compete against Owens at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. The notion was crushing to Zayn fans everywhere who wanted to see him get his redemption. The question on every fan’s mind was answered a week before the big event during a face to face encounter between Zayn and Owens when Zayn confirmed he in fact would be cleared to wrestle. We were back on course towards Zayn’s big moment take two, where he would have the stoplight on him once again after six months of trials and tribulations.
Incidentally, RAW and John Cena would once again play a part in the destiny of Sami Zayn, and inadvertently set off a chain reaction that would culminate with Sami being robbed of everything he deserved at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. Once again John Cena opened up a challenge to anyone who wanted to fight him for the United States Championship. This time, another NXT star would answer the challenge in the form of NXT Champion Kevin Owens, but while Sami was earnest and honorable in his pursuit, Owens was both disrespectful and despicable. The NXT Champion attacked Cena and stepped on the United States Championship, an act so vile in the minds of WWE officials that a match was signed for the upcoming Elimination Chamber event with NXT Champion Kevin Owens challenging John Cena for the United States Championship.
Finally, we arrived at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable. While Sami Zayn quietly reflected on the past history and upcoming match with his former best friend, Kevin Owens was cutting promos about John Cena, and getting cheered for the reprehensible things he has said and done. When Owens came out for their main event fight wearing a John Cena t-shirt, the crowd roared in approval and begin to sing “John Cena sucks”. It was almost as if Sami Zayn was already an afterthought before the match even began.
For almost the entire duration of the match, Sami Zayn dominated the NXT Champion, attacking him from all angles and scoring big on just about every maneuver. His complete control of the match could be compared to the way Brock Lesnar manhandled John Cena at Summer Slam 2014, with Zayn performing dives and kicks instead of German Suplexes. It looked as though revenge would be sweet for Sami and his band, but then one Pop Up Power Bomb onto the apron ended the match.
Referees clamoured around ringside, checking on Zayn, only stopping when Kevin Owens would attack his challenger with vicious intent to the cheers of the NXT Universe, all while Sami Zayn sat slumped and motionless at his lowest point both physically and no doubt mentally. After all of this build up, after all this time being groomed as the next champion and having it taken away from him time and time again, this was how his story ends? Destroyed with one move after devastating his opponent for 17 minutes?
Finally, to add a cherry on top of the irrelevance sundae, out came Samoa Joe to save him. When Joe walked onto that stage, everybody forgot the last six months ever happened. Sami Zayn was quietly ushered to the back by WWE officials while Joe and Owens stared each other down, the fans chanting “Joe’s gonna kill you!” instead of the deafening sing song “Ole” chants that were heard just six months ago when Zayn won the title. Six months that might as well have been six years ago. At least the NXT Universe had stopped cheering for Owens, the man who had disrespected and injured him to seemingly rave reviews.
I realize that there may be a bigger picture in place for Sami Zayn in NXT. A larger plan that will lead to bigger things for him, but simply relying on what we saw at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, I can’t help but feel like Sami Zayn got screwed. His shoulder injury on Raw was an accident, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Kevin Owens and John Cena both screwed Sami too. Their Raw incident took away whatever heat Sami had heading into Unstoppable. On top of that, why would Owens be rewarded for being a punk, while Zayn got the shaft for fighting through an injury? Doesn’t seem very fair to me, and I’m sure it doesn’t seem fair to Sami Zayn. Samoa Joe screwed Zayn out of his heat by coming out to confront Owens, showing no concern for the fallen NXT hero. Joe’s presence was the final nail in the coffin of Zayn’s momentum. The NXT Universe screwed Sami as well. They cared so much about their delusional belief that an NXT guy would defeat John Cena that they didn’t stop to think about if they were cheering the right NXT guy. Finally, WWE officials screwed Sami Zayn by booking a match in which Zayn beat up his opponent for 17 minutes, only to be taken out with one single move, not having him fight back, then brushing him aside and forgetting about him by the night’s end.
If this rhetoric sounds familiar, it should. Back in late 1996, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart began complaining that he had been screwed by WWE officials, fellow superstars, and WWE fans who had chosen to cheer anti hero “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Another beloved Canadian wrestler, Hart had been pushed aside for a new popular act, and all the sacrifice and hard work he displayed had become an afterthought. At Survivor Series 1997, what should have been the culmination of an incredible WWE career was reduced to an act of betrayal never before seen on such a grand scale. It changed the course of professional wrestling and forever altered the legacy of the Hitman. Almost 20 years later, in that very same building, Bret Hart introduced Sami Zayn against John Cena on Raw, and may have unwittingly passed on something other than best wishes. While Unstoppable didn’t emanate from Montreal, one could argue that Sami Zayn’s issue truly began in a city that might still be cursed for hard working Canadian heroes.
