It’s been a relationship forged by blood, sweat, and tears. Fraught by recent actions, heartbreak, and a tense friendship that has been deteriorating for months, it all came to a head at the Royal Rumble. That night was monumental and it set the course for what is about to happen at the Elimination Chamber. For in Toronto, where it all began, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens will do battle in a rare unsanctioned match. There will be violence, there will be carnage, there will devastation. At the end of it all, who knows if either of these men will have a Road to WrestleMania or the ability to even compete period.
Fight Forever: Owens and Zayn to Battle in WWE Unsanctioned Match in Canada
Unsanctioned matches aren’t made lightly as Adam Pearce alluded to when he agreed to Zayn’s demands on Monday night. Zayn entered the ring to answer Owens’ challenge for a fight at Elimination Chamber in Toronto but was stopped by Pearce. Raw’s authority figure reminded Zayn that he wasn’t cleared and that the answer was the same as the one he’d given Zayn and the medical staff had given Zayn and everyone backstage had given Zayn. The answer was no. He wasn’t cleared and he shouldn’t have even been in the ring. Zayn told Pearce he wasn’t leaving the ring until he got his match to which Pearce seemed sympathetic. Zayn said no one knew his history with Owens more than Pearce who was there for most of it. Pearce said he was right. He’s known them both for 20 years. He asked Zayn if he wanted him to do something he’s never done. He told Zayn WWE wouldn’t be liable for anything that Owens does to him but Zayn reminded Pearce the same goes for what he does to Owens. Pearce made sure Zayn knew the risks and Zayn did. So, after reminding Zayn there would be no rules and no officials, Pearce made the match official. Or, as official as an unsanctioned match can be since it’s not actually an official match.
Unsanctioned matches are rare. They are meant to represent a last resort for two wrestlers who need more than a match to settle things in the ring once and for all. They are often used in blood feuds, which can be said for Owens/Zayn despite them not having been formal enemies for quite a while now. The truth is, these two have always been fighting, whether they have been on the same side or not. As Zayn said, no two people have careers so synonymous with one another as him and Owens. From the bingo halls to WrestleMania and everything in between, these two have been best friends, bitter rivals, and at times, a little of both simultaneously. And in fact, this won’t even be their first unsanctioned match as the two battled in such a match over 15 years ago in Ring of Honor. The match saw Owens, then Kevin Steen, put his ROH career up against Zayn, then El Generico, who put up his mask. Zayn won that bout and three years later made his way to NXT. Owens would follow in 2015 and in his first night with the company, set his sights on attacking Zayn picking up right where the two left off in ROH.
As great as the chamber matches are lining up to be, there is no match Canada will be hotter for than Owens vs Zayn.
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