Sami Zayn walks into Friday’s SmackDown for the first time since regaining the Undisputed WWE Championship, and he has a massive challenger problem on his hands. WWE has already named CM Punk, Kevin Owens, Gunther, Finn Bálor, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Johnny Gargano as stars waiting for an opportunity.
Ranking the seven comes down to three simple criteria: the strength of their claim to a title shot, their recent history with Sami, and how urgently WWE needs to book the matchup. And while Punk has the most obvious case for a rematch, Owens is the one who should walk out of tonight’s SmackDown as the next challenger. Here’s why.
Johnny Gargano
Gargano is the least immediate threat and perhaps the most dangerous one for Sami down the road. Before last week’s match against Punk, Johnny made it clear he expected to be next in line if Zayn captured the title.
The seed has already been planted. Sami interfered in Punk’s title defense against Gargano on the September 4 SmackDown, while Candice LeRae and Johnny returned the favor a week later. The alliance works as long as everyone gets something out of it. If Sami starts backing away from that promise, Gargano goes from an ally to an enemy real quick.
Finn Bálor
Finn still has a legitimate gripe that got buried under the chaos of recent weeks. On August 28, he faced Owens and Gunther to determine Punk’s next challenger, only for Sami to crash the match and cause a no-contest.
The crucial detail is that Bálor had just hit the Coup de Grace on Gunther when Zayn dragged him out of the ring. That doesn’t guarantee Finn was walking away with the win, but it gives WWE plenty of ammo to put him back in title contention without having to manufacture a new reason.
Gunther
Gunther has virtually the same argument as Finn, with one key difference: his history with Sami stretches all the way back to the first reign.
Zayn won the title at Night of Champions on June 27 in a Triple Threat against Cody Rhodes and Gunther. Cody took the pin, which means Gunther has never actually been pinned by Sami with the title on the line.
He was also part of that disrupted Triple Threat in August. He’s a ready-made challenger change the tone of the reign and match Sami up with a pure physical threat.
Cody Rhodes
Cody has unfinished business that WWE never settled. He dropped the Undisputed WWE Championship to Sami at Night of Champions, then defeated Jey Uso to earn his rematch.
That match never took place. Gunther laid out Cody on the July 6 episode of Raw, Punk stepped in as his replacement, and beat Sami that same night. Since then, Rhodes chased Punk before getting tangled up in a feud with Randy Orton.
Cody came up short against Orton at Sunday Night’s Main Event on September 6, and he returns tonight for an interview that could clarify what’s next for him on SmackDown.
Randy Orton
Orton did exactly what Cody couldn’t over the past few weeks: emerge from a massive feud primed for a title shot.
On the SmackDown immediately following that victory, Randy made it clear his next target is the Undisputed WWE Championship. That makes Orton a very different kind of threat compared to the names still tangled in the mess between Punk and Sami.
He doesn’t need to justify anything from the past. He just beat a former champion, and now he wants the current one. It’s simple, it works, and it can easily be saved for a major PLE down the line.
CM Punk
If this debate were strictly about who deserves the first match, Punk would be number one.
Sami brought Punk’s 66-day reign to an end in a match completely overrun by interference. Before the finish, Zayn actually tapped out to the Anaconda Vise, but the referee missed it while distracted. Gargano then jumped into the fray, and Owens accidentally drilled Punk with the title belt, paving the way for the decisive Helluva Kick.
Punk can easily argue that he made Sami tap, and let’s be honest, it’s a completely legitimate case. The rematch is inevitable, which is precisely why it doesn’t need to happen right now.
Kevin Owens
Owens should kick off this title run because no other challenger ties together so many recent loose ends at once.
KO made his return at SummerSlam, beating Sami, Gunther, and Finn to become the No. 1 contender. When he finally got his shot against Punk in Toronto on August 21, Sami got involved, hit Owens with the belt, and helped Punk retain.
Three weeks later, the exact opposite happened. Owens tried to cut Sami off, swung and missed with the WWE Championship, and nailed Punk instead. Zayn pounced on the chaos and walked out of Mexico as champion.
In other words: Sami cost Owens his shot at winning the championship, then captured that very title thanks, in part, to a mistake by Owens. No feud needs less explaining. The best possible closing visual for tonight’s SmackDown is KO standing toe-to-toe with Sami—no hugs, no reconciliation.
Owens can simply point out that he earned his title shot at SummerSlam and that Zayn kept that match from having a clean finish. Punk is still waiting on his rematch. Orton is still lurking. Gargano is still holding Sami to that promise. That gives the reign real depth without turning everything into another six-man cluster around the ring.
Before defending the title against the guys looking to take it from him, Sami should defend it against the man whose opportunity he stole. That’s where this second reign needs to begin.