Add as a preferred source on Google Sami Zayn’s win at WWE Night of Champions continues to draw strong reactions, especially because it marked the first world title of his career.
At Saturday’s event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Zayn defeated Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a Triple Threat Match to win the Undisputed WWE Championship.
During the Night of Champions post-show, Big E spoke about the moment and compared Zayn’s victory to his own WWE Championship win in 2021, when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Bobby Lashley.
Big E said the following:
“I don’t want to make this about me, but when I saw Sami Zayn win his first World Championship, it reminded me of what I went through in my journey.
“That idea that ‘I’m just a mid-card guy, you’ll never be in this spot.’ To see Sami Zayn overcome all of that, to see him defy all the odds, to be told ‘You’re not good enough, you don’t have the right look, you don’t speak in a certain way,’ to be told all those things.
“For him to say ‘This is who I am, this is how I’m going to carry myself,’ and to stick to those guns and do things his way, this is a culmination of all his work.
“Two decades in this industry he has worked to finally get in this position. You can like him, you can hate him, but hats off to you Sami Zayn. You put the work in, you grinded, you persevered and you are now a WWE Champion.”
The comparison makes sense given both men’s paths. Before reaching the top, Big E also spent years being viewed as someone who might never win a world title, despite his success with The New Day and his popularity with fans.
Zayn now begins his first reign as a world champion in WWE.