A story that gained traction after this week’s SmackDown credited The Undertaker as one of the driving forces behind Sami Zayn’s Undisputed WWE Championship win.
The claim came from an account impersonating SelfMadeDW. It said Undertaker had been listed as the producer of the Zayn vs. Punk match and had pushed internally for the decision to put the title on Zayn.
New reporting from Corey Brennan of Fightful Select, however, contradicts the core of that story. According to Brennan, the match was produced by Bobby Roode and Shawn Daivari, with no mention of Undertaker.
“@CoreyBrennanFF of @FightfulSelect has learned that CM Punk vs Sami Zayn on last night’s SmackDown was produced by Bobby Roode and Shawn Daivari.”
That shoots down the claim that Undertaker produced the match. Identifying the producers, though, doesn’t reveal who made the final call on the title change.
Zayn defeated Punk in the main event of the September 11 SmackDown in Mexico City. The match ran just over 15 minutes and featured interference from Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae and Kevin Owens. Zayn won with a Helluva Kick.
This is Zayn’s second reign. His first began on June 27 at Night of Champions, where he beat Cody Rhodes and Gunther, and ended on July 6 when Punk took the title from him.
Undertaker does hold significant backstage influence in WWE, but his work is primarily tied to AAA’s creative team.