How Sami Zayn Influenced Emotional Raw Segment
A new report has indicated that Sami Zayn had an unlikely influence over a major segment on Monday Night Raw that left Paul Heyman in tears.
On the 6th of February edition of Raw, Cody Rhodes discussed his WrestleMania bout while also wishing Zayn well in his own quest for championship gold. That brought out The Tribal Chief’s Special Counsel, Paul Heyman.
Heyman’s association with the Rhodes family dates back decades and that history was soon made very public by The American Nightmare. Cody Rhodes recalled his family falling on hard times, with Heyman putting in a call to Dusty Rhodes to appear in ECW and paying him handsomely as a result. Rhodes thanked Heyman for being a man of his word in that regard – something the former ECW boss was not always known for – and for giving The American Dream back his confidence.
Paul Heyman was in tears as he tried to compose himself and bring things back to business, which he soon did. Heyman recalled his own conversations with Dusty Rhodes and told Cody that his father had once told him that while he was his favourite son, Roman Reigns was the son he always wanted.
Cody Rhodes issued an ominous warning by telling Heyman that he won’t pay for his words, but Roman Reigns certainly will, ending a segment that will live long in the memory.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that the gloves were off for the segment because WWE wants fans to really get behind Cody Rhodes as a result of him going up against Reigns at WrestleMania rather than the white-hot Sami Zayn:
“This was done because they were well aware of how hot the Sami Zayn thing is and it was imperative to not have this WrestleMania main event angle feel secondary.
“So they knew going in that they had to do something. And they did.”
“It’s very important to the entire company that the Cody match is not the secondary match.
But it’s also important that people don’t look at it as a competition between the two of them (Rhodes and Zayn), and then the people get behind Sami Zayn, and then that screws up Cody as a babyface.”
Meltzer also noted that WWE has abandoned potential plans to bring in a new major championship at WrestleMania 39 due to The Rock not appearing on the show.