Sami Zayn Recalls The Match That Made WWE Want To Sign Him

Sami Zayn said there was one match in particular that put him on WWE’s radar.

For over a decade, Sami Zayn has become a household name to fans of World Wrestling Entertainment as one of the most popular wrestlers in the company. The talented Montrealer is a four-time (and current) Intercontinental Champion, former WWE Tag Team Champion, and former NXT Champion.

The 40-year-old Zayn wrestled for over a decade before he became a WWE superstar. Zayn became known as El Generico, a masked wrestler, on the independent circuit while also appearing in promotions like Ring of Honor, Chikara and PWG.

Sami Zayn signed with WWE officially in January 2013 and debuted on NXT television in May 2013. In December 2014 as NXT started to gain popularity, Zayn became the NXT Champion for the only time. He also got attacked by his jealous, debuting best friend Kevin Owens that same night.

If you’re wondering about when WWE decided Zayn was somebody they could use, Sami told Good Karma Wrestling it happened during WrestleMania weekend in 2012.

“There’s one that we (Zayn & Kevin Owens) did in Ring of Honor, WrestleMania weekend. Actually, it’s what put me on WWE’s radar. There was a scout there called Canyon Ceman and it was his first weekend on the job and he saw me in that match and that’s kind of the match that put me on the radar and got me hired in a weird way.”

“It was in (2012) in Florida, WrestleMania weekend. It was a Last Man Standing match.”

As mentioned above, Zayn signed with WWE in early 2013. Owens joined the company later in 2014 and the two men have been linked ever since.

Sami Zayn Likely Has To Face Bron Breakker Again At WWE SummerSlam

Being the Intercontinental Champion means that Zayn always has a target on his back. Even though he beat Bron Breakker clean at Money in the Bank, the rising star powerhouse Breakker still wants the Intercontinental Title.

This past Monday on Raw, Breakker interrupted Zayn’s title defense against Ilja Dragunov. Breakker also hit a huge Spear on Zayn and stood tall to end the show. It’s likely that Breakker will get another Intercontinental Title match against Zayn, which could be the night when Breakker wins gold for the first time on the WWE main roster.