Sami Zayn On Loss To Roman Reigns – “Maybe This Is Chapter One”
Sami Zayn has reflected on how close he was to beating Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in front of a raucous crowd in Montreal.
It was a dream scenario for Sami Zayn on February 18th at the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event in his hometown of Montreal. They were the perfect crowd for Zayn to be in front of as he received his shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship held by Roman Reigns.
There was a long backstory going into the match since Zayn spent much of 2022 proving his loyalty to “The Tribal Chief” Reigns and The Bloodline. At the Royal Rumble, Zayn refused to take part in an attack on his best friend Kevin Owens, so Zayn hit Reigns in the back with a steel chair and received the biggest pop of his career just for doing that. It’s because the fans loved the story, they hated Reigns and they were ready to cheer for Zayn.
At Elimination Chamber, Sami Zayn had one of the most incredible matches of his life. They put on a wrestling clinic full of action, drama and so many nearfalls. Ultimately, Reigns cheated to win as usual and the hearts of the Montreal crowd were broken, but Zayn has kept on fighting since then.
WrestleMania 39 Saturday saw Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens reunite to take the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles from The Usos in the main event. It wasn’t just a main event, but one of the best tag team matches in WWE history as well.
During an interview with Xfinity, Sami Zayn reflected on his Elimination Chamber match with Reigns.
“It would have been kind of perfect, a storybook ending, if I had dethroned Roman. Sure, of course, but if you look at more five years from now, ten years from now, the totality of where it all lies, I think you will see that it is one great chapter, hopefully, in a story. For sure, unquestionably, whether it was the right or wrong decision, the way it ended, there is no question that had it gone my way that night in Montreal or at WrestleMania or something with Roman, unquestionably it would have been a moment that would have definitely been replayed many times.”
“I still think what we did was very special and as you can see by what has continued to happen with The Usos and Roman, that story still has some special moments. This is one of those things where you just need time to see where it all falls.”
As he continued, Sami Zayn spoke about how the loss to Roman Reigns could be “chapter one” in his journey to becoming the WWE Champion some day.
“I don’t know if this is a valid comparison, but it’s almost like when Brock (Lesnar) beat Undertaker and ended the streak. It was such a shocking moment that you kind of didn’t know what to make of it. I remember watching it live with Juice Robinson. He was so frazzled by it, ‘I need five years to know whether this was the right call or not.'”
“It’s kind of true. You had to wait several years to see all the consequences and ripple effect of that moment. It took five years to see ‘this all goes back to do that.'”
“Maybe it was chapter one, for me personally, in this huge story that is my quest to one day win the big one.”
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have been WWE Tag Team Champions for over three months. They aren’t currently advertised for a SummerSlam match, but that could change with less than two weeks to go until the show.