Sami Zayn Recalls Specific WWE Loss That Bothered Him

Sami Zayn has reflected on a WWE defeat that left him filled with disappointment.

The Quebec native booked his spot at WrestleMania by securing victory in a gruelling gauntlet match on the 11th March edition of Raw.

Zayn saw off Ricochet, Bronson Reed, JD McDonagh, Chad Gable and Shinsuke Nakamura to earn a shot at the Intercontinental Championship currently held by Gunther at WWE’s top Premium Live Event, set to emanate from Lincoln Financial Field on 6th and 7th April.

Bringing an end to Gunther’s record reign as Intercontinental Champion, which now stands at over 650 days, would arguably be Zayn’s biggest achievement in WWE with the odds seemingly stacked firmly against the 39 year-old.

Victory on ‘the grandest stage of them all’ would hand the Canadian a fourth Intercontinental Championship reign of this own, the most recent of which came to an end at the hands of RIcochet on the 4th March 2022 edition of SmackDown.

Speaking on The Habs Lunch, Zayn revealed his disappointment at dropping the title to Ricochet just days before a show in his home town:

“It’s funny you reference that match with Ricochet because I was the Intercontinental Champion at the time, and I lost the title six days before the Laval show. It always kind of bothered me, I was so close to bringing home a championship to Montreal.

If you’re a historian or nerd about this kind of stuff, there hasn’t been a Quebec champion in Montreal in almost 20 years. When La Resistance won the Tag Team Titles at a show at Bell Centre in 2005, I want to say. Since then, we haven’t had a Montreal (native) or Quebecer stand in the ring at the Belle Centre as a champion. It’s been almost 20 years.

I was really looking forward to possibly doing that, but sadly, Johnny Knoxville goes in my business and costs me the IC Title right before the show in Laval. This is a weird full-circle moment to right that wrong and hopefully bring that championship back to Montreal.”

Sami Zayn Wants To Make History At WrestleMania

Zayn has made no secret of his desire to regain Intercontinental gold and is looking to repeat his success from WrestleMania 39, where he teamed with Kevin Owens to defeat The Usos in the main event of Night One in Los Angeles.

That victory ended the longest WWE Tag Team Championship reign of all time and Zayn has stated his determination make more history at WrestleMania 40.

H/T: Fightful for the above transcription.