Tag: Sami Zayn

Original Bloodline Reunites On WWE SmackDown, Will Enter WarGames At Survivor Series

The Original Bloodline has fully reunited with Sami Zayn on last night’s WWE SmackDown.

After an opening segment that saw Reigns reject a reconciliation with his former “Honorary Uce” and subsequently appear to lose the trust of The Usos, Reigns came to the ring on his own during the main event segment to confront Solo Sikoa. Reigns challenged his cousin to a singles match, but Sikoa laughed in his face, challenging him instead to find four more others backstage ready to support him in a war. Reigns asked Sikoa if his intention was WarGames, saying Sikoa only had three men beside him; Sikoa then claimed Zayn had joined his side in the battle, prompting Zayn to emerge at the top of the ramp. Zayn stood and watched as Reigns was attacked by The Bloodline, with The Usos coming down to save their cousin. 

Sikoa called for Zayn to deliver the Helluva Kick to Reigns, but Zayn instead kicked Sikoa’s head, allowing for Reigns to hit a spear, and then The Original Bloodline fought the rest of the mutineers to clear the ring. Zayn and Reigns stared one another down as The Usos threw up the ones, the former raising his own finger and visibly asking Reigns “Are you in, or are you out?” Reigns finally raised a finger with the other three, signaling that at least for now, the band is back together.

As the segment closed, commentary stated clearly that Reigns, Zayn and The Usos would meet Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, and the one-time Guerrillas of Destiny at Survivor Series in a WarGames match. It remains unclear whether a fifth man will be added to each side, but the reiteration of the five-on-five format WWE has used in main roster WarGames matches thus far suggests there are more participants to come.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Johnny Knoxville Attacks Sami Zayn At His Comedy Show In Toronto

The rivalry between Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville continues, as the latter crashed Zayn’s comedy show in Toronto on Thursday night.

Earlier this week, Knoxville took to Twitter to tease that he was heading to Toronto. This led to Zayn replying with, “WTF is this …?!”

‘Fly Me to the Moon’ Stars Scarlett Johansson & Channing Tatum Weigh in on Moon Landing Conspiracy Theories | THR News Video

During last night’s Sami Zayn & Friends Comedy Show, the Jackass star showed up and attacked Zayn. Knoxville snuck up on Zayn during the curtain call and gave him a low blow kick.

As of this writing, there is no word on if Knoxville will be showing up at Saturday’s WWE Money in the Bank 2024 pay-per-view event.

In addition to Knoxville, Trish Stratus, Bayley and Cody Rhodes appeared at the comedy show.

Source: eWn

Sami Zayn’s Comedy Show To Debut On WWE Money In The Bank Weekend

WWE has announced a Sami Zayn comedy show as part of Money in the Bank weekend. WWE issued the following:

SAMI ZAYN & FRIENDS DO TORONTO COMEDY SHOW
DEBUTS IN TORONTO AS PART OF MONEY IN THE BANK WEEKEND

Sami Zayn & Friends Do Toronto Takes Place Thursday, July 4 at The Danforth Music Hall

Tickets On Sale Starting Wednesday, June 19 at 10 a.m. ET

STAMFORD, Conn., June 17, 2024 – WWE®, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced that Canadian-born WWE Superstar Sami Zayn will debut his comedy show Sami Zayn & Friends Do Toronto on Thursday, July 4 at 8 p.m. ET from The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto as part of WWE’s massive Money In The Bank weekend.

Sami Zayn & Friends Do Toronto is a comedy and variety show featuring guests from the worlds of comedy, television and WWE.

Tickets for Sami Zayn & Friends Do Toronto go on sale Wednesday, June 19 at 10 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster.ca. An exclusive presale opportunity will be available starting Tuesday, June 18 at 10 a.m. ET at https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/100060CE78E2101D. A limited number of post-show meet-and-greet tickets with Zayn will also be available to purchase.

Money In The Bank will feature WWE’s biggest Superstars as they battle to earn a briefcase containing a contract for a championship match at a time and place of their choosing anytime within the next year.

Money In The Bank will stream live exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and will be available in Canada on WWE Network through Sportsnet+.

Source: eWn

Sami Zayn Set To Take Time Off From WWE

During the WWE RAW episode from this past Monday night, Drew McIntyre scored a win in a singles match against Sami Zayn, who suffered a storyline knee injury.

Following the match, McIntyre targeted Zayn’s knee in a backstage attack.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Zayn is taking time off. 

“I don’t have it confirmed Zayn will be off for a while due to that, but do know that he had asked for time off recently and was granted it but wasn’t told when that would begin past he was not scheduled for 12/28 show in Laval, Quebec that would normally be built around him as that was during the scheduled break although it is possible they could have him do that show,” Meltzer wrote.

Source: eWn

Backstage News On Why Sami Zayn Is Going To Saudi Arabia For WWE Night Of Champions

It was announced this past Friday night on “WWE SmackDown” that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens would defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa of The Bloodline at Night of Champions on May 27 in Saudi Arabia. According to Dave Meltzer on “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Zayn, who is of Syrian descent, decided to travel to the Kingdom with WWE for the first time since 2014 following the resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria; relations were suspended in November 2011. Additionally, the report indicated that Owens opted to go to Saudi Arabia after Zayn decided he would travel for Night of Champions.

Zayn’s most recent visit to Saudi Arabia came in 2014 when he participated in a three-night house tour in Riyadh. On the opening night, which was Zayn’s debut match in the country, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion defeated Damian Sandow in a singles match. The following evening, Zayn was defeated by Cesaro – now ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli. The final night of the tour saw Zayn defeat Heath Slater.

Meanwhile, Owens will be heading to Saudi Arabia with WWE for the first time later this month. In the past, the former WWE Universal Champion had decided against performing on a major WWE event in the Kingdom, seemingly as a result of his longtime friend Zayn not being able to participate because of strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria. It was reported in 2019 that Owens’ family did not want him to travel to the Middle Eastern country. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Sami Zayn Reportedly Re-Signs With WWE

Sami Zayn has reportedly re-signed with WWE.

It was reported in mid-December that Zayn was rumored to have signed a new WWE contract as his previous deal was set to expire at the end of 2021.

In an update, word now is that Zayn signed a new multi-year contract with WWE, according to Fightful Select. There is no word on the exact length of the deal, but it could be for the three years that several talents have re-signed for, including Zayn’s good friend Kevin Owens last month.

Zayn was said to be “kind of private” about his contract negotiations with WWE, but the company made it clear that they wanted to retain his services, and a new deal was reached.

There was talk within AEW of that company being interested in Zayn if he were to leave WWE, and ROH was also reportedly in bringing Zayn back before they went on a hiatus.

Zayn is currently feuding with Jackass star Johnny Knoxville for a payoff in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match later this month. He is also the current #1 contender to WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, but there’s no word on when the title match will happen as Nakamura has been recovering from a hand injury.

Zayn originally signed a three-year WWE contract in 2018, which was modified a bit due to time off for surgery. He will remain with the company for the next few years.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Sami Zayn’s WWE Contract Apparently Up In Fall Of 2021

With word Kevin Owens’ WWE contract ends earlier than expected, talk that Sami Zayn’s deal is up in the Fall of 2021 is logically front-page news.

It was reported on Tuesday that Kevin Owens’ WWE contract ends sooner than originally expected. Believed to be a five-year extension that was signed in 2018, the deal was restructured during the pandemic and ends in January of 2022, as per a report by Fightful Select. It’s also interesting that his extremely close friend in Sami Zayn has a WWE deal that is set to expire soon too. As always, when someone talks about Owens, they tend to also talk about Zayn.

According to a report posted by TVA Sports in April of 2019, Zayn had signed a three-year contract shortly before leaving due to injury. With some sick time added to the length of the contract, they noted he still had about two and a half years left on his current deal. That would put his deal up at the end of this calendar year. While some time might have to be adjusted based on him staying home during the first part of the pandemic, the point here is that two close friends, known as “professional wrestlers” at heart, have deals coming up around the same time.

Obviously, this news has garnered some attention as AEW seems focused on bringing in some of the best in-ring talent that is known for having tremendous matches. Owens may or may not be ready to go and based on his usage on SmackDown of late, it would be hard to blame him. Zayn is a strong heel character on WWE SmackDown, but his booking history has been up and down. It would be interesting to see if these two stars would make career decisions together. From an AEW perspective, it would be big to have both join the promotion together, if possible.

The questions surrounding WWE these days seem to be less about who might leave and more about how few performers might actually stay. WWE is losing a lot of people and their roster appears to be thinning out rather quickly. If Owens and Zayn go, that’s two more wrestlers that are considered among the better workers in the company no longer on the roster.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Intercontinental Championship Vacated, Sami Zayn Unable To Defend Title

It was announced last night during WWE Backstage that WWE has declared the Intercontinental Championship vacant after Sami Zayn is unable to compete and defend the title.

WWE will hold a tournament to crown a new champion, with bracket to be unveiled and first-round matches starting Friday on SmackDown.

Sami Zayn Reportedly Away From WWE TV Due To Concerns Over The Coronavirus Pandemic

WWE Intercontinental Continental Champion Sami Zayn has reportedly been away from WWE TV due to his own concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Zayn did not appear during last week’s SmackDown on FOX episode with Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro because he made the choice not to travel to the closed-set WWE Performance Center in Orlando, according to a new report by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. While there’s no word yet on what WWE had planned for Zayn last Friday, he was originally scripted into the show until he made the decision not to come.

As we’ve noted, WWE and AEW officials have informed employees that they do not have to work during the COVID-19 outbreak, and that the decision would not be held against them in the future. Zayn apparently took advantage of that option as other wrestlers have, such as Roman Reigns.

Zayn has not appeared on WWE TV since Night One of WrestleMania 36, which was taped a few nights before it aired. That show saw Zayn retain his title over Daniel Bryan. Zayn hasn’t appeared on SmackDown TV since the April 3 episode, which was the WrestleMania go-home show. Cesaro and Nakamura have been appearing each week since then, working their own angles and matches without Zayn.

You can click here for Sami’s April 20 tweet on having his wisdom teeth taken out and why he has been looking “ripped to shreds.”

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter via Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Why WWE Put Sami Zayn With Shinsuke Nakamura

Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Sami Zayn had been having trouble with his shoulders in recent months. This is why he has been wrestling less and was put with WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura as his mouthpiece.

There’s no word yet on when Zayn will return to regular in-ring action, but word now is that he’s OK and can wrestle, but the current role is what they have him doing. Zayn has worked some live events since being put with Nakamura, including losses to Buddy Murphy while WWE was in Australia last month, but he hasn’t wrestled regularly on TV since August, when he took losses on RAW to Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander.