How Sami Zayn’s Shocking WWE Title Win Perfectly Sets Up The Main Event Scene
Sami Zayn won his first world title at Night of Champions. (Credit: Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
Sami Zayn did it. Finally he did.
At WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, the former Intercontinental Champion won his first world title in his tenth attempt. In one of the most shocking world championships in WWE history, Zayn defeated Cody Rhodes and Gunther to win the WWE Championship after more than a decade in WWE.
Who saw that one coming? Nobody, really, especially since Zayn has to defeat Gunther and Rhodes, two of WWE’s most pushed stars, to do it. But alas, WWE finally decided that a major shakeup was needed after the company, wisely, ran into a brick wall in recent months.
Zayn’s WWE title win in Riyadh, an unexpected world title, greatly increased the WWE event scene in the three seconds it took Zayn to pin Rhodes. And boy oh boy, was it necessary.
Original Plans to Win Sami Zayn’s WWE Title
According to Cory Hays of False EndWWE originally hoped that Zayn would win the world title at WrestleMania 43 next year in Saudi Arabia:
But recent developments in the booking of Zayn’s heel character have apparently forced WWE’s hand. Over the past few months, Zayn has done an excellent job of toeing the line between despicable villain and fan favorite, and he’s been duly rewarded for his incredible work.
While WWE may have moved Zayn’s once-held world title nearly a year to Night of Champions, that creative pivot could be a blessing in disguise for the entire WWE event scene.
CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes Doesn’t Need The WWE Title
Despite questions about his status with WWE, CM Punk is reportedly set to return soon and is slated to move to SmackDown and a potential feud with Cody Rhodes at the time.
Prior to WWE Night of Champions, it was widely expected that Punk would immediately challenge Rhodes for the WWE title as SmackDown’s SummerSlam main event. The possibilities for that dream match are still wide open, with just one caveat: it won’t be for the WWE Championship.
Rhodes, of course, has held the WWE title for the past three years while Punk recently lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns in April. There’s a real argument to be made that fan burnout from Rhodes and Punk in the ring could prevent a WWE title match between the two.
Now, however, the WWE Championship feud between Rhodes and Punk is completely unnecessary. Punk and Rhodes could easily feud without a title involved, creating a main event-level non-title feud and opening up the world title picture for a few new main event faces.
Who Will Oba Femi Choose To Face At WWE SummerSlam?
Speaking of new faces in new places, Oba Femi won the King of the Ring tournament at WWE Night of Champions, and with that victory comes a guaranteed world title match at SummerSlam.
Femi’s career-defining win will undoubtedly be overshadowed by Zayn’s first ever world title win. Whether or not Femi is directly challenging Zayn is a completely different question. The obvious way for Femi’s SummerSlam is to challenge Zayn at SummerSlam and finish him off, earning his first world title in less than eight months on the main roster.
Another possible subject line? Zayn loses the WWE title to, say, Brock Lesnar next month Saturday Night’s Big Event at Madison Square Garden, setting up Lesnar vs. Femi III for the WWE title at SummerSlam. There, Femi could defeat and retire Lesnar, cementing himself as the world champion and arguably WWE’s biggest star.
That won’t come as a shock considering Triple H recently told Stephen A. Smith (h/t Wrestling Inc) that “Oba Femi is going to be bigger than anyone who’s ever been in this business.” A SummerSlam title win would go a long way toward that goal, but Femi might have to beat someone else to do it.
Is Femi vs. Roman Reigns is the planned direction of SummerSlam? That’s a real possibility, which seems possible after Zayn won the WWE title at SummerSlam. Still, Zayn’s shocking WWE Championship seemed to create a masterful reset of what fans expected to see at SummerSlam.
Now, WWE main event footage that has been on both Raw and SmackDown doesn’t feel that way at all. Instead, they’re as interesting as they’ve been at any time in recent memory, which couldn’t be more timely with SummerSlam fast approaching.
