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  • During their time in Ring of Honor, El Generico and Kevin Steen went to war with each other for a year. The feud came to an end at Final Battle 2010 when El Generico beat Steen at the same arena where Steen betrayed him, using the same chair Steen used to beat him and kicks him out of ROH. The feud even wins the 2010 Wrestling Observer Newsletter for Feud of the Year.
  • CFO$ has again outdone themselves with Sami Zayn's NXT and Main Roster theme, Worlds Apart, a catchy and fun theme befitting of the super babyface Zayn that goes in stark contrast to his ass-kicking abilities and Indy cred.
  • In early 2018, a 2012 list from the late Dusty Rhodes and his assistant Rob Naylor to Triple H (head of talent acquisition for NXT) surfaced. It was essentially the top 20 indy talents in the world at the time that Dusty wanted Hunter to sign to NXT. Number 1 on that list? El Generico/Sami Zayn.
  • Was entrusted, along with Cesaro, with the very first NXT Takeover match (at Takeover: Arrival). Expectations were high, as the two had lengthy indy careers together, and had had two previous highly-rated NXT matches. He and Cesaro blew everyone's expectations out of the water, putting on a wrestling clinic that is still talked about, five years later, as one of the definitive matches of both men's careers and of NXT itself.
  • After months of coming up short, Sami finally defeats Neville at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution to win the NXT Championship. The entire NXT roster then come out to congratulate Sami.
  • Sami's debut on Raw to challenge John Cena's "U.S. Open Challenge" for his United States Championship. Even though he lost, Zayn leaves the ring with an outstanding ovation from the live crowd, cementing himself as a future main eventer.
  • After 8 months of absence for a shoulder injury, Sami returns at Royal Rumble 2016 as the 20th entrant, with his entrance theme causing Kevin Owens to completely lose his shit. Upon entering the ring, Sami and his long time enemy engage in a brief brawl before Zayn eliminates him. He then goes on to last a respectable amount of time in the Rumble match itself.
  • Who could forget Sami's five-star match against the debuting Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover: Dallas? Highlights include:
    • The debut of Shinsuke's own CFO$ music, "Rising Sun" that got everyone, including Sami, hyped.
    • Before either man had so much as locked up, there were already "HOLY SHIT" and "MATCH OF THE YEAR" chants.
    • When they had the stiff punching and elbow match spot, Sami drew first blood on Shinsuke's nose.
    • Some well-deserved "Fight forever!" chants.
    • Sami screaming Shinsuke's name as he delivered his Helluva Kick, which 1) made it more dramatic and 2) allowed him to call the spot for Shinsuke to avoid the kick without taking the audience out of the action.
  • On the WWE video about the 5 superstars who kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment, Sami Zayn joins an exclusive club consisting of Randy Orton, Batista, The Miz, and Triple H. It also helps he had a hellacious match against Big Match John himself.
  • On the Extreme Rules 2016 PPV, Sami showcased his full arsenal in a Fatal 4-Way against Antonio Cesaro, the Miz, and Kevin Owens for the Miz's Intercontinental Championship. Sami almost won too, nailing Cesaro with a Helluva Kick and was a 3-count away to victory when Kevin interfered and the Miz stole the pin from Zayn.
  • After feuding with him for almost a year and a half, Sami finally exacted his revenge on Owens on Battleground 2016 after two consecutive Helluva Kicks.
  • One of the most shocking heel turns in recent years at Hell in a Cell 2017, pulling longtime foe Kevin Owens to safety and saving him from being flattened by Shane McMahon dropping off the Cell. Even Sami himself looked shocked at his own actions.
    • Furthermore, on Talk is Jericho, Sami and Kevin talk about that table spot and reveal that 1) Sami pretty much had to make a split-second judgment call on the timing (too soon and he gives the spot away, too late and he risks his own life as well as Kevin and Shane's) and 2) Kevin's back was messed up from the match, so Sami was essentially deadlifting him.
    • Followed up the next night on Smackdown with a scathing promo where Sami reveals the reason for the turn: he's tired of being The Fettered and Kevin has always been right, he'll never be taken seriously or given real opportunities by Shane.
  • One month into 2018, who's the guy with two clean pinfall victories over WWE Champion AJ Styles? Sami Zayn.
  • All throughout the Owens/Zayn partnership, fans have been waiting for the inevitable to happen - for Kevin to get paranoid and hideously betray Sami after some big victory. Come the 3/6/18 episode of Smackdown, in a Fatal Five-Way match between Zayn, Owens, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler, it's Sami who picks up the victory . . . by Helluva Kicking Kevin's face off. Just after he'd reassured Kevin that they were on the same page and that he would lay down for Kevin at Fastlane. It seems Sami's finally taking a page out of Kevin's book and ensuring he gets the title opportunities and recognition too.
  • While their Smackdown run seemed to have them mired in an endless feud with Shane McMahon, Kevin and Sami showing up at the Raw after Wrestlemania 34 was a fresh start. They proceeded to have a match against each other for the "sole contract", where Kevin attempts a brainbuster off the top rope (which was Generico's move), and despite the countout, both men pulled a standing ovation out of the normally smarky crowd.
  • Injuries are never something to celebrate, but respect has to be given to Sami Zayn for not only wrestling nearly two years with a bad left shoulder, but also a simultaneous eight months on a torn right shoulder as well.
  • 2019 Superstar Shakeup, night one. Sami Zayn does what most thought was absolutely unthinkable - make his hometown of Montreal boo him out of the building. It was a master class in how to manipulate a crowd to get heel heat, and Sami went from having the crowd dancing and singing along to his entrance (three times!) to singing the "na na na hey hey goodbye" song at him. Shawn's "who's your Daddy, Montreal?" has some competition.
  • At a 2019 house show, Sami did not take kindly to hearing a homophobic fan yelling slurs. He had security bounce the guy.
  • Elimination Chamber 2020: Despite it being a handicap match in his favor, despite not even really wrestling until the end of the match, Sami got a moment: he finally won a championship on the main roster, pinning Braun Strowman to win the Intercontinental title.
  • Had his first singles' match at Wrestlemania 36 and successfully defended his Intercontinental Title from Daniel Bryan. The match itself was fairly standard - weaselly heel Sami runs away and dodges and gets Nakamura and Cesaro to go after Bryan - but it has been praised by many fans and critics for rising above the "empty arena problem" and really digging into the potential for dialogue during the match.
  • Clash of Champions 2020 had a triple-threat Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship between current-champ Jeff Hardy, #1 challenger AJ Styles, and returning "true champion" Sami. All three men could, at one time or another, been named among the best ladder match innovators in their respective companies (WWE for Hardy, TNA for Styles, ROH & PWG for Zayn). They put on a classic, with the highlight being Sami's abuse of Ain't No Rule at the end of the match to ear-cuff Jeff to the ladder, handcuff AJ to himself (while Sami had hidden the key) and win what was technically his second IC championship.
    • During the match, Sami slowly began starting to thread back some of his "lost" wrestling moveset, maneuvers he had chosen to eliminate for character-related reasons. One of the moves he pulled out for this match was an Arabian Press, which he hadn't performed for two years. Another was a sick exploder suplex that nearly put Styles all the way through a ladder.
  • Seven months after their Wrestlemania not-really-a-match, we finally got a proper Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan Intercontinental Title match. And it was glorious. While the finish was wonky due to Jey Uso's interference (to teach Bryan a lesson on behalf of Roman Reigns), the match was full of counters, chain wrestling, Bryan's crisp Frankensteiner off the top, Sami's Blue Thunderbomb, and a hellacious apron brainbuster that marks Sami's first official use of his former finisher.
    • Second use, actually, as the first time came against his amazing match versus Kevin Owens at Battleground 2016, but it was no less of an impressive sight.
  • Wrestlemania 37 saw Zayn in a thrown-together feud with his once and future rival KO, with them putting on one of their trademark 5 star matches. While many rated Night One as the better card and did rate the Reigns-Bryan-Edge main event the best match, the Owens/Zayn match was pegged as the show-stealer of the card.
  • When Sami's feud with Johnny Knoxville, of all people, began at Royal Rumble 2021, many fans were understandably less-than-pleased, due to non-wrestlers generally not having the greatest segments and frequently hijacking any storylines with wrestlers. By the time Wrestlemania 38 rolled around, Sami had been carrying segment after segment with Knoxville all on his own merit, even crashing the Jackass: Forever premiere. The match itself was an absolute masterclass in comedy wrestling, utilizing Zayn's haplessness in opposition to the Jackass pranks, and was hailed by the vast majority of fans as a testament to Sami Zayn's incredible skill. Even some of the most hardened, cynical pundits unabashedly praised the match.
  • Raw is XXX: Taking Jimmy Uso's place in the tag team title match against the Judgment Day and winning. For context, the Usos were seconds away from forfeiting the match because of Jimmy Uso's injury, but Sami had other plans: he wants in on the title match as a defending champion in Jimmy's place. Adam Pearce takes the idea and agrees, allowing the match to continue anyway. Sami and Jey take the fight to the Judgment Day and finally hit a 1-D on Dominic for the huge win.
  • Royal Rumble 2023: After Roman retains over Kevin Owens via his now-predictable low blows, ref bumps, and outside interference, he handcuffs KO to the ring ropes. The Usos and Solo go to town superkicking and spiking Kevin, all while Sami is Forced to Watch. When Roman hands Sami the chair and orders him - for the "family" - to finish Kevin off, Sami... can't bring himself to do it. Even after all the history between Kevin and Sami, the frequent and horrible betrayals of Sami by Kevin, Sami refuses to hurt his friend. Instead of taking a steel chair to Kevin, Sami takes one to Roman. In a mirror of June 2014 when one "brother" took down Roman via steel chair to the back, Sami Zayn becomes the second man to do so.
  • On the Smackdown after the Rumble, who interrupts Roman's solitary "woe is me, I'm under so much pressure" promo? Sami Zayn, running in from the crowd to a huge ovation. Roman goes for that steel chair again, but Sami blows the roof off the building by spearing Roman out of his Nikes. Sami grabs a mic and announces that he wants the next title match with Roman Reigns . . . in his hometown of Montreal.
  • On the go-home show before Elimination Chamber 2023, the crowd is so busy showering Sami in love that he can't really deliver his promo. Sami manages a succinct "Roman, listen to me carefully. Tomorrow night, you're in my fucking house!"
  • Let's preface this moment of awesome with the fact that the last time Sami was set up to face Roman for the Universal Title (December 2021), Lesnar turned him into roadkill as a message to his then-rival Roman, and Reigns simply came out afterwards to pick the bones. Come Elimination Chamber 2023? Sami came closer to beating Reigns than just about anyone else, even more so than Brock.
    • From an emotional standpoint, ball was completely in Sami's court. The Montreal crowd was completely in his corner and would not let up on booing and jeering Roman into the ground throughout the match, to the point where the live censors were clearly overwhelmed. Roman may have tried shrugging it off, but you could tell it visibly unnerved him to be in a city that did not "acknowledge" him in the slightest.
    • Physically, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a mismatch between Sami's finesse and Roman's take-no-prisoners powerhouse offense, and initially it was, as Roman dominated the beginning and shrugged off a good deal of Sami's blows and strikes...but then Roman got cocky, mouthing off to Sami's wife at ringside, allowing Sami to slowly take over, his moves having more and more of an effect as the match wore on, countering Roman's best stuff with his trademark exploder suplexes and clotheslines, even busting out a top-rope Sunset Bomb that notched a near fall. He'd counter the Spear, followed up with an exploder, then had the temerity to hit a SUPERMAN PUNCH followed by a Helluva Kick that nearly gave all of Montreal a collective heart attack when Roman just kicked out. Then he'd deftly dodge an oncoming Reigns going for his classic "Spear through the barricade", following it up with a Blue Thunder Bomb for another harrowing near fall. Say what you will about Roman being WWE's best all-around powerhouse, but Sami is WWE's best counter-wrestler, hands down.
    • The closing moments would show or remind the WWE Universe just how much goddamn tenacity Sami has. After an unfortunate ref bump, Jimmy Uso would get involved, laying out Sami with a bevy of superkicks and a Samoan Splash, dragging Roman, who was limp after another Helluva Kick, onto the cover...only for Sami to kick out. Sami recovers, sends Roman to the outside and cuts off Jimmy with a Helluva Kick, but gets Speared into the mat...but Sami kicks out. That tenacity drives Reigns to ROAR at Heyman to get a chair, but Jey Uso would step in the way, not unlike how Sami stepped in to save KO at the Rumble. After a tense exchange between the cousins, Sami would erroneously hit a Spear on Jey, leading to Roman pummeling Sami with the chair and another crushing Spear to finally put Sami away, but damn if Sami didn't make Roman earn it.
  • The "Kansas City Showdown" was every bit the war of words that was expected between Sami and Jey Uso. Jey was adamant that he never liked Sami from the get-go, that he never trusted him, and when it seemed like Sami had finally won him over along with the rest of the Bloodline, Sami turned at Royal Rumble 2023 and made Jey angry for second-guessing himself and feeling like he "ain't got no choice" but to stay true to Roman. Sami not only disabuses him of that notion, but completely shuts Jey down with one sentence:

    Jey: "So what happens next, Sami? What happens next, I ain't got no choice but to-"

    Sami: "NO, no, that's a lie! You keep saying that, that you've got no choice. Guess what, Jey? You've had a choice since day one. And you choose to take Roman Reigns' abuse over and over and over. That is your choice. I loved you, I love this family. I love the family, do you understand? But I wasn't going to take that every week the way you did, Jey. You kept taking it, you keep choosing it. I don't think you're mad at me, Jey. I think you're mad at yourself. You're not mad that I hit Roman Reigns with that steel chair, you're just mad that you didn't get to do it first."
  • Not only did Sami Zayn main-event the first night of WrestleMania with his best friend Kevin Owens against The Usos, but the long-time frenemies won the Undisputed Tag Team Titles!, putting a stop to the Usos 500+ day reign. The final stretch of the match was all focused on Sami and Jey, with Sami hitting three Helluva Kicks to put Jey away.
    • It was a historic night all around, because aside from the breaking of the Usos' undefeated streak, it was the first time ever that a Muslim has main-evented WrestleMania and the first time that a tag team title match has closed a WrestleMania.
    • The cherry on the sundae? Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer gave it 5 stars, a first for all four men involved and the first WWE tag match to get such a rating on the main roster.
  • Sami's ultimate victory over Roman at Night of Champions 2023, in a Tag Team Championship match against Roman and Solo Sikoa. After almost two months of whittling down the Usos' morale and loyalty to their cousin, aggressively insisting that the two could do worlds better than suffering their cousin's physical and psychological abuse, Sami finally submitted Roman to a total moral defeat after months of feuding with him when Jimmy finally took Sami's encouragement to heart by annihilating Roman for bullying Jey. All the sweeter, Sami and Kevin capitalized by also annihilating Solo immediately thereafter and retaining their titles. The capstone on this final vengeance: all of it was on Roman's 1000-day anniversary as Undisputed Champion.

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