Sami Zayn has always been open about how much winning the WWE Championship meant to him. But the new Undisputed WWE Champion has now revealed that his Royal Rumble loss earlier this year deeply affected him. It cast a seed of doubt in his mind about whether that dream would ever happen.
After years of coming close, Zayn finally won the Undisputed WWE Championship. At Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he reached the promised land. In one of the biggest surprises of the year, he defeated Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a Triple Threat Match to win his first world title in WWE.
Now, after reaching the top, the WWE champion looked back on the difficult road that almost made him lose hope.
Sami Zayn says Royal Rumble defeat felt like his last opportunity
Speaking on the latest episode of Raw Recap, Zayn admitted that losing to Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble in January hit him harder than any other loss. It even impacted him more than his emotional title match against Roman Reigns in Montreal.
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t lose the faith and I certainly didn’t lose the faith after the match in Montreal (vs. Roman Reigns). It was a heartbreaker, no doubt okay. But, I thought, this is the closest I’ve come, so I’ll just get closer and closer till I get there. The one that really did my head in a little bit was coming up short against Drew this past January at the Royal Rumble. Because after that one, that’s when I was already starting to feel…I felt like maybe I had missed my window,” Zayn said.
Zayn said that while he never completely gave up, the Royal Rumble loss emerged as a turning point. It was the first time he truly wondered if he would ever become WWE Champion.
He explained that he never doubted his talent. What frustrated him was seeing himself compete with WWE’s biggest stars but still falling short of the ultimate prize.
“And I couldn’t give up faith but it was the first time my faith was shook… It was if I’m being totally honest, I knew I had the talent, I knew I had everything. I knew I was just as good as any of these guys, Drew, Roman, Cody, Seth, and the proof is you’ve seen me mix it up in the ring with all of them. You’ve seen my body of work. There’s no question in my mind. You know, that these are my peers, and that’s also what made it more maddening is why them and why not me? Why is it so close and I just can’t get my hands on it?” Zayn said.
Zayn also admitted those emotions started affecting him backstage over the next few months. He seemed more frustrated during that time. Moreover, he admitted those feelings came from believing he might have missed his chance.
“And after losing at the Rumble, that’s where I think you saw me kind of losing it or crashing out backstage over the months. It’s because I think what was happening was maybe the realization was going on deep down that maybe I had missed that window,” Zayn added.
Zayn also admitted that the Royal Rumble loss made him realize people slowly started losing interest in his “underdog” story. He understood it would be a hard task to sell them the next time.
“I think I really only pieced it together now once the weight of the world came off my shoulders and was replaced with the weight of this championship gold. That’s when I kind of realized how damaging that last loss at the Rumble was. Because I realized, ‘Oh no, I burnt this card.’ You know, like I can’t play this hand again. The Cinderella story of the underdog who finally wins the big one, it’s been played now. I had it in Montreal, I had it here in Riyadh. You can’t ask them to come along a third time at that point. Because even in reality it was actually like the ninth or 10th time at that point. But, you know, that story really getting to marinate and really being the crux of the story, and the focal point of the story going into the match, I’m like, ‘You can’t tell that story again because you know, they just won’t buy it again,’ Zayn revealed.
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