Sami Zayn celebrated winning the WWE title on the July 3 episode of WWE SmackDown, and he thanked one of the most unlikely people on the roster for helping him reach the top – Johnny Gargano.
Fresh off his shocking WWE Championship win over Cody Rhodes and Gunther at Night of Champions, Zayn opened SmackDown with the title on his shoulder. While fans expected a celebration of his biggest career victory, the show also set up his first title defense.
The show opened with Cody Rhodes interrupting Sami Zayn to congratulate him before both reminded that their story wasn’t over. Jey Uso then joined them, congratulated Zayn, and made it clear that he wanted a shot at the WWE Championship.
The conversation turned tense, with Zayn telling both men to stay away from him and his title.
Acting General Manager Adam Pearce interrupted proceedings before it turned into chaos. He announced that Zayn would defend the WWE Championship on the next episode of RAW.
Johnny Gargano gets unexpected credit for Zayn’s title win
Later in the show, Zayn met Pearce backstage and questioned why, as a SmackDown champion, he was defending the title on RAW. Pearce explained that it would be a supershow featuring stars from both brands.
The conversation then took a turn when Zayn noticed Johnny Gargano standing nearby.
For months, Gargano has been shown lying on objects after NXT Stand & Deliver, rarely reacting to anything around him. Even so, Zayn has often talked to Gargano backstage over the past few weeks, using him as someone to vent to during difficult moments in his career.
This time, things were different. Holding up the WWE Championship, Zayn told Gargano he wasn’t sure he could have won the title without him.
“I got to be honest with you. I don’t know if I could win this without you. I really don’t. When I was hitting my low points over the last few months, I felt like you were an ear for me. I needed someone. You understood me when I needed someone. You’re like my rock man. This is the proof right here Johnny. You wanna get ahead. You wanna get championships around here, you gotta stay true to yourself,” the WWE Champion proclaimed.
Zayn then turned to Candice LeRae, said he was glad she was there, and asked her to take a photo of him and Gargano with the championship.
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