Sami Zayn’s Transitional WWE Champion Discourse Shot Down by JBL

JBL doesn't think that Sami Zayn will be a transitional WWE Champion and will instead hold the title until there's merit to it.

Sami Zayn’s Transitional WWE Champion Discourse Shot Down by JBL

Sami Zayn and JBL [via- WWE]

Sami Zayn has been the talk of the town ever since winning his first world title in WWE on June 27 at Night of Champions. He’s now set to defend it on this week’s Raw in Chicago against Cody Rhodes. And for what it’s worth, there’s a major chunk of fans that believe Zayn will drop the belt back to Rhodes.

It would bring an end to Zayn’s title reign in a tragically short order, and the chances of it actually happening have increased since it got reported that WWE had long planned Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk at SummerSlam. Putting the Undisputed WWE Championship back on ‘The QB1’ this Monday and Punk returning at the end of the show to confront Rhodes would basically confirm them feuding next.

However, John Bradshaw Layfield doesn’t think any of that is going to happen. The WWE Hall of Famer has dismissed the noise around Sami Zayn likely falling victim to transitional champion booking. Speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL thought that the company wouldn’t treat Zayn as a mailman and would rather give him a fair shot at proving himself with the belt.

Bradshaw added that it doesn’t appear like a case of WWE putting the championship on someone else for the time being only to hand it back to its previous holder in the later stages of the year. This kind of backing from ‘The Wresting God’ would definitely uplift the so-called “ride or die” fans of Sami Zayn, who are under the trepidation that their favorite wrestler will lose the title in merely his first defense of it.

Fightful reported there were many talents both within WWE and even those outside of the company that were happy about Zayn finally winning the big one. ‘The Last Real Good Guy’ was pleasantly surprised by Becky Lynch and Kevin Owens in a wholesome backstage interaction where the three of them put on Zayn’s new merch that he wore in his first appearance as the WWE Champion on SmackDown.

Rhodes pulled up to SmackDown as the first person to congratulate Zayn on winning the WWE Championship, as Zayn did the same to ‘The American Nightmare’ back at WrestleMania 40. Although the Arabic-speaking WWE star shook hands with Rhodes, he knew that wasn’t the only thing Rhodes had come out for.

The erstwhile El Generico was soon interrupted by Jey Uso, who dapped Zayn up like they used to do during their Bloodline days. Uso, however, told the Syrian-Canadian wrestler that he was after the WWE title too. Rhodes mocked Uso by saying he didn’t realize when ‘The Yeet Man’ reverted back to running errands for Roman Reigns.

Zayn barged in and declared that both Rhodes and Uso should get at the back of the line if they wanted to challenge for the gold again. However, Adam Pearce came out and instead announced Rhodes vs. Uso in a No. 1 contenders match to determine Zayn’s first challenger. The said match was won by Rhodes later on SmackDown, and he’s now gunning to become a 4-time world champion in WWE.

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Karrion Kross explains what makes Sami Zayn universally loved

Karrion Kross found out live during a Comic Con that Sami Zayn had won the WWE Championship at Night of Champions. The moment that news got broken to him, Kross immediately stood up, threw his arms up while sporting a proud look, and uttered, “Finally.” The current MLW World Champion was recently a guest on the Busted Open Radio podcast.

Sami Zayn posing with the Undisputed WWE Championship
Sami Zayn posing with the Undisputed WWE Championship [via- WWE]

He got asked what exactly makes Zayn such a universally loved personality in the world of pro wrestling. The former WWE star didn’t want to speak for anyone else but said that he was very happy about the man behind the character of Sami Zayn for being awarded this position. Kross thought that it’d send a good message to all those wrestlers doubting themselves and being cynical of subjecting themselves to certain things creatively.

The career trajectory of Sami Zayn has always been that of someone who wasn’t the chosen one and was never figured into any of the major plans, but he still did it. WrestleVotes said in the immediate aftermath of Zayn’s triumph that many within WWE had been longing to see it for a long time.

And he’s having the time of his life being the Undisputed WWE Champion. ‘The Great Disruptor’ first went on a pizza date with the belt. He even took it to a playground alongside his son.

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