Facts About Sami Zayn
Top 10 count down
10. He’s Canadian-Syrian
Despite being billed from Montreal, Zayn is in fact of rather more exotic descent.
His middle-eastern ancestry puts him in the very exclusive club of Syrian Canadians—hence the Arabic writing that often appears on his in-ring attire.
It certainly seems like a rather unconventional heritage, given the 9,000 kilometres between the two nations. According to the 2011 census, there were just over 40,000 Syrian Canadians, most of whom were based in the Toronto area and who could trace their roots back to the immigration of Syrians towards the end of the 19th century and during the post-WWII years.
As well as the aforementioned Arabic on his wrestling tights, Zayn has been seen wearing a Free Syria t-shirt on NXT before, and has been vocal of his support for the war-torn nation in the past.
It certainly adds an interesting layer to Zayn’s character, and does much to endear himself further to his ever-growing hoard of fans.
9. Sami Zayn Is Legit
In a recent appearance alongside Neville on Talk is Jericho, Zayn opened up about some of the lesser known details of his private and professional life.
And it turns out that his ring name is more than just a catchy moniker.
Zayn reveals that Sami Zayn is a legitimate Arab name, and a little bit of digging tells us that Sami translates to “elevated” or “sublime” and that Zayn means “beautiful and radiant”. Anyone who’s seen Zayn in the ring is likely to agree that such names are highly fitting of the high-flyer’s exciting in-ring style.
Furthermore, Zayn also revealed that his mother actually nearly called him Sami. Instead, she settled on the not too distant Rami, which derives from the verb “Ram”, meaning “to wish, to aim at, to dream, to be ambitious”.
Again, words that aren’t a million miles away from the character that we see in NXT today.
8. Ignoring Stone Cold’s Advice
But that exciting in-ring style was almost quashed before it really got going, after a chance meeting at LAX airport with none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin.
On episode 72 of Austin’s podcast, Kevin Steen—now of course Kevin Owens in NXT—speaks of the days that he and Zayn bumped into the Rattlesnake on their way to a PWG show. This all went down back in 2005, so naturally the two up-and-comers used this opportunity to gain some sage advice from arguably the biggest star in the industry’s history.
While Austin told Steen to never stop running his mouth, he then turned to Zayn to offer some rather less encouraging words; “that plancha s**t will kill you”.
Austin may have had a point—Zayn’s high-flying style is certainly dangerous and a laced with risk. But as Zayn recently declared on NXT, he refused to change when other’s told him. Zayn persisted with the dazzling moveset, in a decision I’m sure many fans will be plenty grateful for.
7. He Did Compete Under A Mask In WWE
Zayn shot to fame on the independent circuit with a hugely entertaining masked gimmick. Incongruent with the WWE style though, he was rebranded upon joining the company and severed many of his indie roots.
However there was one special occasion that saw Zayn pay homage to his days of old as he donned a mask on a 2013 showing of NXT.
In a match with then-champion Bo Dallas, Zayn was introduced as the unknown El Local—not to be confused with the the other El Local. He then went on to pick up the victory in a matter of seconds, before revealing his true identity to the NXT Universe.
Not only did it make for an exciting segment, but it was refreshing to see the WWE acknowledging the history of one of their ex-indie stars—something the company very rarely does.
Of course, Zayn’s yet to don the mask since, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see it again somewhere down the line.
6. He’s Actually Won Many “Big Ones”
Zayn’s recent programme with Adrian Neville was centred on the assertion that he “couldn’t win the big one”.
The angle emerged as a result of Zayn’s failure to win a succession of matches, including his no. 1 contender bout with Tyler Breeze, and the Fatal Fourway NXT Title match involving Breeze, Tyson Kidd, and the champion, Neville.
But despite this focus on Zayn’s various shortcomings, he wasn’t nearly as unsuccessful as the storyline suggested.
Zayn had already racked up victories over main roster talent including Kidd, Titus O’Neil and Justin Gabriel—not to mention scoring the first pinfall just seconds into his excellent 2-out-of-3 falls match with Cesaro.
Sure, that may not be a particularly great resume for a superstar from Raw or SmackDown, but within the context of NXT, they’re some pretty impressive wins.
5. He’s Put On A 4 ¾ Star Match
But easily his most impressive performance came in his championship-winning display at NXT Takeover: R Evolution.
His clash with Adrian Neville was not only brilliant showing of athleticism and technique, but it told the fantastic story of Zayn’s redemption that captured the hearts of virtually every NXT fan.
But don’t just take my word for it. The match has been gaining plaudits from sources of much more prestige. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave the match a near-perfect rating of 4 ¾ stars.
To put that into perspective, last year the WWE’s main roster failed to produce a match of more than 4 ½ stars. And even then, those contests were either six-man or eight-man tag matches. Zayn and Neville, however, managed to trump that between just the two of them.
So does that mean Zayn’s currently a better performer than any main roster talent? That may be taking things a step too far, but a 4 ¾ star match is quite the feather in the flat-cap for Zayn nonetheless.
4. He Was 44th On The PWI 2014
Further evidence of Zayn’s rising status is apparent in last year’s PWI rankings.
The list, published by US-based magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated, assembles perhaps the most reliable list of the top wrestler’s on the planet, given that it’s based on readers’ votes.
And Zayn, despite being consigned to WWE’s developmental territory, came in at a very respectable 44th on the list for 2014. That puts him ahead of some pretty huge names, including the likes of Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler and a whole host of other more established full-roster stars.
To be recognised so highly, despite the reduced publicity, is quite the achievement for the NXT champion.
That being said, he did rank behind a number of fellow NXT colleagues, including Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami and Kevin Owens, so maybe we were getting a little ahead of ourselves with some of the Zayn-praise
3. He’s Actually Been On Main Event A
Few Times
Of course, while Zayn remains officially a member of the NXT roster, that hasn’t kept him away from the big leagues entirely. In fact he’s actually made a handful of appearances on the main roster.
He appeared on Raw a few months ago, alongside Neville in a tag match with Breeze and Kidd, but as well as that he also made a couple of appearances on Main Event back in November. Once again, Kidd was his opponent, but Zayn was on the losing end in both outings.
Still, it’s surely worth something that he’s been featured on Main Event. No other NXT star has been used on the main roster as frequently as Zayn, not even then-Champion Neville.
Perhaps this is a sign that of all the guys down in Orlando, Zayn is the one that the WWE rates most highly
2. He’s Quite The Traveller
Zayn and Neville cite themselves and the trouble-makers responsible for getting soccer banned backstage at NXT, for what Neville refers to as “health and safety” reasons. Zayn remains just as coy about the subject, claiming that “we did nothing wrong” as such, but what they did do “could look bad”.
Of course, as far as backstage pro wrestling shenanigans go, playing soccer is hardly the most controversial of pastimes. But it strikes me as a fitting anecdote that Zayn, given the character he portrays on screen, gets in trouble backstage simply for having too much fun.
While discussing his ongoing programme with Neville in NXT, Zayn revealed that he and the Geordie star had actually wrestled in an incredible total of 14 different countries.
The list includes Canada, USA, Puerto Rico, Japan, Spain, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria, France, and one final nation that Zayn and Neville neglected to mention.
Records like that demonstrate the oxymoron that NXT presents. These guys are deemed to be the newcomers and rookies of the business, but their indie history means that they’re often amongst the most experienced guys in the WWE locker room.
Joining the company with such storied careers can only be a good thing for these “rookies”, suggesting that they’re more than capable of surviving and thriving once they make it to the big time.
1. He Got Soccer Banned At NXT
We finish with another snippet from the Talk is Jericho podcast, after Sami Zayn revealed that his fun-loving on-screen persona permeates beyond the ring and into his backstage shenanigans.
Zayn and Neville cite themselves and the trouble-makers responsible for getting soccer banned backstage at NXT, for what Neville refers to as “health and safety” reasons. Zayn remains just as coy about the subject, claiming that “we did nothing wrong” as such, but what they did do “could look bad”.
Of course, as far as backstage pro wrestling shenanigans go, playing soccer is hardly the most controversial of pastimes. But it strikes me as a fitting anecdote that Zayn, given the character he portrays on screen, gets in trouble backstage simply for having too much fun.
It’s another piece of trivia that only further endears him to the WWE fans. And with Zayn as over as he currently is, surely it can’t be long until we see this man moving onto bigger and better things?
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