Sami Zayn has made his career success with many different chapters getting to a relevant position. The independent run of Zayn under the name of El Generico with a luchador gimmick. Zayn did a great job getting signed by NXT and ditching the mask. The incredible matches and character journey of Zayn made NXT relevant before getting called up to the main roster.
Zayn has played effective characters in both the face and heel roles. The recent Intercontinental Championship reign of Zayn saw him defeating Braun Strowman and retaining at WrestleMania 36 against Daniel Bryan. Quite a few backstage stories about Zayn have come out like with most active wrestlers. Find out more about the talented superstar with some shocking tales about Zayn outside of the ring.
10 Clashing with WWE about virus shows
The biggest recent story about Sami Zayn saw him as one of the few names to refuse to attend the WWE tapings during the coronavirus era. Following his WrestleMania 36 win over Daniel Bryan, Zayn made the choice to stay home instead of traveling to shows.
WWE gave every talent that choice, but rumors claim the company was not happy about it since lives locally in Orlando. Zayn has expressed unhappiness over being stripped of the Intercontinental Champion as Bryan and AJ Styles will face off to crown a new champ.
9 Shane's son flipped him off during a segment
The rivalry of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs Shane McMahon went on for months as the top feud on Smackdown. Shane’s sons were sitting ringside and not too pleased about Zayn costing their father his match against Owens at Hell in a Cell 2017.
Cameras barely caught one of Shane’s kids flipping off Zayn afterward. Most viewers missed it since it wasn’t an obvious thing, but the kids got lost in the match. A few other wrestlers have dealt with the trash talk from Shane’s boys.
8 Banned from shows in Saudi Arabia
WWE’s Saudi Arabia shows always provide huge controversy with many people upset about it. The princes paying WWE huge money have been under fire for various forms of bigotry that extended to women not getting to perform until recently and other stars banned for disgraceful reasons.
Sami Zayn’s Syrian background caused him to get banned from appearing at the events. WWE has tried to avoid discussing this, but it remains one of the most controversial stories that fly under the radar for their image.
7 Vince didn't like his face character
Sami Zayn looked like the next big star in WWE after his outstanding run in NXT. The entire NXT stint saw Zayn playing a face character known as being the underdog of the underground. Zayn rose to the top and helped put NXT on the map.
The same character failed on the main roster due to Vince McMahon not liking it. Zayn seemed like an easy talent to book to fans that loved his NXT run, but Vince didn’t feel comfortable pushing him until the heel turn.
6 Intense video game losses
Sami Zayn has been known to be a bad sport when losing in video games. The Up Up Down Down channel hosted by Xavier Woods saw Zayn blaming various things whenever he is putting out a weak performance.
The Talk is Jericho podcast revealed stories of Zayn and Neville having competitive hockey video game matchups when living in the same region for NXT. Zayn would have meltdowns when losing to the point where other wrestlers liked to visit to witness it.
5 Was the heel in a heated ping pong game with Ho Ho Lun
WWE signed the young Ho Ho Lun out of Hong Kong due to his potential. The short run of Lun featured one extremely funny story about playing a close game of ping pong with Sami Zayn in the locker room before a show.
Chris Jericho revealed that he heard a huge commotion and went to see what everyone was yelling about. Zayn’s antics of showboating when winning and making excuses when losing caused the locker room to boo him. The group cheered loudly when Ho Ho defeated Zayn for the ultimate payoff.
4 Fan thought he was Zack Ryder
Sami Zayn shared a funny story about a strange interaction with Breaking Bad actor Jesse Paul and a fan. The location was Iceland where Zayn was hiking before running into Paul. Zayn referenced the WWE appearance of Paul to start a conversation.
A fan interrupted and asked to take a picture with them when seeing two different worlds of interest merging. The big ending was the fan asking Zayn if he was Zack Ryder after taking the picture.
3 Confronting cameraman during Swerved episode
One forgotten moment to come from the WWE reality show Swerved featured Sami Zayn getting upset with a cameraman. The prank saw Finn Balor claiming his phone was stolen during a fan tour event at the Performance Center.
Zayn confronted one of the cameramen still filming when head coach Matt Bloom asked everyone to stop filming to sell the reality of it. The heated moment saw Zayn demanding that he stop filming before the big reveal.
2 Upset veterans trying to plan out WM ladder match
Cody Rhodes shared a funny story about his first major match with Sami Zayn. Both wrestlers were involved in the opening ladder match at WrestleMania 32 for the Intercontinental Championship eventually won by Zack Ryder.
The frustration of Rhodes saw him annoyed at Zayn trying to lead the process of putting together the match despite being the new guy to the main roster. Zayn developed a polarizing reputation for doing this in any match he was passionate about.
1 Vince no-sold Sami's birthday greeting
Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho revealed one of the more fascinating stories about the experience working for Vince McMahon. Jericho and Zayn were standing together when Jericho wished Vince a happy birthday. The two had a nice moment before Zayn chimed in with a birthday greeting as well.
McMahon apparently reached with a groan not even saying anything back to Zayn. Jericho loved the story, but it showed just how peculiar Vince is about interacting with others. This added a little more momentum to the rumors of McMahon not being sold on Sami.