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Sami Zayn pledged his allegiance to The Bloodline at WWE's Survivor Series. He turned on his best friend, Kevin Owens, by low-blowing him and allowing the Bloodline to win inside War Games. Zayn was not always the Honorary Uce, at one point he was not even Sami Zayn. This is his story that has led him to become one of the biggest names in wrestling today.
Sami Zayn First Rose To Prominence As El Generico
The Quebec born star was trained by Savio Vega and Jerry Tuite at the FLQ promotion. He would debut in 2002 under the ring name Stevie McFly. In 2003, Zayn would debut for the International Wrestling Syndicate under a mask as El Generico.
El Generico was a masked luchador who debuted in IWS. As the story goes, he was an orphan from Tijuana who had to learn street life. After extensive training in fighting in order to protect the other children from being bullied he flew from Mexico. Reasons to why he left Mexico are unknown but possibly injuring a man with a botched brainbuster seems to be the cause.
This is the joke the internet wrestling community created surrounding El Generico’s presence as he was originally meant to be a jobber. The fans rallied behind this generic luchador and made him one of the most beloved stars on the independents. He quickly made a name for himself against the man that would become his best friend, Kevin Steen.
El Generico Had One Of Wrestling's Best Feuds With Kevin Steen In Ring Of Honor
El Generico and Steen would continue to make a splash in Canadian wrestling. In 2004, El Generico would wrestle for the top independent wrestling promotions in the US. El Generico and Steen would quickly establish themselves as a tag team and single stars in CZW. Both men would also get the call to the two hottest promotions at the time, PWG and ROH.
ROH became El Genrico’s most frequented promotion up to his WWE signing. Between 2005 and 2012 El Generico became one of ROH’s most celebrated stars. El Generico and Steen would even become the ROH World Tag Team Champions. After challenging Steen for the World Championship in a stunning ladder match, they won the Wrestling Observer Award for feud of the year. That would be El Generico’s last stint on the independents.
After Signing With NXT, Sami Zayn Was Born In WWE
In 2013, El Generico signed a WWE developmental contract and became Sami Zayn. What caught WWE’s attention was not his masked origins but his ability to speak several languages. Zayn is from Quebec but is the son of two Syrian immigrants. This was quickly spotlighted on Zayn’s NXT debut, cutting a promo in English, French, and Arabic.
After a year of competing in NXT he would capture the NXT Championship at Takeover R Evolution. That same night his friend turned foe, Kevin Owens, formerly Kevin Steen, would attack Zayn. Owens would soon enough challenge Zayn, winning the title due to referee stoppage.
Sami Zayn Had An Up And Down Run On WWE's Main Roster
Sami Zayn would be transitioned to a main roster spot after a tremendous send off Takeover match with Shinsuke Nakamura. When RAW landed in Montreal he would be introduced by Bret Hart to challenge John Cena for the United States Championship. However, would suffer a shoulder injury during his entrance and would not return until the 2016 Royal Rumble.
The hatred between Zayn and Owens would continue through the spring and summer. This would include two critically underrated singles matches with Owens at that year's Payback and Battleground.
In the following years, Sami would continue to put on stellar matches and moments, but his character lacked direction. This was the catalyst of a new persona, “the master strategist”. Zayn would win the Intercontinental Championship multiple times, but was still looking for his big break.
Sami Zayn Joined The Bloodline In The Best WWE Storyline Of The Year
In 2022, after an entertaining match with Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania 38, Zayn would move into the biggest role of his career, the Honorary Uce. Sami wanted to team alongside The Bloodline rather than be an enemy, to much hesitation by Jey Uso, Reigns would allow Zayn to hang out around them for weeks. Eventually, through Zayn’s witty personality Roman would officially induct him into the family as the Honorary Uce.
At Survivor Series there were many questions on if he would turn against The Bloodline. Zayn displayed the biggest act of loyalty by instead turning on Owens and allowing The Bloodline to get the win. As the weeks and months continue we will have to watch to see if Sami Zayn continues to side with The Bloodline, because as loyal as he is to them, they will also have to be loyal to their Honorary Uce.