Sami Zayn won the WWE Title a long ways away from his prime babyface years, and since the world was still so invested into him as a performer despite the overall trajectory of the company itself or his individual booking, the title win was still electric because heβs that great. After an incredibly strange βheelβ run where he went over the Carmelo/Ilja before spiraling into four weeks of Gingerbread Man lore, Sami somehow emerged with something that felt genuine.
Sami Zayn still found a way to make the βLast Real Good Guyβ character work both in and out the ring. CM Punk has been 1A as my favorite wrestler ever since I was younger, and I canβt sit here and pretend to be angry that he just won the WWE Title in a great TV match after just having one of the best matches of the year at WrestleMania. Itβs just unfortunate that the biggest moment of the character Sami Zaynβs story, the climax of everything that heβs built towards for over a decade, is gone just like that. What should've been the payoff to everything he'd fought for instead became a 200-hour transition.
Amazing match by the way, obviously.
God, man. TKO fucking reeks and thereβs definitely conversations to be had about that, but above all else this feels like when The New Day left and thereβs just 400 million potential matchups that immediately blow my mind. Sheamus, kick Brody Kingβs fucking head off, dude.