Sami Zayn won his first world title at Night of Champions. (Credit: Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
Sami Zayn did it. He finally did it.
At WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, the former Intercontinental Champion won his first world title on his tenth attempt. In one of the most shocking world championship wins in WWE history, Zayn defeated Cody Rhodes and Gunther to win the WWE Championship after more than a decade in WWE.
Who saw that one coming? Hardly anyone, really, especially with Zayn having to overcome Gunther and Rhodes, two of WWE’s most pushed stars, to do it. But alas, WWE ultimately decided that a major shakeup was needed after the company had, creatively speaking, run into a brick wall in recent months.
Zayn’s WWE title win in Riyadh, a rare unexpected world title upset, completely upended WWE’s main event scene in the three seconds it took Zayn to pin Rhodes. And boy oh boy, was it needed.
Original Plans For Sami Zayn’s WWE Title Win
According to Cory Hays of False Finish, WWE originally hoped to have Zayn win a world title at next year’s WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia:
But recent developments in the booking of Zayn’s heel-ish character obviously forced WWE’s hand. Over the past few months, Zayn had done an excellent job of teetering the line between loathed villain and fan favorite, and he was rewarded accordingly for his stellar work.
While WWE may have moved up Zayn’s once-planned world title nearly a year to Night of Champions, that creative pivot may have been a blessing in disguise for WWE’s entire main event scene.
CM Punk Vs. Cody Rhodes Doesn’t Need The WWE Title
Despite questions about his status with WWE, CM Punk is reportedly returning soon and is planned for a move to SmackDown and potential immediate feud with Cody Rhodes.
Prior to WWE Night of Champions, the widespread expectation was that Punk would instantly challenge Rhodes for the WWE title as SmackDown’s top SummerSlam match. The possibility of that dream match is still wide open, only with one likely caveat: it won’t be for the WWE Championship.
Rhodes, of course, has dominated the WWE title scene for much of the past three years while Punk just lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns back in April. There is a real argument to be made that fan burnout from Rhodes and Punk in the title scene would hinder a WWE title feud between the two.
Now, however, a WWE championship rivalry between Rhodes and Punk isn’t at all necessary. Punk and Rhodes can easily feud without a title involved, create a main event level non-title feud and open up the world title picture for a few new main event faces.
Who Will Oba Femi Choose To Face At WWE SummerSlam?
Speaking of new faces in new places, Oba Femi won the King of the Ring tournament at WWE Night of Champions, and with that victory comes a guaranteed world title match at SummerSlam.
Femi’s career-defining win will undoubtedly be affected by Zayn’s first-ever world title victory. Whether or not Femi challenges Zayn directly is an entirely different question. An obvious SummerSlam path for Femi is that he challenges Zayn at SummerSlam and destroys him, securing his first world title less than eight months into his run on the main roster.
Another possible title path? Zayn loses the WWE title to, say, Brock Lesnar at next month’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in Madison Square Garden, setting up Lesnar vs. Femi III for the WWE title at SummerSlam. There, Femi would likely defeat and retire Lesnar, cementing himself as a world champion and arguably WWE’s biggest star.
That wouldn’t be shocking given that Triple H recently told Stephen A. Smith (h/t Wrestling Inc) that “Oba Femi is going to be as big as anybody has ever been in this business.” A SummerSlam title win would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal, but Femi might have to overcome someone else to do it.
Is Femi vs. Roman Reigns the planned direction for SummerSlam? That’s certainly a realistic possibility, one that seems more likely after Zayn’s shocking WWE title win at SummerSlam. Regardless, Zayn’s wildly shocking WWE Championship has seemingly ignited a major creative reshuffling of what fans expected to see at SummerSlam.
Now, the once stale WWE main event pictures on both Raw and SmackDown don’t feel that way at all. Instead, they are as intriguing as they have been at any point in recent memory, which couldn’t come at a more perfect time as SummerSlam quickly approaches.