It’s been over six hours now, and I’m still kinda shocked that WWE actually went ahead and made Sami Zayn it’s Undisputed champion at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sat., June 27, 2026. I’m sure I’ll have many more thoughts on the well-deserved crowning of a performer I and many, many others have enjoyed watching for a decade or more. Eventually I may even get around to publishing some of those*, maybe about how Sami winning the big one just weeks after dismembering a “gingerbread
man” on SmackDown is once again proof that in this crazy business/artform/sport we love — the right story can elevate almost anyone, and the right story for the right performer can do… pretty much any damn thing.
Thankfully, many of Zayn’s co-workers and fellow pro wrestlers have found the words. And you’d rather read their thoughts anyway.
Within the business, Sami has an actual “ride or die”. Sure, the new WWE champ and Kevin Owens try to kill each other every few years. But in between they team up to cause chaos and/or save the day, depending on what Triple H wants or needs at the time.
KO was among the first to shout out his friend. Which since they’re men, includes a bit of the chops-busting we menfolk are apparently genetically required to do when praising another guy we love:
I’ve missed a lot of things I wish I hadn’t in the last 15 months because of this injury but today is, by far, the one I wish I had been there for the most.
He has brought out the best in me as both an ally and a foe. That’s because he is THE best.
When you’re consistently that good for that long, you become undeniable.
Sami becoming WWE Champion was inevitable. He has deserved that moment for a very long time and I am so happy to see him finally get it.
Now enjoy these pictures of me annoying him at various stages of our careers. The last one is him putting on my sock in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere in Texas because I thought I had broken my back the night before and could not move. He had to help me put on my boxers too.
Look how happy he is…
Now tell me he doesn’t deserve to be champion! @SamiZayn
Speaking of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, he’s been sitting in Gorilla Position for almost all Zayn’s big championship wins in WWE like his NXT, United States, and now this one.
The Chief Content Officer got another point pic with The Last Real Good Guy, which he shared along with some video of that moment.
On the Night of Champions Post Show, former WWE champ Big E shared his thoughts on Sami’s win. E’s been with the company even longer than Zayn and KO, which gives him a little different perspective on the former Ring of Honor, Chikara, and PWG star’s career. As a long-time El Generico-truther, I’d like to thank Large Epsilon for embracing Sami’s entire career despite shattering a few Nacho Libre-inspired kayfabe dreams:
“Sami’s overcome a lot of nevers. When I was in the locker room for the longest time, we knew who El Generico was, we knew about his work on the indies, but there was always, ‘He’s not the WWE mold. He’ll never be signed here.’
“He finally comes to WWE: ‘Okay, he’s a good hand. He can put on these great matches in the mid-card, but he’ll never be World Champion.’
“He broke through that glass ceiling that he was butting his head up against for all these years so many times to finally become WWE Champion.”
Others, like fellow WWE Grand Slam champion The Miz, Low-Key Legend Nattie Neidhart, and current TNA announcer Matthew Rehwoldt (fka Aiden English), offered their congratulations as well.
* If I make it through this weekend’s four-event gauntlet without losing my mind, or the ability to type.
Post any we missed or that came after publication time in the comments below. Along with your own congratulations for the champ, of course.
