Why Sami Zayn Will Inevitably Become WWE's Top Guy

We may be currently in the age of the Roman Empire, but Sami Zayn will eventually boil up to the surface.

Sami Zayn will become WWE’s next top guy… after Roman Reigns’ run at the top as the face of the company comes to an end within the next five-to-seven years. That’s not to discredit Reigns’ longevity; there’s simply historical precedence to this. WWE will doubtedly see another run long and profitable as John Cena’s, who in his own right, surpassed Hulk Hogan’s ten-year tenure from 1983 to 1993. And after Reigns’ current suspension trouble, his viability as the face of WWE, while not in serious jeopardy, does take a significant hit.

Reigns will most likely headline Wrestlemanias 33, 34, and 35. That is a virtual certainty given the amount of resources, money, and TV time WWE has invested into him. He is Vince’s guy for as long as Vince remains the head honcho of the company. But what happens after that? WWE will probably enter another transitional era, such as the New Generation, the Ruthless Aggression era, and the Reality era, which served as the bridge in between the Rock N’ Wrestling Connection to the Attitude to the PG and finally to the current New Era. It will be during this transitional period of time in between where Sami Zayn will rise and ultimately become Roman Reigns’ successor.

must read: 5 Reasons Roman Reigns Suspension Booking is Embarassing

Wrestlemania X closed with Bret Hart overcoming Yokozuna and winning the WWE Championship

Although Hulk Hogan dominated the WWE during his time and headlined eight of the first ten Wrestlemanias (I, 2, III, V, VI, VI, VII, and VIII; nine if you include the impromptu title match at IX), Wrestlemania X closed with Bret Hart overcoming Yokozuna and winning the WWE Championship, followed by a massive celebration that featured the entire locker room.

the final image of Wrestlemania XX had Eddie Guerrero holding the WWE Championship and Chris Benoit holding the World Heavyweight Title

While Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock battled it out during the Attitude Era for the billing of WWE’s top star, come Wrestlemania XX, neither of the two were the guys anymore; Rock had already left for Hollywood the year prior, and Austin quietly retired from in-ring after Wrestlemania XIX. Instead, the final image of Wrestlemania XX had Eddie Guerrero holding the WWE Championship and Chris Benoit holding the World Heavyweight Title, before embracing each other in a shower of confetti. Unfortunately, due to the horrible circumstances regarding Benoit, WWE has taken the necessary measures and no longer acknowledges him, as they rightly should; these days, the lasting image of Wrestlemania XX is Eddie Guerrero and the WWE Championship.

at Wrestlemania XXX, it was Daniel Bryan holding the same two titles at the end of the night that Eddie and Benoit held ten years prior

John Cena carried the company on his back and was arguably the biggest star in all of professional wrestling from 2005 to 2013, having countless big time matches and headlining six Wrestlemanias (22, 23, XXVII, XXVIII, and 29), however, at Wrestlemania XXX, Cena was in the mid-card in a feud with Bray Wyatt, and instead, it was Daniel Bryan, having wrestled in the opening match and in the main event (similarly to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania X) holding the same two titles at the end of the night that Eddie and Benoit held ten years prior at Wrestlemania XX.

at each of the tenth anniversary Wrestlemanias: X, XX, and XXX, it was a wrestler holding the richest prize in all of wrestling, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

The one thing in common between Bret, Eddie, and Bryan? Wrestlers. In the purest sense of the word, the three exemplified what a professional wrestler was; not a sports-entertainer, but a wrestler. They were all journeymen, they were all undersized, but they were all incredible wrestlers with legions of fans. And at each of the tenth anniversary Wrestlemanias: X, XX, and XXX, it was a wrestler holding the richest prize in all of wrestling, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Say what you will about the direction wrestling goes during certain times in history; it had gotten extremely cartoonish due to the Golden Age, or the in-ring quality had been diluted thanks to the emphasis of ratings during the Attitude era, or fans bickering about Cena’s wrestling ability. Despite all that, every ten years, WWE seemingly celebrates the wrestler and has proven it with their coronation of Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Daniel Bryan.

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Triple H will also have the knowledge of learning from the company’s past mistakes with Zayn’s two predecessors: CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Although both reached the pinnacle in WWE, it’s a fair assessment to say that WWE pulled the trigger too late on both Punk and Bryan. Punk debuted in WWE in 2006 and toiled away in the mid-card, and at best, held the 1B championship (the World Heavyweight Title), doing this for five years before he defeated John Cena and captured the WWE Championship in 2011.

WWE did the same thing with Bryan; they signed him in 2009 and brought him up to the main roster in 2010, but didn’t pull the trigger on a serious singles push until 2013, when Bryan also defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship. Bryan would then enter a long feud with the Authority that culminated in him winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title in 2014, but in hindsight, it turned out to be one Bryan’s last matches towards the end of his career, before ultimately retiring in 2016. WWE cannot afford to make this same mistake a third time with Sami Zayn. They must see Zayn’s value and ability now and prepare to take the necessary steps to groom him into that top position, otherwise they’ll have yet another “too little, too late” situation as they did with Punk and Bryan.

In NXT, Sami Zayn managed to do something that was thought to be increasingly difficult to do in today’s wrestling and that was to get over as a true babyface. Not as an anti-hero like Austin or CM Punk, or a polarizing figure like Cena and Reigns, but the tried-and-true babyface akin to Hogan and Bret. Zayn was getting reactions from the audience in 2014 that rivaled that of Daniel Bryan’s during Bryan’s storyline against The Authority, albeit on a much smaller scale. Zayn’s NXT championship celebration was reminiscent of Bret Hart’s at Wrestlemania X.

While Zayn has to do it all over again and get over on the main roster, there have been glimpses of what can be. Certain crowds boisterously sing along to his infectiously-catchy entrance theme as they did at Wrestlemania 32, and the following night on Raw; a unanimous noise of approval you can’t ignore that Roman Reigns with his current struggles with fan acceptance can only dream to have.

Since his debut on the main roster, Zayn has consistently had good matches and great matches on PPV (his match of the night against Kevin Owens at Payback and the Fatal 4-Way match for the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules come to mind). He’s got a proven track record of delivering in big time pressure situations. And as a result, the mainstream crowd is slowly but surely starting to appreciate the self-proclaimed “Underdog from the Underground”.

Zayn will likely wrap up this current chapter in his long-standing rivalry with Kevin Owens at Battleground or Summerslam, and from there embark on his road to the top. He’ll probably hang around the mid-card, challenging for the United States or Intercontinental Championships and steal the show with whoever he’s working with, and there’s a lot of talent he can work with. Zayn will scratch the main event title picture here and there and come close. He’ll be doing this for the next several years, especially with the influx of NXT talent that will undoubtedly get called up.

Next: WWE Wrestlemania 33: Match Card Projections

Zayn has time on his side and all the time in world. Age means nothing. He’s only 31 years old. Bret Hart was brought into WWE in 1985 and didn’t have that crowning moment at Wrestlemania X until his ninth year in. Eddie wrestled for 17 years before having the confetti rain on him at Wrestlemania XX. Daniel Bryan captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XXX in the twilight of his career. Don’t be surprised if we see Sami Zayn holding up the most important championship in all of professional wrestling at the end of Wrestlemania XL.

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Why Sami Zayn Will Inevitably Become WWE’s Top Guy

By AJ Balano | Jul 8, 2016

We may be currently in the age of the Roman Empire, but Sami Zayn will eventually boil up to the surface.

More from Daily DDT