WWE SmackDown: Sami Zayn is Ready to Be a Star

Sami Zayn moving to SmackDown will be a turning point in his career.

On Tuesday night, Sami Zayn made his debut on SmackDown Live, courtesy of the Superstar Shakeup. He made the move with multiple former Raw Superstars, including Kevin Owens, Rusev and Charlotte. However, Zayn will be the Superstar that benefits from the move the most.

Zayn wasn’t treated poorly on Raw, but he had a low ceiling that he just could not break through, despite his incredible talent. He was stuck in feuds with guys like Braun Strowman. The Strowman feud was big for Sami, as it garnered a lot of sympathy for him and let him out his selling skills on display. However, it was a feud he could never win. That’s largely how things felt for Zayn on Raw.

On SmackDown, Zayn is going to be given the opportunity. You could argue that the opportunity has already started.

Shortly after Zayn and Owens debuted, SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan made a Triple Threat Match to determine the No. 1 Contender to Owens’ United States Championship. That match main evented SmackDown, and it featured Zayn, AJ Styles and Baron Corbin.

Zayn, having been given his first shot at a proper main roster main event spot, made the most of it. He was all over the place. He pulled out all the stops to impress everybody watching and he did just that. He was made. He had only been on SmackDown for two hours and he was made.

Moving forward, it’s hard to know where Zayn is going. After the No. 1 Contender Match was won by Styles, it appears that Zayn could end up feuding with Corbin. That’s another feud that Zayn is unlikely to come out on top of, but, at the very least, it’s going to get a higher spot on the marquis on SmackDown than any of Zayn’s feuds on Raw.

They could save that for later, though. If they decide they’d rather get some steam behind him first, there are better ways to go.

A fun feud for Sami could be Jinder Mahal. Mahal is a good heel that can go in the ring (Finn Balor’s concussion notwithstanding).

Feeding off Sami’s babyface energy, the two of them could open the next two or three SmackDown PPVs with fun opening matches. SmackDown has proven that their feuds can, at the very least, stay coherent and interesting for a two PPV stretch. Even if they’re not always great, they can get to the match and let the guys in the ring take it from there.

One thing that has to happen before any of that is that Zayn has to drop the neurotic character. He was himself in NXT and it got over like crazy. On Raw, he’s been neurotic and annoying. That had to stop.

It’s a shame that a talent like Zayn couldn’t make it on Raw, but it’s got more to do with the show than him. SmackDown is the land of AJ Styles, which is what opens a lane for Sami to make his way to the top.

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It should happen. It has to happen. Zayn is a megastar just waiting to shine. WWE just has to let it happen.