Sami Zayn is scheduled to battle Solo Sikoa for the U.S. TItle on SmackDown this week. Zayn earned this opportunity after being traded from Raw and pinning Sikoa on two separate occasions in non-title matches. Zayn pinned Sikoa in a one on one title match on the August 8, 2025 episode of SmackDown, and he pinned Sikoa in a six-man tag match on the August 15, 2025 episode of SmackDown. Usually, when a challenger pins the champ, WWE implements 50:50 booking to assure that the champ retains when the title is on the line. However, the script should be flipped this Friday.
Sami Zayn's history with the Bloodline runs deep. Formerly known as Sami Uso, he has made The Bloodline more entertaining with his quick wit, relatable persona, and excellent storytelling abilities. He went toe to toe with the original Tribal Chief at Elimination Chamber in his hometown of Montreal back in 2023, which was the closest he was to winning the big chip. Now that he is battling the cosplay Tribal Chief for the U.S. Title, it is the perfect time to pull the trigger on a historic reign for Sami Zayn. Here are 3 reasons why Sami Zayn should dethrone Solo Sikoa this week on SmackDown.
(1) Sami Zayn is an underrated storyteller and master of his craft.
Sami Zayn is an underrated storyteller, as evidenced by his recent SummerSlam storyline with Karrion Kross. WWE executed this storyline in a perfunctory manner, as it received minimal time on TV to truly flesh out and felt like a start-stop storyline that never truly felt like a main attraction on the show. Furthermore, their match received the least amount of time on the SummerSlam card, even though it had more long-term storytelling than more than half of the matches on the card, especially that asinine Jelly Roll tag match that had no sufficient follow-through in the weeks after the PLE.
Despite how much WWE set up for the storyline between Zayn and Kross to fail, Zayn still made sure that the storyline felt important. If anyone knows how to turn chicken crap into chicken salad, it's Zayn. He elevated Kross to the point that the WWE fans wanted to see Kross re-sign with the WWE instead of being unceremoniously let go. He also developed his own character as the one guy who does not have to turn heel, sell his soul, or perform some immoral deed to get the top prize. This shows that Zayn can be thrown into any position in WWE and deliver, proving that he is championship material.
(2) Solo Sikoa's main feud with Jacob Fatu does not need the U.S. Title.
As for the champion, Solo Sikoa has had a boring and stale title reign thus far. He is still a bit green, as he did not spend ample time in NXT to work on his craft. Due to his association with the Bloodline, he got an accelerated push on the main roster and was expected to either sink or swim. Unfortunately, no matter how hard WWE tried to cover up his weaknesses with a ton of henchmen, he has sunken into the abyss and has even been outshined by Fatu in the process. In fact, Sikoa's current feud with Fatu actually does not need the U.S. title, as the massive heat between them speaks for itself.
It almost seems that Fatu did not even care about losing the U.S. Title. He cared more about losing to his arch nemesis, Solo Sikoa, who betrayed his trust in the Bloodline. Since he cares more about getting revenge on Sikoa rather than winning back the belt, Fatu should screw Sikoa out of the title match by helping Sami Zayn fend off any outside interferences from The Bloodline at ringside with help from Jimmy Uso. This would piss off Sikoa to the point that the huge blood feud he has with Fatu would ramp up some momentum on the road to WrestleMania and benefit greatly without the title.
(3) Sami Zayn needs the U.S. Title to get a step closer to the World Title.
On a final note, Sami Zayn needs the U.S. Title, which has eluded him during his career, to get one step closer to the World Title. The main event scene is crowded right now with the likes of CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Gunther, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, and now Brock Lesnar. Now that he is on a push to the top of the food chain in this company, Zayn can easily get lost in that shuffle, especially since he is on the verge of regaining momentum after missing WrestleMania this year and losing a plethora of big PLE matches and world title matches.
The U.S. Title would be his key to regaining that momentum, especially since he has more potential to become a future world champ than Solo Sikoa. Putting the U.S. Title on Zayn would undoubtedly be a wiser investment in the long term. Ultimately, the journey is more important than the destination. This is one of those situations in which fans could let this play out. Naysayers could even say that everyone is a hero in their own story. But when it comes to Sami Zayn, his push is long overdue; he has become a hero in the hearts of the fans, and now is his time to prove them right.
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