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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Mar 16, 2024 15:26:38 GMT -5
There's a whole host of reasons why Sami Zayn isn't as hot now as he was around this time last year. 1) A face is only as good as the heel he's chasing. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were in the midst of a main event feud with The Bloodline going into WrestleMania and in the immediate aftermath of WrestleMania, pretty much up until the rivalry concluded at Night of Champions with the win over Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. After that, they were left without a true challenger, so they kind of spun their wheels in one-offs against the likes of Pretty Deadly while not even being on the card for Money in the Bank or SummerSlam, before entering into an interminably long feud with the Judgment Day that lasted basically the rest of the year. 2) He didn't have a true built-in rivalry heading into WrestleMania season. If things held to form from what they appeared to be in January, we'd probably be getting the blow-off to a Sami Zayn/Drew McIntyre blood feud at WrestleMania XL. But after CM Punk was injured and the Raw main event was thrown into chaos, Zayn lost out on that match. Now that's not to say an Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther is a consolation prize. It'll be a great match and they have three weeks of television to build the match itself, but I understand why people are chilly on their reception to a match that was seemingly thrown together over the last week or two. 3) The fans last Monday were more supportive of Chad Gable. That makes sense, Gable's the one with the months-long rivalry with Gunther and he's been chasing that rematch since Gunther set the record. But as I said, there's still a chance to make Gunther-Sami matter with three weeks of television until the match. The saving grace is that there's a strong chance Gunther retains at WM and they'd still have the Gable rematch on tap, which would be a big moment no matter what PPV they do it on.
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Mar 16, 2024 17:37:17 GMT -5
There's a whole host of reasons why Sami Zayn isn't as hot now as he was around this time last year. 1) A face is only as good as the heel he's chasing. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were in the midst of a main event feud with The Bloodline going into WrestleMania and in the immediate aftermath of WrestleMania, pretty much up until the rivalry concluded at Night of Champions with the win over Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. After that, they were left without a true challenger, so they kind of spun their wheels in one-offs against the likes of Pretty Deadly while not even being on the card for Money in the Bank or SummerSlam, before entering into an interminably long feud with the Judgment Day that lasted basically the rest of the year. 2) He didn't have a true built-in rivalry heading into WrestleMania season. If things held to form from what they appeared to be in January, we'd probably be getting the blow-off to a Sami Zayn/Drew McIntyre blood feud at WrestleMania XL. But after CM Punk was injured and the Raw main event was thrown into chaos, Zayn lost out on that match. Now that's not to say an Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther is a consolation prize. It'll be a great match and they have three weeks of television to build the match itself, but I understand why people are chilly on their reception to a match that was seemingly thrown together over the last week or two. 3) The fans last Monday were more supportive of Chad Gable. That makes sense, Gable's the one with the months-long rivalry with Gunther and he's been chasing that rematch since Gunther set the record. But as I said, there's still a chance to make Gunther-Sami matter with three weeks of television until the match. The saving grace is that there's a strong chance Gunther retains at WM and they'd still have the Gable rematch on tap, which would be a big moment no matter what PPV they do it on. As much as we want GUNTHER to retain and move on. Wouldn't another loss on the big stage essentially seal the deal on Sami as a choker and a joke as a face? I mean, maybe honestly, Sami HAS to win the IC title here or his cred is done.
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Post by jabroni on Mar 16, 2024 17:47:21 GMT -5
Same thing that happened to Dolph Ziggler. You can only pretend to push a guy so many times before the fans stop believing.
Wrestling is a weird sport where it's almost superstitious, right? Finn Balor gets hurt by Seth Rollins and because Seth Rollins screws up, is never allowed to be World Champion again.
Why? Because we put the belt on you and you got hurt immediately and we got too many guys who don't get hurt that we haven't put the belt on yet. Now we have to spend the next 2 weeks rewriting storylines, booking new cards, and creating new promo material about Finn Balor being at a house show in Chicago next month.
Ziggler, if I recall correctly got a concussion almost immediately after becoming champ the first time. Bad look for the champ in a "tough guy" sport. Guy can't handle the load.
Suddenly, buried.
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Nosnorb
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Post by Nosnorb on Mar 16, 2024 18:01:01 GMT -5
The saving grace is that there's a strong chance Gunther retains at WM and they'd still have the Gable rematch on tap, which would be a big moment no matter what PPV they do it on. As much as we want GUNTHER to retain and move on. Wouldn't another loss on the big stage essentially seal the deal on Sami as a choker and a joke as a face? I mean, maybe honestly, Sami HAS to win the IC title here or his cred is done. Sami Zayn is a natural as an underdog, so he has that going for him at least. Having said that, his record in title matches as a singles guy is not good and there will come a point at which dude will go down as a bottle job if he keeps losing title matches.
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Post by LiamMcDuggle on Mar 16, 2024 18:14:46 GMT -5
Probably just getting that Rey Mysterio at #30 reaction. Build up an underdog babyface just to have another face take what fans think should be his spot likely won’t be received well. It's just poor story telling. I call it the "Rose (from Star Wars) effect". They built up a love interest between Finn and Rey, just to put swap in Rose, and then everyone at Star Wars HQ was shocked at the backlash. If you're going to start a story, you really should give fans a payoff. Switching protagonists halfway through is just not something you're taught to do in any literature class.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Mar 16, 2024 18:24:24 GMT -5
It’s this revolving door thing that people seem to want with wrestling pushes where everybody on the roster gets to have a turn because they all deserve it. Zayn’s had “his turn” last year with the Reigns feud and the WM main event, so now he’s apparently part of the problem because he’s in the way of the people who haven’t (Gable) through no fault of his own.
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asuka007
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Post by asuka007 on Mar 16, 2024 18:29:55 GMT -5
Simple:
1. Sami has already been IC Champ 3 times and with him it’s more “I want a Mania match, so I guess I’ll go after the IC Title.” This was after he was talking about proving his world champion level only like a month ago. Quite simply, a lot of fans think he’s moved past the IC Title.
2. Gable has a very personal and emotional story CENTERED around trying to beat Gunther and win that belt. His story is simply more compelling now.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Mar 16, 2024 18:35:13 GMT -5
Simple: 1. Sami has already been IC Champ 3 times and with him it’s more “I want a Mania match, so I guess I’ll go after the IC Title.” This was after he was talking about proving his world champion level only like a month ago. Quite simply, a lot of fans think he’s moved past the IC Title. 2. Gable has a very personal and emotional story CENTERED around trying to beat Gunther and win that belt. His story is simply more compelling now. The thing we have to remember though is that, if things played out as planned and nobody got injured or outed as an alleged accessory to sex trafficking, neither Zayn OR Gable would’ve been going for ANY title, because Gunther would’ve been defending against Lesnar, Zayn probably would’ve been fighting McIntyre in a non-title match (because Rollins would’ve been defending against Punk) and Gable would still have the exact same nothing he has right now.
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Post by sasqwatchers on Mar 16, 2024 19:56:21 GMT -5
They blew the fan support moments for Sami being dedicated to a largely overrated stable with only two moments of value in a years long program.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Mar 16, 2024 22:23:49 GMT -5
The saving grace is that there's a strong chance Gunther retains at WM and they'd still have the Gable rematch on tap, which would be a big moment no matter what PPV they do it on. As much as we want GUNTHER to retain and move on. Wouldn't another loss on the big stage essentially seal the deal on Sami as a choker and a joke as a face? I mean, maybe honestly, Sami HAS to win the IC title here or his cred is done. Sami's not necessarily cooked if he fails to beat Gunther, since the whole story has been that he's good, but often just comes very close until losing. Plus, the fact that there's a certain PPV about winning something that grants an instant title opportunity and it happens to be emanating from Sami's home country.
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Wieners=$$$
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Post by Wieners=$$$ on Mar 16, 2024 22:33:32 GMT -5
__________ Seriously, Sami is one of a handful of wrestlers I care about in WWE. Of he is happy and getting paid, then I will kindly (re)watch El Generico matches. Er... I mean.
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Renslayer
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Post by Renslayer on Mar 16, 2024 22:37:37 GMT -5
listening to fans online was his first mistake. everyone hates everything, so putting too much stock into their views is a mistake
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Wieners=$$$
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Post by Wieners=$$$ on Mar 16, 2024 22:39:58 GMT -5
listening to fans online was his first mistake. everyone hates everything, so putting too much stock into their views is a mistake And stop listening to those cheering kids Sami! Kick a guy in the dick already😁
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schma
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Post by schma on Mar 17, 2024 2:18:19 GMT -5
Hmmm.... I hate to say it but based on the replies so far. I guess it's time for Sami to back to the heel side. Then at least he has fun matches like maybe a rematch with Johnny Knoxville. He doesn't need to turn heel. He just needs something to sink his teeth into. If Drew gets the title, that will help as there's been a budding story there. Still, his losing streak in title matches is doing him no favours.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 17, 2024 2:41:02 GMT -5
Honestly, it's going to be a filler title defense for Gunther because A. them ending both Gunther AND Roman's title reigns in one Wrestlemania would be stupid and undermine both payoffs, B. If Roman doesn't lose, Gunther losing is going to be irrelevant, anyway, C. Sami has been IC champion multiple times and one of his story beats lately has been wondering if he can ever win the big one. This makes it MUCH more likely he and Drew, an existing rivalry, will be the plan down the line, that that is a much more realistic payoff for him, so, why care that strongly about this outside of just that it'll probably be a solid match?
I really do hope the takeaway for WWE here is to have Gable beat Gunther at Summerslam or a show in-between, to basically pay off the ordeal he's had to face to this point, some absolution for him. That, and whoever beats Gunther should be a workhorse, any way, and Gable's that to a T.
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Post by Mozenrath on Mar 17, 2024 2:46:10 GMT -5
The saving grace is that there's a strong chance Gunther retains at WM and they'd still have the Gable rematch on tap, which would be a big moment no matter what PPV they do it on. As much as we want GUNTHER to retain and move on. Wouldn't another loss on the big stage essentially seal the deal on Sami as a choker and a joke as a face? I mean, maybe honestly, Sami HAS to win the IC title here or his cred is done. I think beating GUNTHER might actually hurt him more here. Drew is probably going to beat Seth, Drew became what he is right now due to his intense hatred for Sami and Jey and their "redemption" meaning everyone is just cool with all the horrible shit they've done. Sami's big thing is whether or not he can win the big one. He's also won the IC title multiple times, and only one of those times is like even remotely memorable. If GUNTHER embarrasses him, then yes, it's not a net win for him, exactly, but GUNTHER's beaten lots of people. I don't think it'd even remotely get in the way of a Drew vs Sami title feud, especially since it just gives Drew something else to sneer at him about.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Mar 17, 2024 2:53:30 GMT -5
I feel like there are basically two possible ways Mania plays out.
1. Sami loses and that leads into him winning Money in the Bank.
2. Sami wins, is immediately cashed in on by Priest, and that leads into him winning Money in the Bank.
Former feels more likely, if only because being cashed in on on Raw by Priest works way more for Drew's character, but with how Priest has been occasionally involved in this storyline for no clear reason I could see the latter happening.
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Post by simplydurhamcalling on Mar 17, 2024 5:28:52 GMT -5
Wouldn't surprise me if Gable winds up in the match and it's a triple threat
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Post by polarbearpete on Mar 17, 2024 7:54:31 GMT -5
He still has the fan support and the crowd will be behind him at Mania. They just wanted Gable more for this particular story. But I do think Zayn may win at Mania, Gable either turns heel and beats Zayn or Gable beats the heel that beats Zayn.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Mar 17, 2024 8:23:51 GMT -5
I feel like there are basically two possible ways Mania plays out. 1. Sami loses and that leads into him winning Money in the Bank. 2. Sami wins, is immediately cashed in on by Priest, and that leads into him winning Money in the Bank. Former feels more likely, if only because being cashed in on on Raw by Priest works way more for Drew's character, but with how Priest has been occasionally involved in this storyline for no clear reason I could see the latter happening. I just love the idea of Drew's master hater run building up his negative karma, so to speak, that it comes back to bite him when he gets cashed in on, and I think Sami would be perfect for that.
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