Post by Chairshot on Jan 20, 2017 12:20:53 GMT -5
www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2017/1/20/14336074/sami-zayn-backstage-heat-raw-segment-roman-reigns-seth-rollins-designed-bury-observer-report
Did you enjoy the backstage segment where Sami Zayn tried and failed to strategize for Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns before their trios main event on the Jan. 16 episode of Monday Night Raw? Were you excited to see the former NXT champion featured prominently throughout the show, even if he (predictably, given the star power of those around him) took the pin in the six-man tag with Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman and the two former Shield members?
Jokes on you, apparently.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required but recommended), Dave Meltzer reports the backstage scene embedded above between Sami, Roman & Seth was not intended to make anyone look good or even provide backstory for their match, but was specifically for the purpose of “getting Zayn under”, because “Zayn does have heat on him right now”.
As you can probably tell by the tone of my opening paragraph, while I get that the exchange between these three Superstars was intended to make Sami look like “a total geek”, I thought it was a fun bit. I’ll also never understand how being presented as the third most important babyface singles wrestler, even a distant third, on the biggest wrestling show on Earth is a bad thing. And, from the time the tag main event was announced, most wrestling fans knew who was taking the pin - and we didn’t need a backstage heat report to make that prediction.
But, I’ve also been following wrestling and WWE long enough to believe Meltzer’s report (or at least that one of Dave’s sources close to the situation believes it to be true). So what might the source of this heat be?
The Observer doesn’t specify, but there are a couple of fairly evident possibilities.
Many have pointed to a few Tweets from this past weekend during WWE Network’s United Kingdom Championship Tournament (UKCT). The Tournament’s official account tagged the Likeable One on this GIF of HC Dyer using one of Sami’s signature moves, a Blue Thunder Bomb, on Trent Seven during the tourney’s opening match:
"WWE UK Championship @wweukct
Channeling @ilikesamizayn is @hcpledge with the unique version of the #BlueThunderBomb! #WWEUKCT"
And he re-Tweeted it, with a comment:
"Sami Zayn ✔ @ilikesamizayn
Why imitate when you can create?"
Injured WWE star TJ “Tyson Kidd” Wilson responded with what a lot of people were thinking - basically, you didn’t invent the move, Sam, so who are you to talk?
"TJ Wilson
You created the blue thunder bomb?? Does Jun Akiyama know this??"
There were subsequent, since deleted, Tweets between Wilson and fans that could have been interpreted as meaning their exchange wasn’t entirely playful. When you factor in how the UKCT is another of Triple H’s personal projects, it’s not hard to see how publicly criticizing any element of it could get you in some hot water with the brass.
Another possibility - which given the content of the segment in question, seems more likely to me - is Zayn’s reputation as a guy who’s basically a pain in Creative’s ass. Jim Cornette has spoken of how every Ring of Honor booker (including Adam Pearce, who’s now backstage with WWE) told him they spent the majority of their time dealing with Sami and KO’s “various issues and ideas and problems and complaints”. Owens himself tells stories of Zayn rubbing people wrong backstage with his advice, including on Talk is Jericho where he pretty much said his friend had heat around the time of WrestleMania 32 for analyzing and offering feedback on everything in which he’s involved.
Again, I question how much of a punishment a major Raw angle is, but even though he got some spotlight this Monday, it’s worth asking what this might mean for Sami’s future.
There doesn’t appear to be much for Sami going forward into Mania season. He’s pretty clearly lost the Strowman feud, and isn’t booked for Royal Rumble. It could be we’ve only seen phase one of “Operation: Get Zayn Under”.
Time will tell.
Jokes on you, apparently.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required but recommended), Dave Meltzer reports the backstage scene embedded above between Sami, Roman & Seth was not intended to make anyone look good or even provide backstory for their match, but was specifically for the purpose of “getting Zayn under”, because “Zayn does have heat on him right now”.
As you can probably tell by the tone of my opening paragraph, while I get that the exchange between these three Superstars was intended to make Sami look like “a total geek”, I thought it was a fun bit. I’ll also never understand how being presented as the third most important babyface singles wrestler, even a distant third, on the biggest wrestling show on Earth is a bad thing. And, from the time the tag main event was announced, most wrestling fans knew who was taking the pin - and we didn’t need a backstage heat report to make that prediction.
But, I’ve also been following wrestling and WWE long enough to believe Meltzer’s report (or at least that one of Dave’s sources close to the situation believes it to be true). So what might the source of this heat be?
The Observer doesn’t specify, but there are a couple of fairly evident possibilities.
Many have pointed to a few Tweets from this past weekend during WWE Network’s United Kingdom Championship Tournament (UKCT). The Tournament’s official account tagged the Likeable One on this GIF of HC Dyer using one of Sami’s signature moves, a Blue Thunder Bomb, on Trent Seven during the tourney’s opening match:
"WWE UK Championship @wweukct
Channeling @ilikesamizayn is @hcpledge with the unique version of the #BlueThunderBomb! #WWEUKCT"
And he re-Tweeted it, with a comment:
"Sami Zayn ✔ @ilikesamizayn
Why imitate when you can create?"
Injured WWE star TJ “Tyson Kidd” Wilson responded with what a lot of people were thinking - basically, you didn’t invent the move, Sam, so who are you to talk?
"TJ Wilson
You created the blue thunder bomb?? Does Jun Akiyama know this??"
There were subsequent, since deleted, Tweets between Wilson and fans that could have been interpreted as meaning their exchange wasn’t entirely playful. When you factor in how the UKCT is another of Triple H’s personal projects, it’s not hard to see how publicly criticizing any element of it could get you in some hot water with the brass.
Another possibility - which given the content of the segment in question, seems more likely to me - is Zayn’s reputation as a guy who’s basically a pain in Creative’s ass. Jim Cornette has spoken of how every Ring of Honor booker (including Adam Pearce, who’s now backstage with WWE) told him they spent the majority of their time dealing with Sami and KO’s “various issues and ideas and problems and complaints”. Owens himself tells stories of Zayn rubbing people wrong backstage with his advice, including on Talk is Jericho where he pretty much said his friend had heat around the time of WrestleMania 32 for analyzing and offering feedback on everything in which he’s involved.
Again, I question how much of a punishment a major Raw angle is, but even though he got some spotlight this Monday, it’s worth asking what this might mean for Sami’s future.
There doesn’t appear to be much for Sami going forward into Mania season. He’s pretty clearly lost the Strowman feud, and isn’t booked for Royal Rumble. It could be we’ve only seen phase one of “Operation: Get Zayn Under”.
Time will tell.