Sami Zayn: Current WWE Run Is Some Of the Best Stuff I've Ever Done
‘The Great Liberator’ is relishing his current role on SmackDown
Feb 19, 2021
Sami Zayn believes his current run in WWE is amounting to some of the best work he has ever done in the business.
The former NXT champion is relishing his current role as a conspiracy theorist since losing the Intercontinental Championship to Big E at the end of 2020, saying the growth into his current character has happened organically over the last few weeks.
Speaking to FOX Sports, Zayn said: "I think I am doing some of the best stuff I’ve ever done. Definitely in terms of mic work and stuff like that. I feel like this is definitely me at my best right now.
"I kind of had an idea because of the way things left off, how I would return and what kind of story I’d be plugged into, but, from there, things have just kind of spiralled organically into this, I’d say, evolution, but it’s almost like a de-evolution. I’m just coming undone. I’m looking shaggy and frantic and narcissistic, a conspiracy theorist who is deranged that thinks everyone is out to get him. It kind of happened organically over this time, ever since I’ve been back, but I’ve really been enjoying it."
Zayn includes his work with Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro in the bracket of some of the best work of his career; a period in which the 36-year-old won the Intercontinental Championship from Braun Strowman, before successfully defending it at WrestleMania 36 against Daniel Bryan.
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He continued: "I was really, really proud of the work I did from, really, maybe August of 2019 when I first started aligning with Shinsuke and I first started calling myself ‘The Great Liberator’ and all that stuff. Even though I wasn’t in the ring a bunch, a lot of the stuff we were doing on live events, I felt like I was getting crazy reactions.
"People just wanted to rip my head off. And the best thing is, we were doing something you don’t do a lot, in WWE especially, because usually, it’s, ‘Okay, this person gets you angry. Just wait a few minutes and he’ll get his.’ I just never got mine. I would skate away on every show and it was incredible.
“People just expected me to get beat up at the end of the match, and I wouldn’t, and Shinsuke would win and we would leave victorious. It was so amazing. The heat we got was just so awesome. Sadly, some of my favourite work from that time period is all on live events, I don’t think it’ll ever see the light of day. But, I was so proud of so much of that stuff we were doing there.
"Then it was good enough where even though I wasn’t in a wrestling role, the Intercontinental Championship lands in my lap, which is a little bit of a dream come true because it’s well documented that’s sort of the workhorse championship and it’s kind of the one that a lot of guys like me want to win. So, that was very nice to win and then to have that match with Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, all that stuff was great.
"Then doing the stuff on the other side, it was great. Even the stuff with Big E now, with the conspiracy, it all feels really good to me. Maybe I really am just egomaniacal, but I really feel like I’m doing good stuff and I’m enjoying it.”