Mick Foley finally gave in to Sami Zayn’s request and granted him a 10 minute match with Braun Strowman this Sunday at WWE Roadblock: End of the Line. However, before the match, Foley had teased that he would trade Zayn to Smackdown LIVE for Eva Marie; a supposed litmus test to see if Sami had the fire to face off with Strowman.
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The reveal was nice, and both Zayn and Foley showed excellent passion, but none of this makes sense. Foley originally said he’d give Zayn any title match he wanted, just not a chance with Strowman.
Isn’t the entire point of wrestling to want to become the champion? Yes, I know wrestling fans have to suspend disbelief, and personal vendettas sometime trump championship aspirations, but any sane competitor, given the choice, would take a shot at the championship and leave the giant slaying for another day.
Also, if Strowman was as much of a killing machine as Foley claims he is, why would anyone be granted a match against the giant? Does Foley not care about Curtis Axel’s long term health? Or R Truth, even?
What is the long play for Zayn here? Ideally, he would get the classic David vs Goliath finish, toppling Strowman against all odds, but we all know that’s not happening. Strowman has been immensely protected since his debut, having never been pinned and only even covered once (by Chris Jericho before the brand split).
The best case scenario is that Zayn will look strong, last the 10 minutes, but not take a loss. A draw to Strowman would be immensely helpful to Zayn’s momentum on RAW while not setting the former Wyatt Family member back too much. This story could continue on through the next few pay per views with Zayn eventually picking up a victory.
Zayn beating Strowman, whevever it happens, will be a great straw in his cap, but Sami would have still been so much better off had he actually been traded to Smackdown LIVE.
After Dean Ambrose, the babyface side of the Smackdown roster gets really thin. Until his sinister turn at TLC, you could argue that James Ellsworth was actually the second most popular star on the brand.
There are no credible fan favorites outside of Dean to challenge AJ or The Miz (doing the best heel work of his career) for their prizes. Sami would actually slide in perfectly to the challenger role for either championship and could finally drop the “I’ll keep trying and losing until I finally beat you” underdog story cycle that he’s been on since winning the NXT championship from Neville in 2015.
Are you happy that Sami Zayn is staying on RAW or would he have been better off starring on the blue brand?
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