WWE Raw: Sami Zayn Returns, Loses Intercontinental Championship Match Against Finn Balor

Sami Zayn returned to WWE television for the first time since his double rotator cuff surgery on Monday Night Raw this week, and wound up on the losing end of an Intercontinental Championship match against Finn Balor.Zayn opened up a segment on Raw asking anyone in the back to come out and give him a challenge, and after waiting a while Balor's music hit. Just before the bell rang, the announcer revealed the bout was for the Intercontinental Championship. Balor had won the title the previous night at WrestleMania 35 when, as "The Demon", he pinned Bobby Lashley in a four-minute match.

Zayn lost the match after missing a Helluva Kick and getting hit with a Coup de Grace. He took the microphone after the match and cut a promo on the crowd, saying he didn't miss the fans and that they made the company a toxic environment.

The WWE advertised Zayn as being close to returning back in December, but he refuted the claim in an interview on the Talk Is Jericho podcast shortly after.

"I'm not even close [to being cleared]. I need a few more months," Zayn said at the time. "I told myself early on. I said, 'I'm not even gonna think about this stuff 'til November.' Well it's November. It's also out of my hands," he continued. "If I'm still a few months away from coming back and I go, 'I've got this idea. I want to come back this way.' Then when it's actually time for you to comeback, it's math," he added. "Where does he factor in? OK, plug him in here and all these things you've been thinking about for three months, getting married to these ideas are gonna end in toil anyway."

Prior to his injury Zayn had been working as a heel alongside his best friend and former rival Kevin Owens. Together the two had terrorized SmackDown Live for Shane McMahon, eventually resulting in a tag match between Owens, Zayn, McMahon and a returning Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 34. The pair wound up as members of the Raw roster shortly after their feud with the McMahon ended, and Zayn turned his attention to a then-babyface Lashley. The feud wound up resulting in Lashley squashing Zayn in a match at Money in the Bank.

Owens returned from his own surgery back in February when Vince McMahon announced he would be Daniel Bryan's opponent for a WWE Championship match at Fastlane. Owens lost the bout, and has since appeared as a babyface on the Blue Brand.