Report: Sami Zayn Ready to Return to In-Ring Action

Sami Zayn is ready to roll for the first time in months, according to a new report.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer reported this week that the former NXT Champion was "ready to return" after getting surgery on both rotator cuffs back in June.

Zayn is right on schedule with his recovery based on an interview he gave with WWE.com after getting his first of two surgeries.

"Because of the timeline, I'd love to be in the mix for WrestleMania season; that's the most exciting time of the year for all of us. I think timeline wise, I should be ready in time for WrestleMania, so fingers crossed," Zayn said at the time.

Back in mid-December the WWE ran promos stating that both Zayn and Kevin Owens would be back on the main roster "soon." However, Zayn stated days later in an interview with Chris Jericho that he wasn't close to coming back.

"I'm not even close [to being cleared]. I need a few more months," Zayn said.

"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."

Owens returned on this week's SmackDown Live and was quickly inserted into the WWE Championship match at Fastlane, though no mention was made of Zayn throughout the show. Even though Owens was brought in to replace fan-favorite Kofi Kingston in the title match (which the fans did not like), he still played the babyface role throughout the show — something he hasn't done since his first night in NXT.

"I'm going to address something that a lot of people have an issue with, and it's the fact that I'm taking Kofi Kingston's place in this match at Fastlane after more than earned his spot in that match," Owens said in a backstage interview after the show. "And that's totally fair. Look I'm not blind, I'm not deaf. I've been watching for the five months, but more importantly I've been watching for the last two weeks and I've seen this phenomenon. I've seen it happen. They call it 'KofiMania,' every year I call WrestleMania 'KOMania,' seems like the road to WrestleMania right now is 'KofiMania.' And look, he deserves that title match at Fastlane, he does