Sami Zayn’s Intercontinental Championship victory over Braun Strowman on Sunday night gave him his first championship in WWE since he won the NXT Championship back in 2014. The win seems long-overdue for Zayn, who was regarded as a fan-favorite throughout his time in NXT but struggled during his initial run on the Raw roster. In the years since he made the jump he’s challenged for the Intercontinental, United States and WWE Championship numerous times, but up until Sunday night he always came up short. Ironically the Strowman match was his first televised bout of 2020, as he had been pushed into a manager role since last August alongside Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.
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Both Zayn and his real-life best friend Kevin Owens had perfect reactions for his championship victory on social media.
— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) March 9, 2020
You can complain all you want about how he won it or his attitude but Sami being Intercontinental Champion is long overdue.
The fact that he won it after growing hair that rivals Wayne Gretzky’s in his heyday makes it worth the wait though.
I’m very proud of you, @SamiZayn. pic.twitter.com/4scJSRSYP9
— Kevin (@FightOwensFight) March 9, 2020
Zayn managed to put down the “Monster Among Men” when he nailed Strowman with a Heluva Kick while Cesaro and Nakamura held him upside down in a suplex position.
Strowman hasn’t responded on social media since dropping the title. Meanwhile Zayn cut a promo on WWE’s YouTube channel after the match saying his win was “one for the good guys.”
Elsewhere at Elimination Chamber Shayna Baszler defeated five other wrestlers inside the Elimination Chamber to earn a shot at Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship, Andrade retained his United States Championship against Humberto Carrillo (again), Owens helped the Street Profits retain the Raw tag titles against Seth Rollins & Murphy and The Miz & John Morrison held onto the SmackDown tag titles by winning their match inside the Elimination Chamber.
Check out the official card for WrestleMania 36 (so far) below. The event will take place on April 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
- WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
- WWE Universal Championship: Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns
- John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
- Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler
- NXT Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
