Sami Zayn has the Undisputed WWE Championship back, and not everyone inside the company wanted it that way.
Zayn beat CM Punk on the September 11 SmackDown in Mexico City to end a reign of 67 days. The finish was busy. Kevin Owens, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae all got involved, and Zayn hit Punk with the title belt while the referee checked on Gargano before finishing with a Helluva Kick.
Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the switch was made for storyline reasons rather than anything behind the scenes, and that it will read better in hindsight.
With the Sami Zayn thing, the basic gist was they have a storyline that will make sense when you look back on it, is what I was told. When it’s all said and done this will all make sense. There was certainly people who were against it but they did it. And that was that.
The pairing has been going in circles all summer. Zayn won the title at Night of Champions, held it nine days, then lost it to Punk on the July 6 Raw in Punk’s return match in Chicago. He is now a two-time champion with a combined reign of under three months.
Owens has his own reason to be in the middle of it. He returned at SummerSlam after sitting out a neck injury that required surgery, and Zayn has cost him two shots at Punk since, most recently by causing a disqualification in a number one contender’s match involving Owens, Finn Balor and Gunther.
Fightful Select reports the SmackDown main event was produced by Bobby Roode and Shawn Daivari.
