JBL is standing behind WWE’s call to put the world title on Sami Zayn, and he has little patience for the critics lining up against it. On his podcast Something to Wrestle, the WWE Hall of Famer answered the argument that Zayn’s championship moment arrived too late to matter, and set a clear deadline for judging whether the decision worked.
Zayn captured the Undisputed WWE Championship at Night of Champions on June 27 in Riyadh, beating Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a triple threat. His reign lasted nine days before CM Punk took the title from him on the July 6 episode of Raw.
JBL framed the whole debate around timing, pointing to the window WWE passed on years earlier. After Zayn turned on Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble and challenged him for the title in his hometown of Montreal, the crowd was, as JBL put it, about as white hot as it could get — but the title switch never came. The title switch never came.
“It was sort of predestined that that was going to be Cody’s year,” JBL said. “So the timing wasn’t right.”
He took direct aim at two of the loudest voices questioning the Zayn win. On Ariel Helwani, JBL was respectful but firm, granting that the criticism could age well while insisting nobody can call it yet. “He may be right. There’s no way of knowing for sure,” JBL said.
Vince Russo got a sharper response. Russo compared Zayn’s win to a participation trophy and to the infamous David Arquette title reign in WCW, a booking decision Russo himself was behind. JBL turned that into the punchline.
“He’s basically saying, ‘This one’s shitty like mine,’” JBL said. “That’s a pretty good argument.”
To make the case that doubted champions can pay off, JBL leaned on history he lived through. He was around WWE for the fan revolt over Daniel Bryan and the skepticism about Eddie Guerrero winning the title from Brock Lesnar, both of which became defining moments.
He tied it back to Dusty Rhodes, a massive draw the old guard once resisted booking because he did not look like their idea of a champion.
For JBL, Zayn’s track record settles the question of whether he belongs. “You can’t be that entertaining and not be really good at your craft,” he said of Zayn’s Bloodline run. “Everything he’s done, he’s been great at, and I think he’s going to be great at this too.”
His bottom line was a bet he is willing to have graded. “Sami Zayn, it’s worth a shot. And I think he’s gonna be good,” JBL said, before adding the only benchmark he cares about: “We’ll know 100 percent for sure within a couple months if this was the right thing or not.”
That verdict now plays out with the belt already off Zayn. He lashed out at Punk in a heated promo after the loss, leaving JBL’s optimism to be measured against a reign that ended almost as soon as it began.
