Jonathan Coachman is once again defending himself against accusations that he’s biased against Sami Zayn, this time after Zayn reclaimed the Undisputed WWE Championship from CM Punk.
A fan on X asked why Coachman always seems to have something negative to say about Zayn. Coachman pushed back on the framing entirely. He argued that people misunderstand what he’s actually saying because they don’t grasp how storylines and character perception work in wrestling, something he said he speaks to from real experience sitting in production meetings for thousands of shows.
Ok I will keep trying to engage when I see something. This is the problem a lot of you have. You think I have an issue with his success. You clearly don’t know anything about how storylines and intrigue is done in wrestling. I speak from a place of being in the meetings for thousands of shows.
His core argument centers on believability. He compared it to a hypothetical version of The Rock who was undersized for the role, arguing the name and aura wouldn’t make sense on a smaller frame. By that same logic, he said lower-tier titles exist because not every wrestler is built, in a presentational sense, to be positioned as a top world champion.
It’s about perception and if you want people to believe in someone or something it has to make sense. If the Rock was 6 feet 200 pounds being called the Rock wouldn’t make any sense. There is a reason there are lower titles because not everybody’s made to be a world champion.
He insisted his comments have never been personal or about wanting Zayn, or anyone, to fail. He said wrestling is a small business and he genuinely wants everyone in it to succeed, despite not knowing Zayn personally.
His real point, he said, is about constructing a show with characters the audience finds believable in their given roles and nothing more.
So instead of just reading headlines actually listen to what we say in our shows it has nothing to do with anyone or anybody success. I want everybody to be successful. It’s a very small business. I want Sammy to be successful. I don’t know him personally.
“But this is about putting together a show with characters that are believable in that space that’s it.
Zayn regained the title after ending CM Punk’s reign, which had itself ended Zayn’s first run at nine days.
