A lot of people believed that Sami Zayn was bound for AEW once his WWE contract expired. That’s why it surprised many fans when he decided to re-sign with WWE instead. According to the WWE star himself, he stayed because the company has allowed him creative input and shown their appreciation.
The Great Liberator appeared on Out Of Character recently. During the interview, he revealed that he has creative freedom in WWE. When asked to elaborate, Zayn explained that while he doesn’t book his own stuff, he gets to pitch a lot of ideas:
“Well, let me just nip this in the bud. I don’t want to act like I’m booking my own stuff because I am not. [I have] input. And for the creative team and whoever to be receptive to my ideas [is good]. I don’t get all [things through].
Trust me, I swing a lot. I don’t think I swing a lot of duds, but sometimes I swing ideas that I don’t know why they won’t work and sometimes they tell me that won’t work because of XYZ. But a lot of things they’ll take. It’s not exactly how I envisioned it, but pieces of it get through. Like the documentary for example. And they take on a life of their own.”
I Am Over The Moon
Sami Zayn claimed that being heard by the creative makes him feel respected and valued in the company. According to him, WWE has really shown him their respect in the last few years. This is the reason why he chose to re-sign with the promotion:
“So yeah, for sure, having even a little bit of creative input. I think that’s really what’s taken my appreciation and my enjoyment of being here in WWE to another level. I’ll say, ‘hey, I really wish we could kind of do this’ and then some version of that happens, and I’m thrilled. I’m over the moon. What more could you ask for?” asked Sami Zayn, “That’s it. To just feel like you have a voice and you’re feeling heard, and when you actually go out there and do it. You feel respected and valued.
That’s really what kept me here. There are other factors for sure, but that was really it. It wasn’t – oh all of a sudden, my contract’s coming up and it’s time to negotiation and [they’re like] ‘Hey we really like you’, ‘Well where have you been the last two years?’ No, the last two years they’ve shown me that they value me. So, when they told me they want me to stay, I believe them. So I stayed.”
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