Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn is a Canadian professional wrestler signed with WWE. He is best known for his work as Zayn and El Generico in several promotions. He is assigned to RAW as of March 2025. Zayn is a former Intercontinental Champion, NXT Champion, and WWE Tag Team Champion.

Also Read: What language does Sami Zayn speak?

Sami Zayn's Early Life

Sami Zayn was born in 1984 on the 12th of July in Laval, Quebec, Canada. He is Canadian by nationality, and both of his parents originally belonged to Syria before moving to Canada in the 1970s.

Professional Wrestling Career

Early Years and Independent Circuits (2002-2013)

Zayn was trained by Jerry Tuite and Savio Vega. He made his wrestling debut in Quebec as Stevie McFly. He later changed his name to El Generico. It was through independent promotions that Zayn became a household name and gained initial success. Zayn made his name by wrestling on the independent circuits for a decade before signing with WWE.

Zayn wrestled for several promotions between 2002 and 2013, such as DDT Pro Wrestling, Chikara, EWR, GBG Wrestling, ROH, IWS, Dragon Gate, Evolve, PWG, and WXW. Zayn began the most talked about rivalry with his best friend, Kevin Steen, which crossed several promotions, such as ROH and WWE.

WWE

NXT (2013-2015)

Zayn signed with WWE and began working for NXT. He was an immediate baby-face and won several matches. Zayn began a rivalry with Cesaro, which he won. After losing several championship matches, Zayn captured the NXT Championship from Neville at TakeOver R Evolution. The show ended when Kevin Owens attacked Zayn and reignited their rivalry. He lost the title in two months due to a referee stoppage. Zayn made his RAW debut in Canada to face US Champion John Cena. Before the match, he suffered a shoulder injury. The match ended, and Zayn was sidelined for a few months.

Rivalry with Owens and SmackDown (2016-2018)

At Royal Rumble, Zayn returned and eliminated Kevin Owens. The two began their rivalry, with each superstar gaining victories over the other. At Battleground, Zayn defeated Owens and ended their rivalry. He began his rivalry with Chris Jericho. At Clash of Champions, Zayn lost to Jericho due to interference by Owens. After Royal Rumble 2017, he began his rivalry with Braun Strowman and lost. He faced Samoa Joe at Fastlane and lost. On RAW, Zayn defeated Owens in a no-disqualification match to save his job and qualified for Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, which he lost.

At Superstar Shake-Up, Zayn was drafted to SmackDown. He took part in the Money in the Bank ladder match and lost. Zayn returned to Hell in A Cell and assisted Kevin Owens against Shane McMahon. At Clash of Champions, he and Owens defeated Nakamura and Orton. At Royal Rumble 2018, they failed to capture the WWE Championship from AJ Styles. The same night, Zayn entered the rumble and lost. In March, he, along with Owens, attacked SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan, which started their feud. At WrestleMania 34, Zayn and Owens faced Bryan and McMahon and lost. The two were hired by Stephanie McMahon on RAW.

Various feuds and Intercontinental Championship (2018-2020)

On RAW, Zayn began his feud with Bobby Lashley. After a few losses, the rivalry ended. Zayn was out of action for over 10 months. Later, he lost fifteen out of sixteen matches since his return. Zayn teamed up with Nakamura and became his manager for the year. He introduces the new Intercontinental Championship to Nakamura before Cesar joined the group and assisted Nakamura in keeping the title.

Also Read: Sami Zayn Ethnicity

Intercontinental Championship and conspiracy theories (2020-Present)

After Nakamura lost the title to Strowman, the trio faced Strowman for the title at Elimination Chamber in a 3-1 handicap match. Zayn, Nakamura, and Cesaro won, but Zayn was crowned as the new Intercontinental Champion. He defeated Daniel Bryan to retain his title at WrestleMania 36. Zayn took some time off due to the ongoing situation. He made his return in August and attacked Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy. At Clash of Champions, Zayn defeated Styles and Hardy to become the Undisputed Intercontinental Champion. After he dropped the title to Big E on SmackDown, Zayn spent the year facing The Mysterios. Zayn won a battle royal to challenge for the Universal Championship and lost.

In 2022, Zayn began feuding with Johnny Knoxville. On SmackDown, he won his third Intercontinental Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura. However, Zayn lost the title in a few weeks to Ricochet. At WrestleMania 38, Knoxville defeated Zayn.

The Honorary UCE

At Survivor Series 2022, Zayn delivered a low blow to Kevin Owens and helped the bloodline win the War Games match against the team of Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holand, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens. He proved his allegiance to the bloodline and was formally inducted into the stable as the Honorary Uce.

In the Raw is XXX episode, The Bloodline held the trial of Sami Zayn to decide whether he is with the Bloodline or against them. Paul Heyman claimed that Zayn was in league with Kevin Owens and would betray the Bloodline. This convinced Reigns, and he asked Solo Sikoa to take him out, only for Jey Uso to stop him and play a videotape that showed loyalty. Reigns declared Zayn "Not Guilty...... for now." He ordered Sami not to show his face till Royal Rumble. The Usos then had a match against The Judgement Day for the Raw Tag Team Championship. Jimmy got hurt during the match, after which he was replaced by Sami Zayn, who helped secure the win.

Betraying The Bloodline

At Royal Rumble 2023, Reigns defeated Owens, and then the after-match beatdown started. Reigns ordered Zayn to hit the half-conscious Owens with a chair. In a turn of events, Zayn hit Reigns in the back with the chair, betraying the Bloodline, and earning himself a beatdown by the Bloodline. Jey Uso then walked away in the middle of the beatdown, not opting to hit the unconscious Zayn.

The following Raw, Zayn ambushed Reigns and challenged Reigns for a title shot at Elimination Chamber. At the event, Zayn failed to capture the title and was the victim of a beatdown by The Bloodline before Kevin Owens made the save. The duo reconciled on the March 17th episode of SmackDown and then challenged The Usos for a match at WrestleMania for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship.

The four superstars headlined the main event of the Night One of WrestleMania Hollywood. In a hard-hitting contest where the two teams looked equal for the most part, it was Zayn and Owens who stood victorious after the former gave three Helluva kicks to Jey Uso for the victory. The feud between the teams, however, continued after the event. Riddle joined the two friends in taking on The Bloodline, and the three superstars battled The Usos and Solo Sikoa at WWE Backlash in a Six Man Tag Team match. However, it was The Bloodline who stood tall at the event.

Following the event, Roman Reigns announced his intentions to challenge Owens and Zayn for the tag team gold. He, alongside Solo Sikoa, challenged Owens and Zayn at Night of Champions but failed to win the titles. Zayn and Owens then defended their championship against The Bloodline (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) at WWE Payback 2023. At the event, the two failed to defend their titles, bringing an end to their 154-day reign.

Return to singles wrestling (2023 - 2024)

Kevin Owens was drafted to SmackDown in October 2023, while Zayn stayed at RAW. There, he started feuding with The Judgment Day alongside Jey Uso. At Crown Jewel, Zayn defeated JD McDonagh. At WarGames, Zayn, Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and Randy Orton defeated The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre. Zayn then had a rather string of defeats on the Road to WrestleMania. However, on the March 11 episode of Monday Night RAW, he won a gauntlet match by last defeating Chad Gable. This made him the opponent for WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther at WrestleMania XL Night One.

At Night 1 of WrestleMania, Zayn defeated Gunther, ending his 666-day title reign and becoming a four-time Intercontinental Champion. Zayn then defended his title against Chad Gable on April 15, but Gable attacked him after the match. The feud escalated, with Zayn retaining his title against Gable and Bronson Reed in a triple threat match at King and Queen of the Ring and later defeating Gable at Clash at the Castle to end their rivalry. At Money in the Bank, Zayn successfully defended the title against Bron Breakker but lost it to him at SummerSlam after 119 days. Zayn failed to regain the title in a two-out-of-three fall match on August 12, ending his feud with Breakker.

The OG Bloodline and singles competition (2024 - Present)

Zayn then shifted his focus to Gunther and the World Heavyweight Championship. After multiple challenges and setbacks, Zayn earned a title shot but lost to Gunther on October 7 by technical submission. At Crown Jewel, Zayn reunited with Roman Reigns and The Usos to oppose Solo Sikoa's new Bloodline faction. This led to a reunion with the original Bloodline at Survivor Series: WarGames, where Zayn, Reigns, The Usos, and CM Punk defeated Sikoa's Bloodline. Following Survivor Series, Zayn accused Seth Rollins of attacking Jey Uso but later apologized after Drew McIntyre admitted responsibility. He then faced McIntyre at Saturday Night’s Main Event but lost. On the January 13 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn defeated The Miz after a backstage confrontation involving Karrion Kross. At the 2025 Royal Rumble, he entered at #27 before being eliminated by Jey Uso. On the February 3 episode of Raw, Kevin Owens attacked Zayn after his loss to CM Punk, reigniting their rivalry.

Championships and accomplishments

Also Read: Sami Zayn Heel/Face Turn

Sami Zayn's wife

Sami Zayn is married and has a son. His wife's name is Khadijah Sebei, and she was born in Montreal, Canada. Read more about Sami Zayn's wife here.

Sami Zayn's physical attributes

Sami Zayn's height

Sami Zayn has a billed height of 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) in WWE.

Sami Zayn's weight

Sami Zayn is billed at a weight of 212 lb (96 kg).

Sami Zayn Age

Sami Zayn is 40 years old as of March 2025.