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For the first time in his career, Sami Zayn will step foot inside the Elimination Chamber on Sunday. He'll be locked inside the barbaric structure along with Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Jey Uso, King Corbin and his long time friend\rival Kevin Owens. The last man standing will earn a one-on-one match against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship that same night.
The former (or current, depending on if you ask Sami Zayn) Intercontinental Champion spoke to SK Wrestling ahead of Sunday's PPV. While he's not necessarily looking forward to what lies ahead for him in the unforgiving Chamber, Sami Zayn is excited about the possible magic the six competitors in the SmackDown match can make.
"With that many guys, who can go at that rate, all in the same match with this impressive structure, I think it's got a very different feel from any other Elimination Chamber match that I've seen or even heard of at any point. So I'm looking forward to it cause I know with the guys that are in that match, it's guaranteed to be a great match. And I always kind of get excited for these big multi-man matches, like the Money in the Bank or the WrestleMania ladder matches or something like that. I always really, really enjoy when there's all these exciting elements to a match that's guaranteed to be great. That part I'm looking forward to, the other part, not so much."
The six men in the SmackDown Chamber match Sunday are all on completely different trajectories right now, but their stories will all cross paths inside the Elimination Chamber with one goal in mind - getting to Roman Reigns. Sami Zayn says those weaving arcs combined with the match's uniqueness, will make this Elimination Chamber contest a must-see.
"One of the interesting variables about the Elimination Chamber is also the countdown. So you have that kind of, almost, Royal Rumble sort of element going on in addition to the fact that there's storylines between the six different performers. It's really, honestly, it could be great. It really could be great the way they all interact with each other. I think it's very unique. And it's unique to those characters at that point in time. That's what's going to make the match interesting."
When it comes to the casual fans out there, who may not be so up to date on the story arcs of these six superstars, Sami Zayn again put over the talent in the ring as the reason their interest will be piqued. He says all six guys will be able to use the Elimination Chamber in a compelling way. The most compelling part of the match though, is who wins. Which man will go on to face Roman Reigns?
Sami Zayn doesn't think now is the best time to face Roman Reigns... but he'll take it.
Not that anyone would really want to, but when you look back on 2020 there were a lot of parallels between Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns. Both men took an extended leave from WWE right around WrestleMania 36 amid COVID-19 concerns and both Reigns and Sami Zayn returned at the end of August.
Reigns obviously made a huge splash by taking out both Braun Strowman and The Fiend at SummerSlam. Then, just a week later, he walked out of Payback as the new Universal Champion. To his credit, Sami Zayn made an impact of his own by almost immediately reclaiming the Intercontinental Championship that he was forced to vacate earlier in the year. Both men have continued to fire on all cylinders since then, helping to make SmackDown a consistently good show week in and week out.
"Without tooting my own horn, I do think that both of us coming back really added to SmackDown because both of us, we're just adding some very cool character stuff and we're both very good performers as well in the ring. He is truly, truly hitting a new level. Which is saying something for him because he's been operating at that top level for years now, and now somehow he's operating at an even higher level. You're seeing something new out of him that you never really saw."
Sami Zayn told SK Wrestling that, in a weird way, the fans are now getting to enjoy the version of Roman Reigns they always wanted. He says Roman is the top of the mountain in WWE, but did add that now isn't the best time for Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns. That said, he'll gladly take the opportunity.
"It would be awesome, but I do think that now, character-wise, is not the best mesh. I mean, I don't care. If it's a chance at the Universal Championship, I don't care how the characters mesh, I'll take it. And if it means the main event of a pay-per-view with the Universal Title on the line, trust me, I'll take it. But... let's take this current circumstance and the Elimination Chamber match out of the equation for a second. I think in a different time and in a different place, with the right story, I think something with me and him could be really, really, really incredible."
Whether it's the right mesh or not, we could see Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber PPV. First things first, he has to survive the Chamber match itself. Coverage of Elimination Chamber starts at 7pm EST on the WWE Network.
Make sure to check out PART ONE of my conversation with Sami Zayn in the video above. Also, be sure to keep an eye out on the SK Wrestling YouTube channel for the next installments.
