WWE star reveals "mixed bag of emotions" ahead of major title defense on RAW

A WWE Superstar has commented on his major title defense tonight in his hometown. This week's edition of WWE RAW will air live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Sami Zayn will be defending the Intercontinental Championship against Chad Gable tonight on WWE RAW. The veteran pulled off a remarkable upset at WrestleMania XL and captured the title from Gunther, putting an end to his historic title reign at 666 days. Ahead of tonight's RAW, WWE shared a video of Sami Zayn while he was sitting in the stands at the Bell Centre.

Sami Zayn shared that he felt stressed out ahead of his title defense against Chad Gable tonight. He noted there is a different kind of pressure when performing in front of your hometown.

"But ultimately, I feel a lot of things. I feel stressed out. You know, there's a different kind of stress when you perform in front of your hometown. Especially this hometown, it's a special hometown. Really, there is no hometown that treats their guy or their guys quite like Montreal. I think the world has seen that by now. So it adds a different kind of stress, different set of nerves. Then there is also pride because I am coming back here as a champion. Which believe it or not, no Montrealer has done in something like 30 years. So I don't know man, it is just a big mixed bag of emotions," he said.

WWE star Sami Zayn reflects on his loss to Roman Reigns

Sami Zayn was once a part of The Bloodline, but that came to an end at Royal Rumble 2023. The former Honorary Uce refused to hit Kevin Owens with a chair and opted to hit Roman Reigns instead.

The decision led to a title match between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber 2023 in Montreal. Zayn came up short in the match but got a great ovation from the crowd. The Intercontinental Champion noted during the video posted by WWE today that tonight is his first time back in the Bell Centre since the heartbreaking loss last year.

"First time back in this building since Elimination Chamber last year with that match with Roman Reigns. It's weird, it is like the building feels different to me. It's like the fingerprints of that night are all over the building now. You know what I mean? I kind of see the building differently now. It's like it kind of replaced all those other years of memories that I had here and now that one is kind of at the fore. So, that's interesting," said Zayn.

Chad Gable helped prepare Sami Zayn for his match against Gunther at WrestleMania. It will be interesting to see if the Alpha Academy hands Zayn another loss in his hometown tonight on WWE RAW.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.