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What's the story?
Sami Zayn had a host of interesting quotes to share in one of Pro Wrestling Stories' special series titled "RESPECT: Much Deeper Than Storytelling, Athleticism and Showmanship".
In an interview from 2014, The Underdog From The Underground spoke about his match with Cesaro from NXT Arrival and what Triple H told the Swiss Cyborg after the classic.
In case you didn't know...
Cesaro and Sami Zayn's feud began in 2013 when Zayn made his NXT debut and scored a major upset against the Swiss Superstar.
The two embarked on a feud that spawned a series of matches that are still fresh in the fans' minds. The three-match series that ensued put Zayn and Cesaro on the map and were all ranked in the top-ten lists of the year.
The aforementioned match from NXT Arrival was the culmination of the rivalry and arguably the best of the lot. The 23-minute spectacle was eventually won by Cesaro and the former RAW Tag Team Champion earned a lot of praise backstage, and from Triple H in particular.
The heart of the matter
Zayn opened up on the ripples that his matches with Cesaro had created backstage in the WWE. He said that the top brass hadn't realized what they had on their hands with Cesaro until the duo put on a match for the ages at Arrival.
Zayn commended Cesaro's desire by applauding his willingness to come down to NXT and work a programme despite being an active member of RAW.
Zayn pointed out that by coming to work a short angle in NXT, Cesaro was granted more freedom and a much bigger stage to do his thing, much bigger than what RAW would have offered. Zayn admitted that the match was huge for his own career but it also worked wonders for his opponent.
He also disclosed how Triple H reacted to Cesaro's performance and what he may have told him after the match:
“That’s the guy I wanna see on Monday nights. That’s the guy. That was awesome. I want more of that.” They were way more aware of what his capabilities were after that, which is great. I think it did quite a bit for him, I hope it did a lot for him. It certainly did a lot for me.”
Impact
While Cesaro may not have become a world champion since that career-changing match, he has been given a prominent role on the RAW brand as one of the top names in the tag team division. His partnership with Sheamus as The Bar is one of the biggest hits of 2017.
Cesaro is valued by the powers that be and that is partly due to his series with Zayn.
Author's take
Cesaro is possibly the best in-ring worker currently in the WWE, barring the obvious exceptions like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn himself.
Being an ardent Cesaro Section member as well, it hurts to see him devoid of that elusive world title win. However, he's not doing too poorly right now and the future looks bright as Survivor Series comes calling.
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