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What's the story?
One of the most talked-about moments from the May 27 episode of WWE Raw came when Sami Zayn mentioned AEW during a Q&A with the audience.
Speaking on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio (subscription required), Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed whether Zayn was told to reference AEW or whether he went off-script.
In case you didn't know…
AEW’s first pay-per-view, Double or Nothing, took place on May 25 and it was widely viewed as a success by wrestling fans.
The new promotion fired some shots at WWE during the broadcast, notably when Cody Rhodes smashed a Triple H-esque throne with a sledgehammer during his entrance.
Monday’s Raw did not have any in-ring action during the first 50 minutes of the episode, prompting the fans in attendance to chant “AEW! AEW!” during a promo from Shane McMahon.
Later in the show, Sami Zayn took part in an ‘Electric Chair’ segment, in which he sat in a chair in the middle of the ring and answered questions from people in the crowd.
Frustrated by their weak questions, he said:
“You could’ve asked me anything. You could’ve asked me about AEW!”
WWE announcer Corey Graves, the host of the segment, quickly moved on when another “AEW! AEW!” chant broke out.
The heart of the matter
Fans have been debating on social media if Sami Zayn was supposed to mention AEW during the segment or whether he decided to say it to get a cheap pop from the crowd.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer said:
"The AEW line was scripted, then they [WWE] pulled it from the [YouTube] video afterwards."
Meltzer’s co-host, Bryan Alvarez, revealed that he had been told something different from somebody who was in WWE’s meeting before Raw.
"I know you were told one thing… I was told that it was not scripted. I know we were both told something different."
What's next?
Sami Zayn lost a one-on-one match in the main event of Raw against Universal champion Seth Rollins.
As one of the few Superstars who has appeared on both Raw and SmackDown Live since the introduction of the ‘Wild Card Rule’, perhaps we could see him show up on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live.
