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 currently assigned to RAW. Zayn is a former Intercontinental Champion, NXT Champion and WWE Tag Team Champion.

Also Read: What language does Sami Zayn speak?

Sami Zayn 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 2002-2013 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. Zayn 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. Zayn lost the title in two months due to referee stoppage. Zayn made his RAW debut in Canada to face US Champion John Cena. Before the match, Zayn 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 each other. At Battleground, Zayn defeated Owens and ended their rivalry. Zayn began his rivalry with Chris Jericho. At Clash of Champions, Zayn lost to Jericho due to interference by Owens. After Royal Rumble 2017, Zayn began his rivalry with Braun Strowman and lost. Zayn 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. Zayn took part in the Money in the Bank ladder match and lost. Zayn returned at Hell in A Cell and assisted Kevin Owens against Shane McMahon. At Clash of Champions, Zayn and Owens defeated Nakamura and Orton. At Royal Rumble 2018, they failed to capture WWE Championship from AJ Styles. The same night, Zayn entered the rumble and lost. In March, Zayn and Ownes 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 was ended. Zayn was out of action for over 10 months. Zayn lost fifteen out of sixteen matches since his return and was frustrated. Zayn teamed up with Nakamura and became his manager for the year. He introduces the new Intercontinental Championship to Nakamura. Cesar joined the group and assisted Nakamura to keep the title.

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. Zayn defeated Daniel Bryan to retain his title at WrestleMania 36. Zayn took some time off due to the ongoing situation. Zayn 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. Zayn 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, Zayn 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, he 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.

At 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. Reigns was convinced by this and asked Solo Sikoa to take him out only for Jey to stop him and play a videotape which showed Zayn's loyalty. Reigns declared Zayn "Not Guilty...... for now." He ordered Sami to not show him his face till Royal Rumble. The Usos then had a match against The Judgement Day for the Raw Tag team championship. Jimmy apparently got hurt during the match following which he was replaced by Sami Zayn. Jey and Zayn hit the 1D for 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 earned 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 would reconcile with each other 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 are battled in 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-days reign.

Return to Singles Wrestling

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.

Championships and Accomplishments

Sami Zayn Net Worth 2024

According to multiple sources, WWE Superstar Sami Zayn is worth around a sum of USD 2 Million as of 2024. Further, he draws a sum of around at least $500,000 under his current contract.

Sami Zayn Wife

Not much is known about the private life of Sami Zayn as he is a very private person. However, it is known that he is married and also has a son. His wife's name is Khadijah Sebei and she was born in Montreal, Canada. More about the Sami Zayn wife of the former NXT Champion.