Felix Upton on February 17, 2023
WWE Elimination Chamber will come to fans this weekend, and Sami Zayn is in for the biggest match of his career. He will take on Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Title, and the road to WrestleMania might be full of even more twists for him.
It was noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the original plan was for Zayn to lose, Jey Uso to turn on him and the Usos vs. Zayn & Owens at WrestleMania back many months. That being said, “a lot has changed” since then.
After all, Sami Zayn has reportedly proven to WWE that he is a needle mover, as his segments draw viewers even if Roman Reigns isn’t there that night.
The original plan was for Zayn to lose, Jey Uso to turn on him and the Usos vs. Zayn & Owens at WrestleMania back many months. But a lot has changed since that time.
The key is that Zayn has become a major TV ratings mover. Sure, John Cena was for one-time appearances and Bray Wyatt was as well, and Reigns vs. Matt Riddle did a big number, but Zayn is not only moving quarters big, but the entire show. Smackdown is up, with or without Reigns and it’s clear Zayn is the reason why.
Historically a promotion would be cognizant of somebody unexpectedly getting over far bigger than expected. They are in Montreal which is not a coincidence. The show is hot in the sense that at press time there are 13,795 tickets out with 215 left, but not as over the top hot in the sense that the secondary market get-in price is $41, which is actually low. But the crowd will be molten for the match, which feels like the biggest championship match WWE has put on a non-major show in years.
Basically the crowd badly wants Zayn to win. WWE can script whatever they want, but for that to happen, it would be a late deviation of the script. Or they could have Reigns win, the likely original idea and lead to Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. Or they could turn WrestleMania into a three-way match with a controversial finish. It’s tricky for a lot of reasons, because Zayn does not fit into the mentality of what a mainstream ratings mover looks like, nor has his booking been what traditionally leads to it. It just happened, and it not handled right, it could end. Maybe it would have ended with a win as well, because the chase is over and maybe it was the build to the angle and chase that were the draws. Either way, this is the first booking decision in a long time that can actually make a difference to full show ratings.
We’ll have to see what happens at Elimination Chamber. The company has made calls on the fly regarding WrestleMania booking. Only time will tell if things really have changed a lot when it comes to their current plan for the storyline.
What’s your take on how everything is going down? Sound off in the comments!
February 17, 2023 6:43 am
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