Sami Zayn's second match back after defeating Kevin Owens in a non-title match (presuming that he's US Champion) should be versus NXT Champion Finn Balor. Sami defeating Balor for the NXT Championship would be huge, and would give Zayn the legitimacy he'd need after time off to be again seen in the same light by the WWE Universe. Finn Balor deserves the NXT Championship, but regarding his WWE career, he's 34 and should be fast-tracked to other, much larger opportunities as soon as possible. Rehabilitating Zayn from a character standpoint by having him defeat a top-tier performer like Balor in a competitive babyfaces vs. babyface match would be much to WWE's benefit.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
