10 Glorious Things That Must Happen In WWE Before 2017
4. Sami Zayn Gets Elevated
Sami Zayn should be close to the main event by this point, particularly after besting Kevin Owens at Battleground. Billed as the duo’s final battle, Zayn’s victory should’ve sent his career stratospheric, and while he’s not quite ready for a big title run yet, he’s not far off. Sami’s perfectly-suited to play the underdog babyface role that Daniel Bryan left behind, but if he has to overcome the same kind of booking travesties that Bryan did, he’s in for a long, arduous road to the top.
Zayn has barely been featured since Battleground. He failed to earn Universal Title contendership on the Brand Split’s first Raw, lost cleanly to Seth Rollins on the second, and didn’t even appear on the third. Worst of all, however, is the lack of storyline. Sami Zayn just hasn’t been built-up in any kind of way following the Owens victory, and without a new feud on the horizon, it’s hard to tell where he goes from here.
WWE should elevate him by the end of the year, and give him the high-level push his talents and workrate deserve. Raw isn’t exactly flush with top babyfaces at the moment, and with only Finn Bálor for competition, Sami can ascend quickly if given the right opposition. As it stands, Zayn is an ideal foil for Rusev, Seth Rollins, or even Brock Lesnar himself, and if the company has any sense, they’ll feature him more prominently post-SummerSlam.