Sami Zayn was far from the first independent star to be signed by WWE but it was unknown how much success he would garner, especially unmasked. He made a name for himself in Ring of Honor as luchador El Generico, but without the mask on, he looked, well, generic. But as the old cliche goes the cream always rises to the top, as was the case with the repackaged Sami Zayn. Mere months removed from officially signing with WWE, Zayn made his on-air debut on the May 22 edition of NXT, scoring a major win over Curt Hawkins. As if his impressive outing versus the former WWE Tag Team champion wasn't enough, he was challenged to a match in the main event later that night against Cesaro, who he beat by the skin of his teeth in shocking fashion. It wasn't as if he looked strong in defeat in his match with the former United States champion, he beat him. It was easily the biggest upset in the history of NXT up to that point and still is to this day. The rest, as they say, is history with Zayn and Cesaro continuing to feud in the three months that followed, leading to an absolutely epic 2-out-of-3 Falls match that helped put Zayn on the map and solidify him as a star on the rise.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
