10 Things We Learned From Sami Zayn On Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Sessions Podcast

2. Why The ThunderDome Was “Special”

Steve Austin Sami Zayn Broken Skull Sessions
WWE.com

Several industry critics and fans alike enjoyed that the lack of live crowds brought on by the COVID pandemic allowed performers to cut lengthier promos devoid of "WHAT!?" chants. Sami Zayn took full advantage of this "ThunderDome era", and developed his riotous conspiracy theory gimmick during that time.

That remains his favourite run on WWE's main roster to date.

The whole period was incredibly special to Sami, because he feels like the company started 'giving him the ball' and letting him push stories on with his voice. Still, Zayn is actually intrigued to find out how that character would've gone down in front of a live audience.

He's not convinced that a babyface run could've been avoided. Fans online were very supportive of Sami's entertaining SmackDown segments, and he reckons live crowds would've cheered for him eventually. "#JusticeForSami" was one of the better angles from that ghost town era, and there's no denying it.

In this post: 
Sami Zayn
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.