10 Wrestlers Who Had To Take A Break... Only To Return Better Than Ever
10. Sami Zayn
After Money in the Bank 2018 and losing to Lashley in the conclusion to their awful feud featuring a dire segment revolving around men dressing up in drag as Lashley’s sisters, Sami Zayn took a much-deserved break to undergo some much-needed shoulder surgery. Zayn had been treading water for a while. WWE often just had him team with long-time friend/rival Kevin Owens because they could think of nothing better to do creatively with the pair.
WWE ran promos hyping Zayn’s return in December and had him re-emerge on Raw in a losing effort to Finn Bálor. The fact he lost wasn’t a promising start but he cut a fiery promo after the match chastising the crowd, telling them “See you in hell” before dropping the mic and abruptly leaving. This was the start of a fantastic run where he cut the best heel promos of his life. He formed the Artist Collective with Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro and it was through this partnership he was able the win his first title on the main roster with the Intercontinental Championship.
He ultimately was forced to vacate it due to taking another break because of the pandemic in May 2020 but once again Sami used the break to his advantage, returning in August with renewed energy and an organic storyline. He demanded to be recognized as the real IC Champ (AJ Styles had since won it in a tournament). The issue between the two peaked at Clash of Champions where they and Jeff Hardy had an amazing triple threat ladder match for the IC strap.