10 WWE Stars Who Were TRULY Buried

2. Sami Zayn

Xavier Woods Sami Zayn
WWE.com

WWE's treatment of Sami Zayn is shocking. WWE's treatment of Sami Zayn reveals its various charity and PR concerns as carefully strategised bullsh*t.

Sami campaigns for the stricken, war-torn people of Syria as part of his Sami For Syria campaign, but WWE has never promoted this on TV, even when the Underdog was a babyface, because it's either politically inconvenient or too "middle easty", one of the two. It's not something that unifies all people as something to rally behind, and so it isn't deemed worthy of supporting. Sami's ancestry forbids him from performing in Saudi Arabia, too, and while his principles might see him refuse voluntarily, it's still bullsh*t.

Onscreen, meanwhile, Sami Zayn borders on the genius as a performer. As a face, he boasts that intangible sympathy to connect with crowds, in tandem with an elite level of skill WWE has barely maximised. As a heel, he's even better: so grating that he can actually draw real heat, the performer who stole the post-WrestleMania RAW ate losses to Tucker (!) a month or so back, and missed out on a SummerSlam payday because Vince McMahon deemed his match with Aleister Black surplus to requirements.

Disrespected, under-utilised, and literally abandoned, in virtually every way, Sami Zayn is too good for WWE.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!