4 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE Backlash 2017

2. Underdog Pulls One Out

sami zayn baron corbin
WWE.com

During the kickoff show, Sami Zayn lamented how he’s been labeled an underdog, which means that people don’t think he has much of a chance in a lot of his matches, rather than believing that he always has a shot.

Regardless, Zayn’s “underdog” persona only works if he occasionally wins, or else it’s just wishful thinking. Sunday, Sami pulled out a nice victory over the much bigger Baron Corbin, dropping the Lone Wolf with a Helluva Kick. Zayn had to overcome an early back injury and a relentless pounding from Corbin. Still, he hung in, hit some hope spots and took advantage of an opening for the win.

It was Zayn’s first televised win since coming over to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup last month. During that time, he had been pinned in two #1 contender matches. Hopefully this isn’t just a one-off victory.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.