Sami Zayn FINALLY Wins The Big One! (WWE News)

Sami Zayn shocks the world by winning the WWE Championship at Night of Champions.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Night of Champions 2026 Sami Zayn
WWE

WWE decided to finally pull the trigger, as Sami Zayn shocked the world at Night of Champions last night. Yes, Sami walked out of Riyadh's Kingdom Arena as the new WWE Champion.

In an excellent main event, it was Sami Zayn getting the better of Gunther and defending champ Cody Rhodes, picking up the win after pinning Rhodes in just under 19 minutes. That finishing sequence saw the American Nightmare hit a double Cross Rhodes on both Sami and Gunther, then held onto Zayn to hit him with another Cross Rhodes, only for the Last Real Good Guy to slip out of that move and roll Cody up for the 1-2-3 to a huge pop from the Saudi Arabia crowd.

As pointed out on commentary by Michael Cole, this was Sami Zayn's tenth World Championship shot since landing on the WWE main roster in 2015. It's also his first World Championship win, and he now finds himself at the top of the mountain on SmackDown.

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Many of Sami's peers have taken to social media to give congratulations and props to the 24-year veteran, including his best friend/mortal enemy Kevin Owens.

And just in case you hadn't picked up on the general sense of happiness and goodwill directed towards Sami Zayn after his big Night of Champions win, @WrestleVotes also notes that, yes, a lot of people backstage in WWE had been wanting to see this happen for a long time.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.