Sami Zayn Reveals Which WWE Moment Convinced Vince McMahon To Believe In Him

Sami Zayn's game-changing moment with the boss came at an unlikely time.

Seth Rollins Sami Zayn
WWE

Sami Zayn has revealed precisely which moment led to Vince McMahon finally believing in him.

Whilst speaking to Renee Paquette on her Oral Sessions podcast recently, the former El Generico went into detail on a number of different topics. One of the most notable parts of their conversation came in the form of Zayn discussing his creative input when it comes to his overall character on WWE programming.

Noting that he's luckier than most, Zayn admitted that he has "a fair bit" of a say when it comes to the direction of and ideas for his character. Though he did acknowledge that creative frustrations, such as the ones felt by Paquette's husband Jon Moxley during his time in the company, exist for all talents:

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"I heard Jon's now infamous podcast. And I understand; that frustration exists to an certain extent for all the talent. Anyone who is remotely creative, and this is excluding WWE and wrestling even."
“If you're an artistic and creative person who wants to do things, the higher up you get, the less creative control you have. So it’s a weird relationship between rising and having creative freedom. And that’s the battle between the two. I’m pretty fortunate that I’ve had a lot of my ideas go through. Kind of shocking amounts actually, especially in the last two years.”

Also, in explaining how he managed to get the boss onside to the point where he possesses the creative input he has today, Zayn noted that it was his time spent refereeing a match between old pal Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins which did the trick and not a contest he was taking part in as a competitor:

“You never know which segment is going to open their eyes. I thought I was doing some really good mic work as a bad guy, even before all this. But then there was this one day where I was like the guest referee for Kevin vs. Seth. I was just doing me; I didn’t even have any mic time. I was just bantering and the camera would pick it up when I was being a ref.
“When I got to the back they were all just doubled over. Vince was like “you’ve got the gift of gab!” And I wasn’t even cutting a promo; I was being a ref. But they just started seeing me in this new light where ‘this guy, he can do so much.’ I think they saw a broader vision for me in that moment. There was a new trust, maybe to not carry a segment, but that I could be a trusted guy.”

In the wake of said stint as a ref, Zayn would go on to become the mouthpiece for stars like Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro before finally transitioning back into an in-ring role with his current conspiracy-obsessed character.

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It's not an overstatement to say that the former NXT Champion has been one of the most consistently entertaining elements of SmackDown since returning in August of last year, and his hard work has seemingly been rewarded with a high-profile match against eternal rival/buddy Kevin Owens on tonight's Night 2 card for WrestleMania 37.

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Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...