WWE’s 10 Worst Choke Artists
6. Sami Zayn
Can Sami Zayn win a match when it really, really matters? Moreover, can he win some of the matches beforehand that even allow him inclusion in matches that really matter?
In NXT, he was permitted to celebrate being NXT Champion for a scant few minutes before career frenemy Kevin Owens battered him in a precursor to taking his title at the very next TakeOver show. Absolutely not a choke, this was a glorious tale of wrestling pathos, with Zayn's revenge perhaps only not coming as it did in 2015 thanks to the horrendously timed injury during his US Title challenge match against John Cena.
That was the 'Underdog From The Underground's first significantly major match under WWE's brightest lights, and as evidenced, it didn't go well in the end. Nor did the remainder of his NXT career or the subsequent year on the main roster that followed. Zayn lost a title contender's series to Samoa Joe, a blockbuster TakeOver match against Shinsuke Nakamura, and has looked at the aforementioned spotlights for just about every major opponent he's fought since then.
Given a crumb of comfort in his phenomenal 'final battle' with Kevin Owens at Battleground 2016, Zayn repeatedly saw his hard work undone by needless losses to then then-Universal Champion when the pair would 'fight forever' to fill time on Monday Night Raw.