WWE’s 10 Worst Choke Artists

6. Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn Baron Corbin
WWE

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.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.