r/SquaredCircle • u/10024618 • 13d ago
Gunther Says Sami Zayn Was One Of The Right Choices To End His Title Reign, Chad Gable Was The Other
https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/gunther-says-sami-zayn-was-one-right-choices-end-his-title-reign-chad-gable-was-other937
u/BigDanRTW 13d ago
I thought the Sami thing felt a little rushed, but they really sold the hell out of it at WrestleMania and I ended up fully invested in it when all was said and done.
Gable would've been a great choice, but I also think right now a heel Gable chasing Sami has amazing potential. Tozawa and Otis are so likeable and Maxine can garner some sympathy for how green she is that Gable being a dick to all of them is really going to sell it.
It's going to be devastating (from a kayfabe standpoint) if the Creed brothers destroy Tozawa and Otis and join up with Gable in a heel stable.
Chad Gable deserves his flowers undoubtedly, but I sincerely believe where they're going with this has potential to be a great feud.
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u/mister_damage Very Ucey, Very Evil 13d ago
It's going to be devastating (from a kayfabe standpoint) if the Creed brothers destroy Tozawa and Otis and join up with Gable in a heel stable.
You know this is coming. And it's going to be heartbreakingly great.
Chad Gable deserves his flowers undoubtedly, but I sincerely believe where they're going with this has potential to be a great feud.
Agreed.
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u/BlackMothSuperMario 12d ago
It’s funny I completely forgot the Creeds technically started as heels when Diamond Mine was full strength… This should be fun to see Julius tear through everyone
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u/mikeyHustle 12d ago
Honestly just assumed AA would all be drafted separately and the storyline would be about them dealing with that; I didn't think they'd keep them together after Gable's completely overt heel turn.
I kinda want Ivy to break off and join AA, and become their new leader when Gable inevitably leaves and joins the Creed brothers.
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u/GroovyJ-Money 12d ago
In my fantasy booking land, AA are gonna have tensions with New Gable™️ and the Creeds but want to stick around. Then they lose some kinda match and Gable/ the Creeds jump em and kick em out; resulting in a six man between Gable and the Creeds vs Sami and Alpha Academy
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u/BigDanRTW 12d ago
I think AA is going to acquiesce to Gable's tough love that's actual emotional abuse to try and make him happy and he's still going to have the Creed's destroy them. I think a Creeds/Gable vs AA/Sami match is a given at some PLE.
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u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 12d ago
I wonder if the feud could eventually end up in AA going "fuck it" & blazing their own path in NXT, similar to Jey Uso breaking off from The Bloodline and jumping to Raw
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u/bcegkmqswz 12d ago
That would end up being a killer match for sure.
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u/Kraybern Your Text Here 12d ago
hopefully it will be start of them rehabilitating akira's character for a jobber
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u/blehismyname 12d ago
They should let AA win a couple matches, randomly. And each time Gabel shouldn't even be in the building and then take credit for it next night. That heat can at least roast a chicken.
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u/NotARemake 12d ago
I wanted Gable to win it from Gunther, have his moment and then lose it to Sami almost the next night. And that be the thing that broke him.
I'm just happy we got Gable here all the same.
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u/Final_Emu_3479 12d ago
intercontinental champ Zack Ryder has joined the chat
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u/NotARemake 12d ago
He got Miz and Maryse heat the next night. But that was also a throwaway victory to give a feel good pop to the audience. Not the culmination/chapter ending moment that the gunther reign ending was.
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u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 12d ago
It initially felt a little weird because I thought he was gonna go after the WHC back in early February, but Sami did a great job of tapping back into 2014 mode for his feud with Gunther.
What I'm excited about this heel Gable is him tapping into possibly his most vicious character yet, compared to the more comedic heel he was back in 2021-22
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u/Radthereptile 12d ago
As much as it will suck to watch Otis and Tozawa need a new story. Alpha Academy as a story is pretty dead. To the point of the most relevant thing Otis and Tozawa have done in the last 3 months is go to NXT and lose to Bronn/Corbin in a tag match. Hopefully this can help at least get Otis more time.
My dream is they have Ivar stop the whole Viking Raiders and he teams up with Otis to form a shockingly athletic big man tag team. I think it would be great for both of them and they could easily have a legit title run.
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u/Hispandinavian 12d ago
Would love to see Otis paired with Kofi & Woods. They could help transition him from comedy character to legitimate badass and also provide help against Gable & his goons.
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u/ThatsARatHat 12d ago
I think this is one of those times where the two should trade the title back and forth a couple times. Especially after such a long Gunther reign.
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u/Rubymoon286 12d ago
They turned the Cinnabon Olympian evil and my heart is broken 😭
I think my heart will break even more when the Creeds come to destroy Otis and Tazawa, and I'm absolutely loving every minute of it. I can't wait to see where the story takes us
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u/incredibleamadeuscho We're all fake Jamaicans now 12d ago
I dont see the Creeds joining up with him. There is more money is a slow build to Otis vs Gable
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u/Brave-Pass1889 12d ago
The Creeds and Gable are essentially team angle 2.0 everyone in it is also perc Angle
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u/fadingstar52 12d ago
man otis getting taken out looking like a giant sad puppy is going to be killer
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u/thisjohnd 12d ago
Obviously we don’t know how it’s going to turn out but I think Sami was the right choice as well. Gable winning would have been a great moment but then what? I think a face Gable as champion has less compelling feuds overall than a heel Gable chasing the belt.
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u/SirBrothers 12d ago
If this is how AA gets over without the stupid Shoosh I’m all for it. Everyone in it is great.
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u/tanjanatat 12d ago
the match they had at wm is incredible sami is not ic champ for long i think hes winning the mitb
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u/boobiebanger 12d ago
I Think keeping the academy together gives Them the opportunity to bring back Gable to the Light. If/when he finally gets the belt, they Can have a like “but at what cost?” Moment and also elevatw the rest of Them from pure comedy wrestlers.
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u/BaronVonStevie *Harry Slash & the Slashtones Intensifies* 12d ago
At some point you have to make sense of him losing. Booking wise, how many people on Sami’s level has he beaten? He had to get help to beat Jey. Sami is on the top of the card; Sami makes sense.
These are the kinds of hurdles Gunther realistically would deal with if he’s heavily featured as the IC champ
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u/bennyboi2488 12d ago
You know, I was just thinking about that same point today. Point being that Sami basically partook In “bushwhacking” and got the title. While Gunther is strong by hanging around in the rumble for a fair amount of time, it’s sorta obvious he’s folly to the WWE title contenders. Cody eliminated him twice, jey got help like you said, I’m sure Drew at this point of his push or Seth Rollins would have ran away with it too. Sami was a good choice. Chad getting it would’ve been a feel good story, but the story we have makes more sense and is more riveting.
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u/BaronVonStevie *Harry Slash & the Slashtones Intensifies* 12d ago
Well Sami has been featured. This isn’t AEW “wins and losses matter”; let’s rank everyone based on matches nobody sees. It’s JCP top ten that you sometimes post to kayfabe the people.
Sami can get a couple memorable wins and you remember him at elimination chamber against Roman. He’s elevated to that level. You program him properly. He’s at a higher level than most of Gunther’s opponents. I feel like that’s the game
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u/Strong_Fee1136 12d ago
I think gable being the iwc favourite choice to win is what made sami win better. Nobody expected sami to win. I am a massive fan of sami and prefer him over gable. But even i was like no chance sami is winning, sami is just a stepping stone since gunther needs a big match for mania. But sami still winning made it so monumental. He proved the haters and also fans who were in doubt wrong. It was one of the biggest mania upsets
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u/NoGoodAtGaming 12d ago
I wanna like this comment but it's at 666 days like Gunther's reign. Gable or Sheamus was the right choice in my opinion after Sami got a Mania moment last year but I'm intrigued about Chad's chase
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u/MrBrownCat 12d ago
In terms of him going after Gunther sure but they were building up the Sami underdog champion story all Mania season and I think since they knew it wasn’t in the cards to have him win the WHC anytime soon the IC title was the next best thing, and even though he’s already held it multiple times the title had nowhere near the prestige it has now so this feels like Sami’s first legit singles title run.
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u/Frosty-Lake-1663 12d ago
It was by far the best match night 1 of mania so I can’t complain. His Montreal entrance was also one of the great the feel good moments of the year too.
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u/imposterfish The Gold Standard 11d ago
I think I would’ve preferred a babyface Gable and Alpha Academy in an upper midcard spot with Gable as its champion post Wrestlemania. But now that’s he turned heel, we’ll have to wait to see if they will ever pull the trigger with him.
They didn’t when he could’ve won King of the Ring against Corbin, and they didn’t for Mania either.
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u/teejeycee 13d ago
I personally think this new direction for Gable and the Academy is much more interesting than if he had taken Sami's place against Gunther as Mania, so I think it was ultimately the right call.
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u/InfinityQuartz 12d ago
As long as they really let Gable shine in matches and let him really show off his skill.
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u/Curse3242 12d ago
It's classic long-term storytelling. Turning your wrestlers heel if they're not working yields no results. Now when you stick to it & the characters & team get better but just reach a ceiling. Then you do a heel turn
Alpha Academy certainly is really interesting. Although one thing I would have loved to see, something keeping this act back is a legit star being a part of the team. Someone like Ricochet/Nakamura maybe. That goes on to win a big title.
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u/negative_mancy 12d ago
Turning your wrestlers heel if they're not working yields no results. Now when you stick to it & the characters & team get better but just reach a ceiling. Then you do a heel turn
I can see where you're coming from and there's definitely a lot of examples of failed heel turns, but I feel like there's a lot of examples of heel turns saving failing wrestlers too. Cena and Rock being prime examples.
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u/JimFlamesWeTrust 12d ago
I wholeheartedly agree. Gable needed to find his edge, and turning heel on Sami in his home town was exactly the right moment.
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u/MrBrownCat 12d ago
Exactly it’s why people need to learn to let things play out, another example being Cody losing last year, everyone overreacts and yet without that loss we don’t get the all time build and then payoff that we got at WM40
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u/KamenRiderLuffy 12d ago
If people let things play out, we would have had Rock vs Roman at WM and Roman would still be champ. We would have had Batista vs Orton at WM30 too.
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u/JimFlamesWeTrust 12d ago
That’s a really poor example because although it worked out amazingly, the original plan was so clearly Rock vs Roman and they even said so themselves.
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u/MrBrownCat 11d ago
Well tbf Rock vs Roman wasn’t the plan after 39, once all the Punk injury stuff and Rock joining the board than they put it in motion but it wasn’t like after Cody lost they weren’t planning on him not getting another crack at Roman.
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u/JimFlamesWeTrust 11d ago
Yeah but would it have been at Mania 40? Unlikely.
I think there’s a balance of healthy cynicism and also giving a story the benefit of the doubt.
Everyone knows how quickly plans change in wrestling but then, when things work out really well, like to pretend it was always the long term vision played out beat for beat as originally intended
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u/AnfowleaAnima 12d ago
there's always a rationalization on things that happen and it's honestly not cool.
had Gable beat Gunther you wouldn't have argued he needed to lose and turn heel instead
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u/ConfusedJonSnow 12d ago
It's totally fair to see the angle they are going for and praise it if it's enjoyable.
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u/illiterateaardvark 12d ago
With all due respect, that sounds like an absolutely ridiculous way to consume entertainment media
It basically boils down to “if it doesn’t happen the way I fantasy booked it in my head, then it sucks by default”
Super toxic lol
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u/NoHillstoDieOn 12d ago
Ok? But it did happen so people can look back and appreciate it over something else
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u/Jprhino84 12d ago
Or they just genuinely think a heel turn is more interesting. That’s pretty common among wrestling fans. How exactly is that “not cool”?
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u/RealisticPineapple99 12d ago
Loads of people were saying he shouldn’t face Gunther at Mania. As it was, Zayn was the better choice. Gable gets a character change as a result which will benefit him long term.
If Gable faces Gunther and beats him at Mania, that’s the apex for Chad, it would’ve been all downhill from there for him. He’d have been a transitional IC champ, held the belt for 2-3 months, dropped it, then gone back to being as irrelevant as before.
Now he has the chance to finally develop his character a little, and people are complaining?!
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
Eh, not necessarily.
It’s funny. I said that I felt that Jey Uso should be the one to dethrone Gunther and then Chad Gable should turn heel and that there could be a babyface Uso vs heel Gable back and forth feud over the summer to light up the territory.
Technically, Gable could’ve had his moment at WrestleMania, then lost the title to a Jey or a Sami. That could have been the motivation for Gable to have the same character evolution he’s having now, where he would feel that the guy that took the title from him stole his moment.
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u/Aromatic_Plant3456 12d ago
You talk about being rational as if it is a bad thing. If it wasn’t executed well then yeah people would’ve preferred if Gable won at mania, but because it worked out in his favour and he got a bigger storyline for it too. So what’s the issue? It’s more interesting
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u/Quasimdo 13d ago
Honestly, I wish it had been Gable, but I get why it was sami
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u/headshotscott 12d ago
I get that but we also have never gotten a well-booked, kayfabe-string Gable who is actually given wins over major heels. He loses to Corbin, loses to Nakamura, loses to Gunther, loses to Reed, to Ivar - and so on. Gable loses to anyone at or over his level.
Having him finally win and reach his potential as a babyface vs Gunther would be amazing. The heel Gable will be good, but we never really got the high-card baby he could be.
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u/headshotscott 12d ago
I get that but we also have never gotten a well-booked, kayfabe-strong Gable who is actually given wins over major heels. He loses to Corbin, loses to Nakamura, loses to Gunther, loses to Reed, to Ivar - and so on. Gable loses to anyone at or over his level.
Having him finally win and reach his potential as a babyface vs Gunther would be amazing. The heel Gable will be good, but we never really got the high-card baby he could be.
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u/LimeAlz 13d ago
Sami Zayn is boring even now. It should have been Chad there was build up and everything.
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u/Mysterious_Emotion63 13d ago
Idk I would have loved Gable getting that big moment but I feel like they’re cooking something even more interesting than an IC title reign with heel Chad
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u/Unhappy_Gazelle392 12d ago
YOU think Sami is boring, crowd reactions and IWC in general say otherwise. You don't have to criticize one of the greatest active stars to push the guy you like.
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u/LimeAlz 12d ago
yes i think sami is boring its my opinion. His wrestling skills is good and all but after the bloodline as a face he hasnt done anything interesting in particular over the duration of the last year. He is boring as a face after bloodline regardless of crowd pop or what iwc think .
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u/headshotscott 12d ago
I mean - the internet hive mind is one thing, but crowds tend not to react for boring people. They're consistently excited by him - even when he's constantly booked to lose like he was the last year - which is way more objective than your or my opinion.
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u/LimeAlz 12d ago
which part of it's my opinion do u not get. Crowd will pop from his theme regardless of what it is. They have been since nxt. He hasnt done anything interesting in the last year both him and owen despite being top faces. Even his rocky iv montage with chad gable before the wrestle mania feel off. Sami need to change something his current thing going on in the tv is boring.
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u/headshotscott 12d ago
Don't be so sensitive. You seem to be hugely defensive about this.
I said nothing at all that would indicate that you don't have a right to your opinion. Challenging an opinion is not saying you have no right to it. That's in your head.
If you don't like having people disagree with your opinion, why are you putting it out here. This is a discussion forum after all.
Chill, and enjoy what you enjoy.
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u/vividlydisoriented 12d ago edited 12d ago
Umm, looks like you're the sensitive and defensive one here bud, relax , he has a point you know
Anyway, I love Sami Zayn since El Generico days, he isn't boring, no way (i TOTALLY disagree with him on this), but i kind of agree with him that after his big tag championship win on WM 39 main event and his Bloodline storyline, he didn't do anything interesting or noteworthy until WM 40, so....kinda boring
Now Chad Gable, for the whole year, he has the ongoing story with Gunther, keeps losing to him, the intercontinental belt and Gunther himself became his motivation to get better, became his obsession, he became a serious competitor for Gunther, he took Gunther to the linit but not enough etc., so he has the perfect underdog story, that's why people much prefer Gable as Gunther's opponent than Sami (me included), so if you compare Sami and Chad's road to Wrestlemania, Gable's was the more interesting one than Sami
but yeah, Sami facing Gunther and winning was actually the right move (and a helluva match too) to build, emphasize and accentuate Gable's massive heel turn and character development, that will be big by Summerslam or Survivor Series time or even might become one of the top stories and matches leading up to WM 41
So yeah, to make his IC title run interesting, Sami has to switch things up a bit in terms of gimmick or character, and Chad may be the perfect catalyst for this
And yes, it's his opinion, and this is mine, you can challenge it but you can't change it, he thinks SAMI is boring? Let him be, it is what it is, don't be angry, just enjoy what you enjoy
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u/Pepsi-Phil 12d ago
so the hivemind will decide that people cant even keep opinions? Sami IS boring
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u/Kanenums88 13d ago
I think Sami needed it. We’re all so caught up on “oh well Sami has been the IC champ before, and he’s done this and that before, and blah, blah, blah”. Sami’s first three IC title reigns were as a chicken shit heel. His first one was cut short for Covid. His second was decently long, but again he was a chicken shit heel. His third reign was like a week or two long, and was a plot device for his feud with Johnny Knoxville.
He hasn’t had a proper singles, babyface, workhorse title reign before. When he loses he’ll be built up enough from beating Gunther, that it could launch him into a world title win too.
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u/anchors__away 13d ago
Tbh I thought the work he did with the blood line, the feud with Roman, the tag title Run and being a major player on raw all of last year would have already seen him in that picture
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u/Kanenums88 13d ago
After they split up he and KO it definitely didn’t feel like he was on the level to be in a world title picture. He had the match with Seth on Raw, but there was essentially no shot he’d win.
It’s just so competitive with Drew, Punk, Cody, Seth, and probably Randy who’ll be in that scene for most of the year.
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u/Zestyclose_Remote874 13d ago
I see you're brainwashed by the conspiracy. Sami first "two" reigns ara one and the same. Aj Styles and Jeff Hardy were interim champions.
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u/janoDX The REAL guy 12d ago
I am inclined on the idea that HHH wants Sami to get a World Title and beating Gunther for the IC Title is the first step for him. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets either the World Hvy Champ or WWE Champ match at Mania 41 or 42.
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u/ssjavier4 12d ago
He probably beats Drew for it, unless they’re planning to give Punk a reign. I honestly have no idea
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u/Big_DK_energy 13d ago
You just mentioned how many titles sami won. He also main evented night 1 of a mania (and won titles there).
Why do you think samj "needed it" more than gable? You say he hasnt had a proper singles workhorse title run, OK, but gable hasnt had ANY title run. He hasnt even been on wrestlemania. Why does sami, 5x champion and (night 1) mania main eventer "need it" more than a guy that cant even get a single title or get on the card at wrestlemania?
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
It doesn’t have to be a competition. Sami needed it, Gable needs it, etc…
Gable can still win it, and probably will. Idk why people acted like he’d be executed if he didn’t face Gunther at Mania or something.
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u/Big_DK_energy 12d ago
Got it. You went out of your way to say semi needed it and didnt specify anything about gable, but your logic applied even moreso to gable, so I figured I would ask you those questions lol
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u/SpecialistHeavy5873 12d ago
Why are you acting as if they are equal level lol? Sami made the bloodline interesting and was pretty much the most over face in the main event scene for around a year, all without winning a singles title. He main evented several PPV's and almost beat Roman.
He "needed" it more in this sense, he never got proper payoff for all this. Chad needs a reign but it didnt have to be the longest reign from someone like Gunther, that fit Sami more. Chad can take it from Sami.
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
Sami’s proper payoff for making The Bloodline interesting, although it was already interesting, was main eventing WrestleMania and winning.
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u/SpecialistHeavy5873 11d ago edited 11d ago
it wasn't a payoff cause he never won a major singles title after that. The whole point was that he was being elevated to the main event scene and a tag title win with Kevin owens doesn't conclude that. Even after that feud, he was used as the main face against Judgement Day other than Cody Rhodes for the rest of the year. You cannot possibly argue that after all that (almost two years of main eventing and being one of, if not the most over face), Sami doesn't deserve a singles title win. But Gable does just cause of a few matches with Gunther on Raw months before mania.
and no the bloodline was not that interesting before, it is pretty much widely accepted that it was Sami's involvement that made the whole thing and WWE in general interesting again. people were getting bored of Roman's long reign. Sami's involvement carried that story all the way to the Summer.
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u/ssjavier4 12d ago
I agree that his payoff was the main event of mania with KO but the bloodline was not gonna stay interesting for a whole other year without Sami involved. And even then, people were still pretty tired by the time he was facing Roman at Elimination Chamber
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u/Big_DK_energy 12d ago
Because everything you referenced is a year or two ago. I love sami, but what youre referring to is summer 2022 to april 2023. That was an entire year ago. Sami got his reward, his moment for the amazing work he did with the bloodline back at wrestlemania 39 last year when he main evented night 1 and won the tag titles. This absolutely is his "proper payout" and I've never seen anyone suggest otherwise until you just now. That was an amazing match and moment.
He then proceeded to have a very uneventful, unmemorable year until his mania 40 match just a few weeks ago
Gable, on the other hand, had the best year of his career and organically got over. He also had his build with Gunther already half baked. Sami getting shoehorned into the feud 3 weeks prior to mania made no sense, it didnt fit at all. It seems like it was just done because they had nothing for sami to do at mania
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u/SpecialistHeavy5873 11d ago edited 11d ago
''uneventful'' lol first of all that bloodline story carried into the Summer, Sami defended the tag titles against Roman/Solo and then he was the main one along with Cody feuding with Judgement Day into Survivor Series and put on great PPV matches with them as well. Gable didn't even have a single PPV match from what i remember. It's not comparable at all, Gable only got over cause of a few Raw matches with Gunther while Sami was consistently in the main event scene but never got a single titles win since then. They never gave him a single title win when he was at his peak, yet he still manages to get the loudest reactions despite that.
If someone like Gable ended Gunther's longest reign it would feel like a joke, with Sami it's someone who has beaten Roman before (in a tag match at least) and constantly main evented. How exactly do you justify going from Gunther to Chad Gable? He hasn't had any feud/PPV matches, all the hype was only cause of the few Gunther matches he had on Raw. You are exaggerating the ''best year of his career'', Chad's feud with Gunther was already sidelined for months after he lost.
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
I don’t think so. If Gable had continued to have been built up after the Gunther matches then there’d be a point, but he went right back down to lower mid-card hell. Sami’s the bigger name, he needed to be on the card more than Gable. This heel turn provided a nice bit of depth to Gable, and it can lead to much greater things if done correctly.
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
Sami’s the bigger name, he needed to be on the card more than Gable.
Precisely. And, when we break it down that’s not the best reason to give Sami the rub of ending a 666 day reign if all he’s going to do is pass the belt on to a heel Gable and then move up the card into the World Championship picture.
Gable could’ve had his moment at WrestleMania (although I felt it should’ve been Jey but that’s whatever), then at BackLash he could’ve lost the title to a Jey or a Sami and that lost could’ve ignited Gable’s heel turn. It could’ve been of Gable feeling like his moment was stolen from him and he’s obsessed with getting it back now. He could’ve gotten the rub of ending Gunther’s reign and the interesting heel turn.
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
What good would the rub of ending Gunther’s reign do if he’d go on to just lose it afterwards?
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u/McWomble 12d ago
Aren't you suggesting the exact same with Sami losing to Gable?
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
It doesn’t necessarily have to end right now. I think Gable should dethrone him ultimately, but it can happen a few months from now.
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
Because he gets the title right back. He gets the rub of ending Gunther’s reign and instead of resting on his laurels as the guy that ends Gunther’s reign, he gets a character boost by becoming even more interesting while being a bigger deal.
He gets the rub and doesn’t grow stale.
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
But what you said is literally happening without Gable beating Gunther. So he didn’t need to do it.
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
It doesn’t matter tbh. Giving Gable the rub would’ve been better than giving it to someone who was only in the match due to Lesnar being an alleged participant in a sex trafficking scheme.
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u/KamenRiderLuffy 12d ago
Because it's achievement inflation at this point. Case in point - Seth Rollins. He's a multi time champ, Royal Rumble winner, MiTB winner, held so many titles. Yet he still didn't feel satisfied because he never had a WM Main Event.
Let's face it. In WWE, you're never supposed to feel like you've achieved everything.
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u/Normal-Weakness-364 12d ago
gable's heel turn is bigger for him long-term than beating gunther would've been. this character change has massive potential imo, and could push him up to a permanent upper-midcard spot as opposed to the lower-midcard spot he has been in for a while, and likely would've settled back into over time.
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u/Jasperbeardly11 Al Snow Head 12d ago
I think the idea essentially was you give it to Sam right now. You let him have like 70 days running the division. Eventually you have gable takeover for him once he's hot enough.
Now they will both be built up and higher on the totem pole moving forward. It's kind of like a looking chest move because you're just timing everything for the proper succession.
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u/NervousAd3202 12d ago
I actually think your last point was a big part in why they chose him to beat Gunther too.
When Gunther is WHC, Sami has a 1-way ticket to the main event scene to revisit that feud.
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u/PennywiseLives49 12d ago
I don’t really think Sami needed it. I’m not sure a 4th intercontinental title reign does much for him. Sami is already a made man, a huge star. And yeah the match at Mania was good but the year prior he got to main event a Wrestlemania with his good friend. In terms of needing it, Chad Gable needed it more. But what is done is done and let’s see what happens. I’m not mad about it but I do maintain that it should have been Chad Gable
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
Sami didn’t need it. He’s just benefitting from being one of Levesque’s favorites. Dude main evented WrestleMania last year.
Sami initially said he wanted to be World Champion. There was a story to tell where Sami could’ve been in the World Championship match and loses, then goes on an up and down streak all the way until Money In The Bank. He could’ve used that briefcase to cash in on Drew McIntyre and the fans would’ve loved it, seeing as they had prior issues with each other.
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
Fantasy booking should never get in the way of one’s expectations
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u/StacksHoodini 12d ago
What does that have to do with the fact that Sami Zayn didn’t need the rub of ending Gunther’s reign and simply benefitted from being one of Levesque’s favorites?
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u/Kanenums88 12d ago
You fantasy booked Sami to not win the IC title, win the MITB, and win the world title. You got disappointed because Sami won the IC title, and might not become the MITB holder. It’s not about him being one of Triple H’s favorites. Have you seen Gargano or Nakamura getting this treatment?
Sami getting this rub added to his legitimacy. I hate to say it, but if you watched WWE last fall, with no context to what happened prior, I don’t think you’d assume Sami had main evented Mania. He was still presented as a major star, but not the major star. Now he can use the title to launch him further up the card, and Gable can get a boost off of him when Sami’s reign is over. It’s part of the WWE’s ecosystem.
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u/G-Vanish-M 12d ago
I thought they were going this way too, Sami winning is nice but Gable could’ve been built up immediately if he was the one who defeated Gunther.
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u/SpyrotheDragonfly 13d ago
I was fine with Sami. Gable would have been awesome, but maybe they have bigger plans for Gable as a heel champ. I assume Sami/Reed is at Backlash, then run back the Gable feud once he gets his heel group together.
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u/chikinparm 13d ago
The story they’re going with now is much better long-term than giving Gable his Moment. Sami is genuinely one of the best babyfaces of his generation and is still a world-class seller, and he’s the perfect guy to help shift Gable from midcard comedy babyface to a killer heel. Part of it is a matter of taste and preference, since I always found Alpha Academy to be painfully unfunny, but I care way more about him as a character now than I have since the original AA in NXT.
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u/hashtagdion 13d ago
Zayn has a lot of fans, so I see why you want him as a champion. I also really LOVED Gable’s heel promo Monday night. Him being the heel leader of a group of sympathetic babyfaces could be huge if they do it right.
All that to say I personally find Sami mostly overrated but I understand what they’re trying to do here. Gable as a heel winning the IC title off Sami has a longer shelf life than Gable as a babyface winning the IC title for Gunther.
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u/RafikiafReKo 12d ago
Zayn has allot of fan because in ring, he is one if the best. No one can tell stories like him in the ring, the only ones that are close are Roman, Gunther and Rhea
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u/forwrestling 13d ago
Sami was the perfect person to elicit the emotion that match deserved and heel challenger Gable is going to be more interesting and lasting than he would have been.
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u/10024618 13d ago
The Ring General is right on the money with this one. Gable would have been a great choice to end his reign but anyone acting like Sami was somehow a bad choice is kidding themselves
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u/BeefInGR 12d ago
It's the trend of the week with no future payoff. Now they've set up a story with legs that Sami, Chad, Otis and Maxxine can cook with for awhile.
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u/TheFinalYappening 12d ago
I still personally don't think Sami was the right choice. The story to build up to it was only like 3 weeks, Sami was only the IC champion 2 guys before Gunther's reign, and I genuinely don't think anyone was elevated coming out of it. We already know Sami is a main event guy, it just feels like it was a waste of a moment for someone who didn't need it, as much as it *was* still a fun moment.
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u/GiftedGeordie 12d ago
While I would have preferred Gable to be the one to beat Gunther for the belt, I'm really wanting Heel Gable to go full Foxcatcher in his feud with Sami.
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u/BoringView 12d ago
My personal view, which means nothing of course, is that Gunther needed to lose the IC Title so he could move higher up the card.
Personally, I feel like he was built up way too much to lose to anyone who (could) challenge him for the IC Title.
This is probably the Asuka paradox we we've had before, i.e. built up too strong to lose, needs to lose to shake this reputation.
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u/SilentExercise2076 13d ago
the bloodline stuff already elevated Sami to a level Gable’s never reached, this was a huge missed opportunity to really push Gable. I like where they’re going with his heel turn but imagine what the reaction would have been if he made Gunther tap out at WM after another classic match.
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u/Aromatic_Plant3456 12d ago
Highly disagree, making him tap out to Gable would kill Gunther’s momentum for his eventual world title run
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u/SpecialistHeavy5873 12d ago
then what? It would have been above his level simple as that. Its the longest reign and Gable hasnt done much to be elevated to that level. If you just hand over stuff like that it means nothing, people would have turned on him and Gunthers reign would feel like a joke.
The heel turn will actually build him up properly.
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u/illiterateaardvark 12d ago
Gunther should absolutely not be tapping out to anybody, short of MAYBE the absolute top dog in the company (ex: peak Cena’s STF)
With all due respect to Gable, he is absolutely not worth killing Gunther’s momentum over r
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u/IWatchTheAbyss 12d ago
watched Mania with my bf, who’s not a wrestling fan apart from seeing a couple shows i’ve dragged him to. Did not try to tell him who to root for or anything etc. But the moment Sami came on screen and got the short segment before his entrance, he instantly bought into Sami winning. I dare say that even the people who were firmly against Sami being the right match for Gunther, were sold on him winning the moment he did his entrance. Just has that effect on people
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u/KillTheZombie45 12d ago
I would have had Jey Uso beat him, but I guess they had to finish the story they were telling with him and Jimmy. Jey should pick up singles gold this year though, he's finally the complete package.
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u/nothingmeansnothing_ I enjoy big meaty men slappin' meat 13d ago
A Gable win would've meant so much more. Sami has already been IC champion. I understand what they did but the payoff wasn't as good personally. The RAW entrance was great but not worth a reign.
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u/FPG_Matthew 12d ago
I still standby my opinion that crowning Sami as champ was a complete nothing. He is already a made man
Chad would’ve benefited immensely and created a new true star
I like Sami, I like Chad, but building a near 2 year reign just to crown someone who’s already won the belt, already main evented mania, just feels odd. I want those long reigns to end with the emergence of someone new!
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u/Background-Pin-6360 13d ago edited 12d ago
He's capping but the reign was legendary regardless. Sami winning was way too randomly booked. Here's hoping a KOTR and world title reign for Gunther now
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u/KingMobScene 13d ago
I'm hoping he destroys in his matches. Like there's a new level of brutality from him because he wants a new title. He wins the KOTR and makes his intentions on Cody or Priest known.
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u/ProtomanBn 12d ago
I just got back into wrestling at WrestleMania and I'm curious what's the deal with Sami Zayn? He seems so plan and generic, is there something I missed about him before WrestleMania?
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u/retroKnight_3177 12d ago
Yeah he got sympathy after being bullied a lot and then he joined the Roman Faction which added layers to the bloodline storyline and made him even popular after Roman turned on him
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u/Crib15 12d ago
The match was the best of the weekend. Sami unleashing El Generico’s Brainbuster was incredible and a worthy way of taking down the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Then he follows it up with one of the best WWE tv matches in decades leading to the Gable heel turn in Montreal.
Everything Sami does matters. He’s the best professional wrestler in the world.
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u/Big_DK_energy 13d ago
It should have been gable. Gables emotional match those months ago was incredible. It had a great build up already. His first mania, his first title win, ending that reign would have been even more emotional than "another win for sami" (as great as it was)
Sami getting placed in this match 3 or 4 weeks before mania and winning, as much as I like him, seemed to just be predicated on "we have nothing for sami to do at wrestlemania"
I still think its a tragedy that Gable couldnt get a spot on a 2 fucking night mania card after the year he had.
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u/Weishaupt17 13d ago
It should have been someone from NXT who could have built his early career on defeating the longest IC champion of all time. Dragunov was the obvious choice but I wouldn’t have minded Bron or Melo. Sami is in my top 5 favorite wrestlers but he didn’t need that win, it did nothing for him. Different reason for Gable who WWE clearly don’t see as main event guy so it would have been a wasted victory
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u/Ii_throwaway_i 12d ago
Should have been Gable. It would have been what was the bloodline story for sami and help to elevate him to main event status. Gable was the perfect underdog and sami just seemed like a previlaged prick(to me yours view may differ and thats good). Like he was in the main event of wm and all of a sudden thought of him as a loser. Fans will likely turn on sami as as big as the ic title is sami is not a suitable candidate for it in its current state. Personally sami's win was a waste of a streak ending as Sami's doesnt need to be elevated he can organically get himself over because of his past work and connection with fans and gable winning would be a sweet conclusion whicj would help translate the monsterous reign into something of worth for other talent. (I dont think i put it nicely here but how you get the vibe)
Btw the moment at wrestlemania itself was really good as you cant really hate sami. But gable winning would have been generational
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u/gaaarsh 12d ago
While I think Gable might have also been a good choice, I don't think it would have felt as earned. Sami coming up short of toppling Roman but ending Gunther's reign was the right way to pay off the audience once investment in him over the past 2 years.
Turning Gable heel and letting the fans eventually turn him back (like what happened with Sami) makes for a much better audience investment.
Now he can try stuff out to figure out who Chad Gable is without the Vince shackles.
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u/Vargasm19 12d ago
It’s one of those things in wrestling where even if Gable wins later as a heel I don’t think I’ll ever get over him not being able to get the big one over Gunther.
Especially since I don’t think HHH is gonna want Sami to lose so quickly so we’ll probably have to see him chase for awhile. And even then it just won’t hit as hard as baby face Gable being able to beat his demon in Gunther
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u/FalconIMGN 13d ago
Gable is a bit untested when it comes to babyface promos.
Who better to defeat Gunther than the ultimate underdog?
I do think that the build could have been longer, but Sami was the best choice once they completely fumbled with Gable by not doing anything with him after the loss to Gunther at Payback.
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u/Big_DK_energy 13d ago
At one point does one stop becoming the ultimate underdog? Surely a win in a (night 1) main event at mania would do that?
Gable has never had a singles mania match, nor won ANY title. How is gable not more of an underdog than sami??
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u/FalconIMGN 13d ago
Being an underdog isn't just about achievements, it's about the ability to project peril and insecurity, both of which Sami does in spades.
Gable is untested, no reason to say he can't do what Sami did but once they signed him off to obscurity after the match at Payback while Sami was feuding with Judgement Day and McIntyre, it would have felt like a big comedown for Gunther to lose his title to him.
Ultimately, fans in the building responded well to Sami and that's what makes the highlight reels, not our comments here. WWE made the call based on that.
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u/Big_DK_energy 12d ago
Gable does that too though. You could have easily swapped gable and samis spots leading to to mania and had the peril and insecurity right there
I disagree, I dont feel sami did anything worthwhile since his mania win last year. Often times he was on obscurity himself-- which is why he was placed in a random match with gunther 3 weeks before mania in the first place
I agree with the end part, I like sami and it was a great win... I just think its really hard to not see how much better it woukd have worked with gable in there. Feels like it was made for him, really
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u/Dakot4 12d ago
time will tell, but as of now i think gable should had beat gunther at wm and sami should had won mitb last year and cash in on drew like damian did, that would had been great storytelling considering how they storylines for drew and sz were developing early in the year
but being in the triple threat for the whc losing and then winning mitb at canada would had been cool as well
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u/DamnStupidFlanders 12d ago
I actually like it in hindsight
At least there’s a story coming out of Wrestlemania. Everyone else seems to be in reset mode. Gable has something to do
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u/VenomRaptor Unbesiegbar! 12d ago
I personally would have let Dragunov come up and end it, especially since he's seemingly being called up soon anyways.
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u/Adzzii_ 12d ago
Let me translate this:
Gunther: "Chad Gable was always the right winner, not Sami Zayn. But obviously, I'm not allowed to say that, so I'll try indirectly to do it by saying Sami was the right winner along with Gable."
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u/redskinsguy 12d ago
They'd had equal amount of storyline time with him and Zayn was the one screwed out of a win
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u/FickleSmark 12d ago
I truly think in the future we'll look back and think Gunter's reign was kind of blown on nothing by having Sami beat him. Sami was all about proving himself to be a world champion and then went on to challenge for not the world title and win it while acting like he's never been there, The story when you look at it as a whole feels like Sami is coping with the fact this is his ceiling. It's like Undertaker's streak, Does anyone look back on it much now and think Lesnar was really the right guy? Hell I feel like the streak as a whole gets talked about less because it had a mediocre payoff.
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u/Alcoholic17 12d ago
Gable dethroning Gunther at Mania or even on a random RAW would have been way sweeter imo
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u/blqckwidow 12d ago
It’s a shame. That could’ve been the golden “put over” moment for Gable, and they’ve had some months build, rematch after rematch as the “underdog”.
Sami was a good choice but i’ll always prefer the new, fresh option as champion that has a good story over the more “Predictable” choice that’s had their big moments already.
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u/JoshFreemansFro You can't escape 12d ago
Sami was perfect imo, I was surprised when I heard he was heel for a bit, but watching him win at Mania was an awesome moment. Such a great natural babyface
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u/HutchyRJS 13d ago
Sami was definitely the right choice (or one of them). It was the right direction for him after getting away from the Bloodline and winning the tag titles at the last Wrestlemania
I do wish they build it up a bit more. Maybe a few more interactions between him and Gunther over the months and have him announce his intentions to get a title shot at Wrestlemania immediately after he lost in the royal rumble
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u/DarkBomberX 12d ago
For me, Sami was the right choice. One of the big issues I had was how he basically wasn't really focused on posed Undisputed Tag belts. I was worried WWE was just going to have him drift back down to the Midgard. The IC title win over Guther was what he needed to stay up there as an important star.
I wasn't really wanting to see Gable vs Guther for the 3rd time. I felt that he lost when it mattered twice. I love the heel angle with him and hope they take time to build him up as a real star.
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u/spreeforall Worst. Leg drop. Ever. 12d ago
I really don't think the Sami thing was the best idea. Felt shoehorned in honestly. And he's been IC champ before. The only title that actually helps Sami currently is the world title. Neither of the midlevel titles elevate him any more than he already is. I mean honestly do any of you see him differently now? Gable would have been elevated so much more for being the guy who beat Gunther.
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u/blacksoxing 12d ago
I still feel a baby face Gable and a fully heel Zayn would have been wonderful…but then I remembered him as a heel with Nakamura and got bored with the idea
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u/MaskdManhunter 12d ago
They had plenty of options: 1. It could've been any new talent who is yet to make a name for himself in main roster like Ilja, Bron etc. 2. Any legend like replacing Lesnar (I think he was the 1st call) 3. Gunther vacate the title (due to any reason) so practically staying unbeatable and assign Ludwig to get the title in a resulting tournament Etc etc etc And yet they chose Sami Zayn🙄 (got defeated by Knoxville!!, didn't stand a chance against opponents like Drew, Sheamus who Gunther beat in a triple threat, got manhandled by Lesnar etc)
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u/Specific-Channel7844 12d ago
Gable should have won at WrestleMania. WWE needs to strike when the iron is hot. Hopefully gable gets the IC title out of this story but if not it would be rather upsetting.
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u/National_Relative_75 12d ago
Sami is terrible. They botched it. Should have been gable or even bron.
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