And Sami Loses Again...

Zayn, as is often known, lies flattened and defeated on the mat in the ring.

When I grew up watching WWF wrestling (and I grew up loving NWA/WCW and Memphis/MidSouth just as well), there were always talented wrestlers that just didn't get the push. No matter their talent, the ability to go the distance, the endurance, and the charisma; without the push they just falter until the fans just expect another loss. Sami Zayn is there. When you see him come to the ring, if he wins the fans are shocked. It is absolutely stunning when the ref raises Zayn's hand in victory. Let's face it, Zayn has joined Dolph Ziggler in that unfortunate group of incredible talent conditioned into jobbing out to pretty much everyone in the upper tier and barely surviving even in the middle tier. When Zayn lost on Smackdown Live tonight against Mike Kanellis, it was a glaring example of just where Sami is now in the WWE. You'd think switching from Raw (where he could barely win) to Smackdown Live (where he rarely wins), moving into a different creative, would have perhaps reignited his faltering status in the company. Instead he just loses to whoever WWE feels could use a rub up the midcard ladder. Besides some surprising wins over Baron Corbin, Zayn has lost every match he's put in. Of course, Kevin Owens can't get a win on Smackdown Live, either, so that isn't saying much, but Zayn has always been a doormat whether it was on NXT, Raw, or Smackdown Live. Anyone that has seen his work with Owens and his NXT Takeover classic against Nakamura knows just what Zayn is capable of. But even those matches saw him on the losing end. I can't imagine what that must feel like to be so talented, to be favored by fans, appreciated and respected by his peers, and continue to be jobbed out. And if that wasn't bad enough, Zayn now is saddled with being a clownish, obnoxious character in backstage interviews where the likes of AJ Styles and Nakamura shrug him off as an idiot. If WWE continues to tell us that he's a clown who just can't win, how will anybody truly care, especially when he's been completely totaled and damaged, a casualty of a creative that sees him as so unworthy of a chance. It isn't like he hasn't delivered in the main event stage. He thrives in the big matches when WWE just gives him the spot. But if he continues to find himself flat on his back, getting up and holding his woozy noggin after another pinfall adds an L to his record, how does WWE expect us to continue to invest in him? I find such frustration as a fan seeing obvious value squandered during their prime. Zayn, right now, is in his prime. He has an arsenal of maneuvers, can function and operate in the conditions of any kind of style from a streetfight to an iron man bout. But without some respect in that damned room that makes or breaks those hired to go out there to perform, how can Zayn possible prove to us that he's got what it takes to be a made man? I recall Tito Santana. Tito, even late in his career (check out the Saturday Night Main Event WWE set and watch his match as El Matador against Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship...it is damn near a masterpiece!), had the goods to go with anybody he was put in the ring with. He had solid matches with Greg Valentine, Macho Man, and Honky Tonk Man, would be an Intercontinental Champion and Tag Team Champion (with Rick Martel as part of Strike Force), and could go a long time in the ring if called upon. He opened the very first Wrestlemania. Towards the end of his career, he was jobbing to Barbarian and Warlord. Jake the Snake Roberts had the charisma, impeccable mic skills, and was a ring general. When did Jake get to run with a Championship title? Not even a Tag Team Championship. He had feuds where he would get a win here or there, did have success against the likes of Rick Rude, Ted Dibiase, and Rick Martel. But he never was quite on the side of creative to run with a title. He rarely if ever escaped the midcard. He made Andre the Giant pass out. And he had one hell of a match against Randy Savage. Zayn has had some damn good matches, hasn't he? Where's the title? What program has he been in on a winning side? I had plans on writing a thread about Bayley as well. About how WWE had just abandoned her on the island of humility. Alexa Bliss is certainly nice to look at and improves on the mic and ring work with each additional week--it's clear she wants to be in the mix and at the top--but the way she was just embarrassing Bayley had me questioning what happened in creative to decide that this was the way to get a heel over and build drama around the face. Still, fortunately a switch was flipped in creative and they decided that humiliating Bayley was perhaps not the exact storytelling tactic to use for building rivalries with Bliss among others. When Bayley was first against Nia Jax in the women's gauntlet, she was easily dispatched and forgotten. It was like I was watching the female version of Zayn...talent and has the fans behind her but thought of so little by creative that she was considered easy prey to be disposed of in a hurry. But at least she's been a World Champion. That WWE can't take away from her. And she went into and out of Wrestlemania as World Champion. Zayn, bless his heart, can't even sniff an Intercontinental or US championship. That is his burden to bear. Whether it is Braun Strowman or Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal or Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn just always finds himself almost all the time a battered and beaten victim...of creative.
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On the August 1st edition of Smackdown Live, Sami was pinned in under two minutes...by Aiden English. It is a significant sign that no one in WWE creative will take advantage of this incredible superstar in his prime. It is just a crime.