Jonathan Coachman saw Sami Zayn break down after losing the WWE Title to CM Punk, and he had one big problem with the whole thing: WWE made Sami look like a placeholder.
Coach took to Twitter with a video reacting to Sami’s nine-day title reign, and he made it clear he wasn’t talking about whether the character should have been champion. His issue was what it meant for the person behind the character to finally get that moment, only for WWE to rip it away almost immediately.
“I never talk about guys from a personal level. I talk about them from a character level. The character Sami Zayn? No, I didn’t think he should’ve been champion.
But on the human level, because I’ve been around so many guys, I’ve been in WWE for over a decade. These are real human beings, real people who show up every single day saying, ‘Man, do I have what it takes? Do they believe in me as a company?’”
That is where Coach said WWE’s decision gets ugly. To him, making someone champion is supposed to be the company telling that person they believe in them. In Sami’s case, Coach said it looked more like WWE handed him the title just so CM Punk could take it.
“And how you believe in somebody is by making them a champion, by giving them a push, by saying, ‘Yes, we believe in you to be the guy who’s going to carry this company for a certain period of time.’”
Coach then imagined what it must have felt like for Sami to find out he was finally becoming Undisputed WWE Champion after years of grinding for that exact moment.
“So how excited do you think Sami Zayn was when he walked in two, three weeks ago and they said, ‘Here’s the plan. You’re going to be the Undisputed Champion for the very first time in your career. Congratulations.’”
Then he pointed right at Triple H’s reaction after Sami won, saying Triple H knew what was coming next. Coach said he simply felt bad for Sami, because in his eyes, WWE gave him the top championship only to make it clear he was never the real destination.
“Triple H even did the finger point of doom right after he won. Did he look excited? No, because Triple H knew what they were getting ready to do. I feel bad for Sami Zayn, I do. I would feel bad for anyone who got given a championship at the highest level just to be told, ‘You are nothing more than a placeholder.’”
That’s the part that lines up with the footage WWE posted after RAW. Sami was furious after losing to Punk, going off about Punk walking back into the company after months away and getting a title shot just nine days after Sami became champion.
“I have a question. How is it that after 24 years of crawling and inching for every little inch to get to the WWE Title, after I finally get it, nine days after I get it, that piece of s* can walk back in here after not being here for months and waltz right in and get a chance?*
That mother*** has no business! No business!”
After that, Sami crumpled to the ground and cried, which made the whole thing feel a lot bigger than one title loss. Coach clearly saw it the same way. He also questioned the logic of moving the Undisputed WWE Championship to Monday night when it had been treated as a SmackDown title, especially with SummerSlam less than four weeks away.
“This has nothing to do with CM Punk… or does it?
Because you move the Undisputed Championship to a Monday night. It’s supposed to be a SmackDown title. There are two World Championships, which I have severely disagreed with for years. But you put them both on the same show, and you try to elevate them because in less than four weeks, you’re at SummerSlam. And the big loser in all of it? That was Sami Zayn.”
He said fans and critics can call it business all they want, but that doesn’t erase what it probably felt like for Sami. Coach noted that WWE got the main events it wanted, but Sami paid the price for that plan.
“Sometimes we’ve got to think about these people as human beings. And I know, hey Coach, business is business. Yeah, well, Sami got business taken right upside his head because CM Punk hasn’t been there in three months.
And he walks back in, and because you need him at SummerSlam, you go, ‘Sami, thanks but no thanks.’
Man… you’ve got to feel bad for the guy. But now, hey, at least they got the two main events that they wanted, and you got them on the same show… which is not SmackDown.”
Sami Zayn still got the WWE Title moment he spent years chasing, but Coachman’s point is that WWE made the moment feel temporary before it ever had a chance to breathe. Punk left Chicago with the championship, WWE got its SummerSlam direction, and Sami became the guy left on the floor trying to process what just happened.
Do you agree with Jonathan Coachman that WWE made Sami Zayn look like a placeholder champion? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
