Matt Hardy Says Sami Zayn “Deserves” a Legitimate WWE Championship Run

Sami Zayn suddenly has plenty of people questioning whether he belongs anywhere near WWE’s top championship — but Matt Hardy isn’t one of them. While Jim Ross, Jonathan Coachman and others have picked apart Zayn’s place at the top of the card, Hardy is taking the opposite side and says Sami has earned the chance to finally have a WWE Championship reign that actually means something.

Zayn recaptured the Undisputed WWE Championship from CM Punk on the September 11 episode of SmackDown, but the title change immediately turned into a debate over whether WWE picked the right guy. Even before Sami walked out with the belt, fans in Mexico City hammered him with boos and a brutal NSFW chant, giving his second championship victory a very different atmosphere from the usual feel-good coronation.

Hardy addressed Zayn’s new reign during The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy after John Alba brought up the fact that Sami’s first championship run was over almost as soon as it started. Hardy admitted he has no idea where WWE plans to take this one, but he made it clear he likes seeing Sami get another opportunity.

“It was interesting. I’m honestly not sure. I’m not sure what they’re going to map out for him as far as that goes. And I did not see that match, but I do like the opportunity. I do like the fact that he is getting an opportunity to have a better reign. You know, the first one was obviously very quick. It was, you know, he was a transition guy more or less. I mean, who knows? They might have something planned out for the long haul.”

That is a much different tune from Jim Ross. The WWE Hall of Famer said he isn’t convinced Sami Zayn is over enough to be WWE Champion and questioned whether Zayn has enough mass appeal to be the guy WWE can confidently stick in a WrestleMania main event.

Jonathan Coachman isn’t exactly lining up behind Sami either. After getting dragged by fans over his criticism of Zayn’s title win, Coachman doubled down by saying “not everybody’s made to be a world champion”. His argument is that WWE has to make somebody believable in that top position, and he clearly isn’t convinced the company has done that with Zayn.

Hardy sees it differently. When Alba flat-out asked whether Sami deserves another run as champion, Hardy pointed to everything Zayn has put into his career and said being over with the audience and delivering in the ring is enough to earn somebody that opportunity.

“I think so. I mean, I think that first run—I mean, I think he’s worked hard for a very long time, and he is someone who does deserve a run. And I think a lot of things have changed, you know, over the years as pro wrestling has gone on. They’re not quite as selective on, like, who could be classified as a world champion material performer now. But if you have solid ring work and people are behind you and you’re over and they like you or they hate you, whatever it may be, yes, I think you can get in there.”

Hardy wasn’t pretending Sami’s first run was some masterpiece either. He called it “pretty lackluster,” but his issue was how quickly WWE pulled the plug instead of whether Zayn deserved the championship in the first place.

“And that first run he had was, you know, pretty lackluster overall because it was so short. But I think it’s nice of them to give him a run that feels legitimate so that he can be very proud of it.”

The wild part is that the skepticism isn’t limited to talking heads outside WWE. Ringside News previously covered that some people inside WWE opposed Sami Zayn beating CM Punk for the championship, even though the company ultimately moved ahead with the switch as part of a larger creative plan.

There is apparently more going on here than WWE simply deciding to shock everybody in Mexico City. The company has an idea and timeline behind Punk dropping the championship to Zayn, with several wrestlers now tangled up around the Undisputed WWE Championship picture.

Kevin Owens may be a huge part of where this thing eventually goes as well. Ringside News covered that WWE’s likely long-term direction for Sami’s championship reign could involve Owens, which would put two men with decades of history together into one of the biggest matches WWE could give Zayn during this run.

So Sami Zayn has Jim Ross questioning his mass appeal, Jonathan Coachman saying not everyone is made to be world champion, fans in Mexico City cursing him out, and even some people inside WWE who weren’t sold on the title change. Matt Hardy is standing on the other side of all that noise and saying Sami already did the hard part — he earned the opportunity. Now WWE just has to give him enough time with the championship to prove what he can actually do with it.

This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.