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Sami Zayn will get another chance at a WWE Championship when he steps into the ring on Saturday against Cody Rhodes and Gunther at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia.
Rhodes booked the match between the two top wrestlers on “Friday Night SmackDown” after Zayn’s officiating as special guest referee was criticized. He quickly counted for Rhodes after his fight with Gunther exploded in the ring. After Rhodes asked SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis to restart the match with a new referee, Gunther attacked Zayn. Then Zayn returned the favor. The match was booked and Zayn has one of his biggest challenges yet.
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Sami Zayn enters the ring during a WWE live event at Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain on June 4, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
However, Zayn was in good spirits as he spoke to PK Press Club Digital ahead of the event.
“Good,” he replied when asked how he felt. “Look, anytime you’re main-eventing a big PLE, the fact that Saudi Arabia is always a little bit special to me, just coming from that part of the world, obviously. And the fact that you’re main-eventing a WWE Championship.
“I don’t think there’s a better place, other than being champion, which is the goal here. But besides being champion, it’s the best place you could ask for. I really can’t complain.”
Zayn was born in Canada after his Syrian parents arrived in the country. If he wins the title, he will become the first WWE World Champion of Syrian descent.
He said winning the title in Riyadh would be a big moment for him.
“I think it’s one of those things that would be difficult to deal with. I really don’t know. I don’t know how the fans would react,” he said. “I hope they enjoy it, but you never know because my character right now is a little polarizing – I really don’t know. But I don’t know. I think there are a lot of cultural and historical meanings that would perhaps strike me after the fact.
Sami Zayn makes his entrance during SmackDown at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on May 22, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
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“From a sentimental point of view, of course, I think it would be pretty great. I think it would be a great cultural moment, actually. I don’t think about it. I dismiss it a lot at this point because we come to Saudi Arabia a lot. There was a lot of talk about me being Arab or Muslim or whatever. But growing up, that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t like it was a common thing or something you could even dream of. I couldn’t have dreaming that would happen. So, yeah, that would be a big deal, I think.”
A potential Zayn win lines up perfectly with a Jey Uso King of the Ring win. Uso could choose to face Zayn, hypothetically, or world heavyweight champion Roman Reigns.
When speaking to PK Press Club Digital about the possibility of him facing Uso for the title, Zayn looked intrigued given his history with The Bloodline.
“I’ve thought about it a little bit but I’m really trying to focus on one thing at a time. But I think it’s because The Bloodline is reunited on ‘Raw’ with a slightly different slant now because Jacob adds a slightly different dimension but it raises the kind of question, the elephant in the room, which is, ‘Where is Sami Uso in all of this?’ Because we are on separate shows, I don’t know if and when this situation, this issue, will manifest itself on our TV show,” he said.
“I think in one way or another it would be interesting and it would be a really interesting thing. I think it would be very, very interesting actually. But we just have to see where the chips fall. But I think if a scenario like that happens, I think it would lead to some interesting weekly programming where you kind of have to see how it plays out.”
Sami Zayn and WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes speak during SmackDown at the Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy on June 5, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
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Night of Champions will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The event can be seen on ESPN.
