An Intercontinental title match is set for the next WWE Raw.
Sami Zayn will defend his newly won Intercontinental title against Chad Gable on next week’s Raw. Andrade will also take on Dominik Mysterio in a battle of former friends.
After Zayn and Gable defeated Imperium on Monday, the two spoke backstage. Zayn told Gable that he knew what he meant when he asked for a favor and agreed to defend the title next week in his hometown of Montreal. It was Gable who trained Zayn ahead of his match against Gunther at WrestleMania 40.
On last week’s SmackDown, Dominik and the rest of Legado de Fantasma attacked his father Rey Mysterio after a match between Elektra Lopez and Zelina Vega. Andrade, who had formed an association with Dominik in recent weeks, attacked Dominik to even the odds. At WrestleMania, Andrade teamed with Rey to defeat Dominik and Santos Escobar
Here is what is announced for next week’s Raw in Montreal:
WWE Intercontinental title: Sami Zayn defends against Chad Gable
It’s WWE WrestleMania 40 weekend and I am back with a look at everything that happened during night one and a look ahead to everything that might happen at night two.
Of course, the biggest headline is The Rock and Roman Reigns getting the win over Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the main event, setting up the Bloodline rules stipulation for the Rhodes vs. Reigns main event on night two.
I go through all the results from the entire show including the difference in the production, the weather being a factor, and more like Sami Zayn ending the record-long WWE Intercontinental title reign of Gunther.
I also talk about comments from the post-event press conference including The Rock getting ready for WrestleMania, Reigns kicking out a reporter in character, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque fielding a question about Brock Lesnar.
Then, it’s time for a full preview of night two, what matches I am looking forward to the most, and if Cody Rhodes gets to finish his story tonight.
Plus, let’s talk Giulia in NXT, Mark Briscoe capturing the ROH World title, and more.
F4W Online subscribers can now read my full recap of night one of WWE WrestleMania 40, headlined by the return of The Rock in his first advertised match in 11 years.
From Jade Cargill’s WrestleMania debut to Sami Zayn’s huge win over Gunther to everything in between, it’s all here.
For 666 days, Gunther reigned as WWE Intercontinental Champion. But that historic title run has now come to an end.
Sami Zayn defeated Gunther at WrestleMania 40 night one to become the new Intercontinental Champion. The story of the match was Zayn refusing to give up despite the dominance of Gunther. He eventually caught Gunther with a Helluva Kick, hit a top rope brainbuster, and delivered two more Helluva Kicks to get the win.
The top rope brainbuster was Zayn’s finishing move on the indies.
Gunther was the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history. He won the title from Ricochet on the June 10, 2022 episode of SmackDown.
The Gunther vs. Zayn match had a special presentation that highlighted Zayn as the underdog babyface. Before the match, Zayn spoke with his wife and son backstage. Zayn then got encouragement from both Chad Gable and Kevin Owens.
During their pre-match interaction, Gable reminded Zayn that he owes him a favor. Gable was Zayn’s trainer on WWE television leading into WrestleMania. Gable should be in contention for a title shot against Zayn.
Bronson Reed is another potential post-WrestleMania challenger for Zayn. After winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on Friday night, Reed said he would have his eyes on the Gunther vs. Zayn IC title match.
In addition to competing for WWE, Sami Zayn is attempting to pursue some other projects outside of the ring.
Zayn announced earlier this week that he’ll be presenting a comedy show in Los Angeles next month as part of this year’s Netflix is a Joke festival. Titled “Sami Zayn & Friends,” the show is taking place on Saturday, May 11.
While being interviewed by The Ringer Wrestling Show in advance of WrestleMania, Zayn said he’s hired a manager and an agent for non-WWE projects.
“I recently kind of got like a manager and an agent for outside WWE-type stuff,” Zayn said. “So – trying to dip my toes into that world a little bit.”
Zayn said comedy and acting are things he’s always thought he had a knack for. In recent years, he’s been able to flex those chops on WWE television.
“And so I thought, well, let’s see what’s going on outside of WWE TV. And even – I think the mentality within the company with regards to how they approach talent wanting to do outside stuff [has] really changed as of late, for the better in my opinion,” Zayn said. “So we’ll see. That’s just talking about like the outside opportunity with the Netflix is a Joke stuff.”
Zayn doesn’t know if the comedy show will just feature stand-up. He’s had the idea to make it a variety show with a monologue, interviews, and sketches.
“To be honest, I agreed to the show with no – I had no show,” Zayn admitted.
Zayn’s manager approached him about the show, and Zayn agreed to do it without having a plan in place for what he was going to do.
“So now I’m in the process of cooking all that stuff up. And it’s really exciting – it’s really exciting to get creative about something that’s not just like the angles or the matches or whatever,” Zayn said. “Having said all that, I still do get very invested in the creative process when it comes to the storytelling [in WWE].”
At night one of WrestleMania 40 this Saturday, Zayn is challenging Gunther for the Intercontinental title. Gunther has been champion for more than 650 days leading into WrestleMania. It’s the longest Intercontinental title reign in WWE history.
Next month, WWE’s Sami Zayn will be performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles.
Zayn announced yesterday that he’ll be doing a live comedy show as part of this year’s Netflix is a Joke festival. Titled “Sami Zayn & Friends,” the show is being held at the Avalon Hollywood on Saturday, May 11.
🚨🚨🚨 So excited about this!
I will be doing a live comedy show as part of @NetflixIsAJoke Festival in LA.
Tickets for Zayn’s show are going on sale to the general public this Friday (April 5). A pre-sale is taking place today starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time using “SAMI” as the promo code.
This is the second-ever Netflix is a Joke festival. Billed as the largest comedy event in history, the festival is taking place from May 1-12. It’s set to feature more than 300 events with some of the top comedians in the world.
While this is mostly unfamiliar territory for Zayn, it’s not the first time he’s presented a comedy show. He put on the SamJam Comedy Hour in Toronto during SummerSlam week in 2019.
Zayn is competing in one of the most anticipated matches at WrestleMania 40 this weekend. He’s challenging Gunther for the Intercontinental title at night one on Saturday (April 6).
As the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in history, Gunther has held the title for more than 650 days. He decimated Zayn in an angle that went down on Monday’s episode of Raw.
WWE announced on social media that Sami Zayn will get a rematch against Bronson Reed. This comes after Reed defeated Zayn in a match last week due to a distraction from Gunther, who stood near the entrance as Zayn walked into a lariat, a senton, then a splash off the top rope by Reed, allowing him to get the win.
Zayn defeated Chad Gable at the end of a gauntlet match to earn a title match against Gunther at WrestleMania 40. After his loss against Reed on Monday, Zayn asked Gable backstage how he could have let Gunther into his head. Gable told him it was more about physical when it comes to Gunther, it’s also about mental, and he’ll need a different approach for WrestleMania. Zayn agreed to talk to Gable about a new approach.
Here is the updated lineup for the final episode of WWE Raw before WrestleMania 40. The first hour will be commercial free:
WWE Raw (Monday, April 1) —
The Rock & Roman Reigns appear
Eight-man tag match: DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) & The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. The Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh)
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell vs. Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri
Sami Zayn says the reaction to him winning the number one contender’s gauntlet on the March 11 WWE Raw was “a little deflating.”
Zayn defeated Chad Gable in the final fall of the gauntlet to earn an Intercontinental title match against Gunther at WrestleMania. Some fans expected Gable to win given he’d been cutting promos leading up to the match about his loss to Gunther in September causing his young daughter to cry.
Booker T mentioned on his Hall of Fame podcast recently that Zayn had been upset by the response to his win. However, Zayn clarified during a recent interview with the Superstar Crossover Podcast that his comments “seem like a bigger deal” than they were but he was still a little deflated by the reaction.
Zayn was asked about Booker’s comments and responded:
I was a little surprised to read that (laughs) cause I basically bumped into Booker on the plane. We were just sitting next to each other. We were just talking so it was pretty weird to see it on the internet (laughs).
All this to say, I was very happy with the performance because he was talking about the performance itself, the match itself. And I was like, ‘I was very pleased with the match, it’s just unfortunate that it felt like the reaction to the win itself was a little split, if not a little more skewed toward Chad even’ because we did such a great job of building Chad and he’s done a great job of building himself.
I felt like this was an interesting story because it splits the emotional investment in two. So you’re only getting 50 percent of the pie, right? So that’s just an interesting dynamic. It is interesting because it makes it more compelling but as a guy whose job is to rally the entire audience behind him, which is what I sometimes feel like my job is as a good guy, I was a little let down that I felt like I couldn’t get the entire audience to rally behind me….that’s not even entirely true. During the match itself, it (felt) like they were very happy and invested in the whole thing but the online backlash or the day after, just with people feeling a little disappointed for for Chad, which is very understandable, just was a little deflating.
But again this is just something I was kind of articulating to (Booker T) as two veterans kind of shooting the breeze on the plane so I think maybe once it gets out online it seems like a bigger deal than it is.
Zayn was defeated by Bronson Reed on WWE Raw this week. Later on in the show, Gable was seen telling Zayn that if he wants to beat Gunther at WrestleMania, he needs a different approach. Gable also told Zayn that he can help.
Three new matches have been added to Monday’s Raw.
General Manager Adam Pearce announced on Saturday that Andrade will face Ivar on this Monday’s show in Chicago. In addition, Shinsuke Nakamura will face Jey Uso, and Sami Zayn will face Bronson Reed.
It was previously announced that Andrade would be in action after he ran into The Judgment Day on Raw. Rhea Ripley said they would be observing his match. In recent weeks, Andrade has associated himself with Dominik Mysterio, with the two seemingly having a positive relationship with one another.
Sami Zayn and Jey Uso both have big matches at WrestleMania next month. Jey will face his brother Jimmy, while Zayn will challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental title. Chad Gable told Zayn on Monday that he didn’t think that Zayn had what it took to defeat Gunther.
After being in one of the main events last year, Sami Zayn is grateful for the spot he holds on the WrestleMania 40 card.
Zayn is challenging Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 40. Their title match was confirmed when Zayn won a number one contender’s gauntlet on the March 11 episode of Raw.
In an interview with Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Zayn said he feels lucky to be in this position at WrestleMania. Zayn thinks facing Gunther is the biggest spot you could have at the event except for being in the two top matches:
I think it’s pretty big for sure. Coming off of last year where I found myself in a really just – you know, let’s call it right place, right time. But I caught a lot of steam and a lot of momentum heading into WrestleMania over the six months or so leading into it and ended up in the main event. And any time you do something big, you know, I think in anything, I think in any field, not just as a wrestler or an artist or a whatever, but when you’re able to accomplish something, there’s always sort of like, ‘Oh, now what’ on the other side of it.
It’s hard to sometimes keep that up, or wonder what’s next, what could you do to top it, or anything like that. And if you watch WWE, you see how fast things move. And I’m just – I feel very lucky to be in a pretty good position a year later challenging the longest-reigning, most dominant Intercontinental Champion of all time. And if you’re not in that top, top match with, let’s say, Cody and Roman or The Rock or whatever, now I’d say this is the biggest match outside of that that you could possibly want to be in. So I’m pretty grateful to find myself in that spot, and I’m excited about it.
Zayn’s feud with The Bloodline culminated in 2023 when he and Kevin Owens defeated The Usos in the main event of WrestleMania 39 night one.
Gunther’s Intercontinental title reign recently passed the 650-day mark. He’s been champion since June 2022.
On Raw earlier this week, Gunther and Zayn had a contract signing for their WrestleMania title match:
WrestleMania 40 is being held in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. WWE has yet to confirm which night Gunther vs. Zayn will be taking place on.
Before their Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania 40, Gunther and Sami Zayn will meet for a contract signing.
WWE has announced that a Gunther-Zayn contract signing will take place on Raw this coming Monday. It’s the third-to-last episode of the show before WrestleMania.
Zayn was confirmed as Gunther’s WrestleMania challenger when he won a number one contender’s gauntlet match on Raw earlier this week. Chad Gable, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bronson Reed, Ricochet, and JD McDonagh were the other gauntlet participants.
The match came down to Zayn and Gable before Zayn reversed an ankle lock into a pin to get the victory. Gunther then made his way out to the stage and stared down Zayn.
The full gauntlet match can be watched below:
Having held the title for more than 600 days, Gunther is the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history. He’s been champion since June 2022.
Monday’s Raw is being held at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. Here’s what’s been announced for the show:
WWE Raw (Monday, March 18) —
Last Woman Standing match: Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax
Gunther-Sami Zayn contract signing
WrestleMania Tag Team title ladder match qualifier: The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. Alpha Academy (Otis & Akira Tozawa)
WrestleMania Tag Team title ladder match qualifier: DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Creed Brothers (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed)
WrestleMania Tag Team title ladder match qualifier: R-Truth & The Miz vs. Indus Sher (Veer & Sanga)
Sami Zayn is headed to WrestleMania for a showdown with Gunther.
Zayn will attempt to end Gunther’s historic Intercontinental title reign at WrestleMania 40. Zayn earned the title shot by winning a number one contender’s gauntlet on Raw last night.
The gauntlet match took place in the main event of Raw and featured Zayn, Chad Gable, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bronson Reed, Ricochet, and JD McDonagh.
Zayn entered the gauntlet fourth. Though he was able to eliminate Reed, Zayn was immediately put at a disadvantage when Reed attacked him and laid him out with a Tsunami.
Nakamura entered next but was eliminated by Zayn after a desperation Helluva Kick. It then came down to Zayn vs. Gable.
Gable could have capitalized on the situation with Zayn down after pinning Nakamura, but Gable allowed Zayn to recover and get to his feet. Gable wanted to beat Zayn fairly. The two battled until Zayn reversed an ankle lock into a pin to get the victory.
Zayn consoled a disappointed Gable following the match. Gunther then made his way out to the stage for a staredown with Zayn.
On commentary, it was mentioned that Zayn competed in the gauntlet match after fasting for the first day of Ramadan.
Zayn won the gauntlet match on Raw to win the right to challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 40 next month. The bout ended with Zayn rolling up Chad Gable as Gable attempted to score a submission win with the ankle lock. Zayn hugged Gable after the match, but the show ended with Gunther’s music playing as the two had a staredown.
The gauntlet saw Ricochet defeat JD McDonagh in the first match. Bronson Reed then beat Ricochet. Zayn defeated Reed, but was attacked by Reed after the match. Despite this, Zayn went on to defeat Nakamura, then pinned Gable in the final match.
Recent weeks saw multiple WWE stars trying to get the attention of General Manager Adam Pearce in an attempt to face Gunther at WrestleMania. Pearce announced last week that a gauntlet match would take place to determine the new number one contender.
Here is the current lineup for both nights of WrestleMania. The shows stream live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern time:
WrestleMania 40 night one —
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
WrestleMania 40 night two —
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
WrestleMania 40 night TBA —
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends against Sami Zayn
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & Damian Priest defend their titles in a six-pack ladder match
One of the largest issues in the history of the Observer is out this week:
The Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon
Analysis of the lawsuit and different claims
Details of the claims
Comments from all sides
Just how vulgar some of the stories were
What the text messages show
The Netflix detail and full details
The economics of the deal
How much money WWE is guaranteed without selling one ticket or selling any merchandise or advertising or sponsorships
Background of the negotiations
Dwayne Johnson on the Board of Directors
More on 2025 plans
Nick Khan, Dwayne Johnson and other comments
How this affects AEW
Difference between AEW & WWE audience when it comes to college education and household earnings
Ratings going forward
Mark Shapiro’s new contract
AEW house show issues and what has to be done and changes expected to be made
Issues with the events
A look at the Royal Rumble
Full UFC 297 coverage
UFC signs Kayla Harrison and her biggest test
A look at the career of new UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar
2023 Awards ballot
A look at the life of Harold “Ice Train” Hoag
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the wrestling TV shows of the past week, segment highs and lows, comparisons with one year ago and competition
Friday night at Arena Mexico
TripleMania plans
AAA plans on using controversial names
More on AAA 2024 plans
Stardom awards
Why Shuji Ishikawa left All Japan
Three generations of the same family and Japanese major bouts
Hiroshi Tanahashi talks Kazuchika Okada leaving
Okada’s left match at Korakuen Hall
Update on Iron Claw movie
Puerto Rico show featuring major names
Notes on the next season of Dark Side of the Ring
Top indie star to come out of retirement
Updated AEW & TNA PPV numbers
Update on Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone destinations
Peacock ads subscribers leading into RoyalRumble
WWE injury updates
Nick Khan talks about his introduction to WWE
Cena talks his future
International TV ratings
What three pro wrestlers are in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame
Matches added to WWE’s YouTube today include Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman from the January 30, 2017 episode of Raw and Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper from Elimination Chamber 2017.
Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, a continuation of Dusty Rhodes’ promotion, will hold their first show on February 8 at Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory school in McDonough, Georgia. Matt Cardona has been announced as the first star to compete on the show.
Sami Zayn required 15 staples after getting busted open during WWE’s holiday week house show tour.
Zayn faced Finn Balor in a Last Man Standing match at WWE’s live event in Toronto on December 29. There was a spot at the end of the match where Zayn put Balor through a table. But when Zayn threw Balor into the table, part of the table hit Zayn and cut his head open.
Zayn won the match after the table spot. It was announced on Raw last night that Zayn needed to get 15 staples after the match to close his head wound.
— Caryma Sa'd – Lawyer + Political Satirist (@CarymaRules) December 30, 2023
Zayn wasn’t on Raw last night and didn’t wrestle at WWE’s house show in Los Angeles on December 30.
Before returning on the Holiday Tour, Zayn had been off WWE events since the December 4 episode of Raw. His absence came after Zayn requested time off and was granted it by WWE.
The December 4 Raw episode included an angle where Zayn was laid out by Drew McIntyre. Last night, McIntyre reacted to the news of Zayn needing 15 staples by shrugging it off and saying that Zayn brought it on himself.
Seth Rollins retained the World Heavyweight Championship against McIntyre in last night’s main event.
