As tough as it may be to admit, Sami Zayn was never going to beat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Yes, he had the crowd behind him, yes, the enthusiasm surrounding his character is among the hottest in the promotion this century, and yes, even Cody Rhodes has endorsed him as a preferable challenger for his main event match at WrestleMania 39 – take with that what you will – but in the end, the “Tribal Chief” just had too much going for him.
Still, you can't blame an “Underdog from the Underground” for trying and at the Elimination Chamber, or, as Zayn called it, his WrestleMania, he did just that, attempting every trick in his book to unseat Reigns before falling victim to the same fate that of so many of his peers have before. The match started off normally enough with a few minutes blocked off for the crowd to cheer for Zayn – and against Reigns – before the main event kicked off, from there, the duo exchanged blows before Reigns found himself firmly in the driver's seat of the match, with his foe trying everything in his power to just keep the match alive.
Surely this match was off to a great start, as the crowd waited with bated breath to see Zayn's inevitable comeback attempt before… it happened. Over a matter of minutes, the match completely lost its way, the concept of a fair fight went out the window, and the fans were left dead silent as Reigns held up his arm victorious.
Sami Zayn fell victim to The Bloodline's WWE booking.
Tell me if you've heard this one before; as Reigns was getting beat down, the match's referee found himself inadvertently involved in the match's outcome and found himself laid out on the mat, unable to count the pin. From there, members of The Bloodline emerged and attacked Reigns' foe, usually at the behest of Paul Heyman, to uneven the score and set Reigns up for an easier win.
I know, a pretty tried and true strategy, right, and arguably the biggest reason why Reigns hasn't been pinned in three years, as Michael Cole mentioned on commentary, but this time, it had a slight twist. That's right, after the first referee was down and everyone realized that going for pins was a waste of time, who but Jimmy Uso emerged from the back to attack Zayn and settle the score. This worked out well enough, as Zayn was viably worse off than when he started, but when a new referee came down to the ring, Reigns was unable to get the pin, and the official opted against kicking Jimmy to the curb for… reasons.
Where the match differed, however, was that the second referee was laid out too, and this allowed for Zayn to get rid of Jimmy and for Jey to eventually emerged from the back to just… sort of stand there. He was offered a chair to attack Zayn but refused to hit anyone in the ring, and when Zayn accidentally speared him out of the ring, the other Uso brother disappeared and never returned to the match again.
With no referee in the ring for what felt like forever, Reigns just sort of unloaded chair shot after chair shot in front of Zayn's family and friends and eventually secured the pin with a spear.
Down bad, the silent crowd watched in horror as Jimmy, Reigns, and Heyman – but no Jey or Solo Sikoa – decided on how to Pillmanize Zayn after the bell, but fortunately, their efforts were shortlived, as Montreal's other favorite son, Kevin Owens, ran down to the ring to massive cheers from the crowd to wipe out Jimmy, Stun Heyman, and set the match's lose up for a celebratory Helluva kick and a chance to hear 17,000 people sing his old song once more.
Did Paul “Triple H” Levesque make a mistake with his booking? It's impossible to know right now, as fans will have to see how crowds react to Reigns, Zayn, and Rhodes – who is affected by this too – moving forward, but it's hard to look at the reaction “The Underdog from the Underground” received from the SmackDown crowd on Friday and then see their disappointment on Saturday and not feel somewhat disappointed. Who knows, maybe WWE has something in store that will make things right, with a KO/Zayn vs. Usos match now a borderline guarantee for WrestleMania 39, but if Rhodes-Reigns doesn't live up to expectations at the “Showcase of Immortals” in April, fans will surely look back at this match and wonder if the promotion's longest title reign of the 21st Century jumped the shark at the Elimination Chamber.
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