After weeks of feeling sullen about his future within the WWE Universe, Sami Zayn was finally afforded a light at the end of the tunnel on the first RAW of March, when Adam Pearce, perplexed as to who should challenge Gunther at WrestleMania 40, announced a Six-Way Gauntlet match to decide on the next Intercontinental Championship challenger.

For Zayn, this was a godsend, as after spending the better part of 2024 looking for some solid footing on RAW, he finally had a path to South Philadelphia in April. But in the end, for that to happen, he actually needs to secure the win, a task made no easier by the level of competition in the match. Still, Zayn is no stranger to delivering the goods in the highest pressure situations, and as he detailed to Cathy Kelley in a Digital Exclusive after RAW, he's going to treat this match like it's the most important of his entire life.

“Yeah, not great. I got the wind knocked out of me pretty bad. Twice, actually, in a row, so I'm just struggling to catch my breath right now, sorry. I guess I should be angry, and part of me is, but maybe not as angry as I normally would be or maybe should be. Man, this WWE, it's a ride, you know what I mean? It's like feast or famine, and I have certainly feasted in my day, and I have starved in my day. Well, right now, I'm eating again. I am eating, and next week, at this Gauntlet match, I am going to eat; I am going to devour anything that comes in my way. I am going to devour the opportunity because that's what's hard to come by around here, opportunities,” Sami Zayn told Cathy Kelley after RAW.

“And just when you think you've secured your spot, or your legacy or whatever, the curveballs just never stop, and I don't take it for nothing. And I said this easily, but I've had a lot of important matches in my career. Well, they're all behind me. Right now, the most important match of my career is next week. The next match is the most important of my career, because history is waiting for me on the other side. So yeah, no that's where I'm at. That's where my head's at right now.”

Should Zayn be considered the favorite to come out of RAW with a spot secured for WrestleMania, or does someone else, say, Chad Gable, deserve that honor? Either way, after months of talking, both Zayn and Gable will be able to prove why they are the man who deserves to defeat the “Ring General” at Mania, with the best man hopefully securing the win in the end.

Sami Zayn is putting it all on the line in the Gauntlet match.

While Sami Zayn had a lot to say about Adam Pearce's Gauntlet match after RAW went off the air, his reaction to the news was deemed so vital Jackie Redmond caught up with him during the show to discuss his feelings too, taking him aside mid-show to get his feelings on the big announcement.

For Zayn, the reaction was much of the same, as to him, this match is vital.

“Well, I'm just thinking about, well, as you said, you can follow the journey where you're seeing the highs and lows, you're seeing the confidence get shaken here and there, but I talked about that belief. I talked about that belief that the path to WrestleMania would present itself, and it has. I've talked about wanting to become a champion, about wanting to do something historic and that a path to WrestleMania would reveal itself, and now that it has, this Gauntlet match is the only thing standing in my way of going on and doing something historic. To getting in the ring with a man who might just be the most dominant champion ever. So for me, this is it. There's no other path, this is the path. This is my path for WrestleMania,” Sami Zayn told Jackie Redmond on RAW.

“So this Gauntlet match for me is do or die. I've had a lot of matches in my career, I've had a lot of big matches, important matches, right now, this match next week is the mort important match of my career.”

Unfortunately for the “Underdog from the Underground,” he was unable to finish his thought, as Ivar and Valhalla came into the frame to challenge Zayn, which led to a match shortly thereafter, but in the end, it's safe to say Sami has made his point, now all that's left to do is the action.