There was a time when Sami Zayn was the hottest performer in the WWE Universe.

He was heavily featured on television, had the fans behind him to an absolutely incredible degree, and found himself with the perfect venue for his make-or-break match against Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the Elimination Chamber, which was booked for the Bell Centre in his home-ish town of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Had Zayn pulled out the win, he would have been an absolute, certified, Grade-A legend in the WWE Universe, as he would have etched his name in the history books as the man who ended the “Tribal Chief's” Title reign at under 1,000 days, and would have cemented himself as the ultimate underdog-made good. But alas, it wasn't meant to be; Reigns come out on top like he always does with a little help from his Bloodline buddies, and even Kevin Owens‘ emergence to help even the odds at the end of the bout couldn't overcome what was easily the worse loss of his professional career.

Discussing what was and what could have been in an interview with Xfinity, Zayn noted that, while a victory at the Elimination Chamber would have been an incredibly affirming experience, he appreciates that his chapter will forever be a part of the “Tribal Chief” story.

“It would have been kind of perfect –  a storybook ending if I had dethroned Roman,” Sami Zayn said via Wrestling Inc. “Sure, of course. But if you look at it more, you know, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, if you look at the totality of where it all kind of lies, I think you would just see that that's one great chapter, hopefully, in a story.”

Asked if he thought the moment would have been right for him to win at the Elimination Chamber or even at WrestleMania 39, Zayn noted that, in his opinion at least, it would have, but again, he's proud of how his story shook out.

“For sure, I think, unquestionably, whether it was the right or wrong decision or whatever it was, if the way it ended, there's no question that had it gone my way, for example, that night in Montreal or at WrestleMania or something like that with Roman, unquestionably would have been a moment that would have definitely been replayed many times,” Zayn said.

“But I still think what we did was very, very special, and I think as you can see by what's continuing to happen with The Usos and Roman, it's still … that story still has some special moments. So, I don't know, I think this is one of those things you just need time to see where it all falls.”

Would it be cool if Sami Zayn was in month five of his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship reign? Most definitely, especially if he was still feuding with Jey Uso, who never turned on Roman and was instead looking to avenge his fallen uncle, but then again, if that happened, fans would have never gotten to see the “Underdog from the Underground” reunited with KO and securing the ultimate feel-good moment of WrestleMania 39, when the duo secured the win mere miles from where they picked up traction as members of PWG. After working together in one form or another for the better part of 20 years, that moment must have been all the more special for KO and Zayn.

Sami Zayn is always looking to work for the little Kevins in the audience.

Though Sami Zayn may not be the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and have all of the benefits that presents, he is currently locked in as one of the two Undisputed Tag Team Champions alongside Kevin Owens, and that holds plenty of responsibilities too, especially when it comes to being a babyface champion the little “Underdogs” can look up to.

Discussing this responsibility elsewhere in his Xfinity interview, Zayn noted that the tag team duo always keep in mind the “Little Kevins” in the audience whenever they step into the ring or appear on WWE programming.

“We have a little expression, actually when we do shows in different towns and they're kind of close, there's a certain fan that we cater towards called ‘Little Kevin,' which is basically when he [Owens] was a fan, but there might be 100 or 200 ‘Little Kevins' out there, and we kind of are very mindful of them. They might have seen the act before, they might have seen what we do, so we got to keep them on the edge of their seats, and we got to keep them on their toes,” Sami Zayn said via Wrestling Inc.

“So I think having that approach, while may be a little much, that sometimes may be a little much for some people, I think it's been the key to keeping our story fresh for 20 years now.”

After working together for literally 20 years on and off, working 412 matches together or apart, according to Cagematch, Owens and Zayn could literally go through the motions of matches as a tag team or against one another, and few fans would complain about seeing the same old spots. The fact that they try to keep things fresh and encourage fans to keep coming back for more is a pretty cool idea that is certainly appreciated by those few hundred “Little Kevins” in any given arena.