When Sami Zayn got in the ring with Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber in his home-ish town of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, he knew he was putting it all on the line.

If he won, he would secure the biggest heist in WWE history, which, considering Reigns' history with that phrase, is saying something, and if he lost? Well, he'd be just another name on Reigns' Universal Championship loss list, which is rapidly approaching 30 names at this point.

Unfortunately for the “Underdog from the Underground,” the Bell Centre didn't erupt with an earthquake-level of seismic activity, as even Kevin Owens' emergence from the back to save his life-long friend wasn't enough to make up for the all-time disappointment of seeing their hometown kid take the L, as Reigns was able to best his former “Honorary Uce” in a little over 30 minutes, and move on to his WrestleMania challenger, Cody Rhodes, but for Zayn, the match lingered long, with his disappointment visible during the post-match press conference.

Discussing how it felt to come close but secure no cigar in the match of his life on Out Of Character, Zayn told Ryan Satin that though he was disappointed, it took some advice from none other than Paul “Triple H” Levesque to put things into perspective.

“I’m always seeing it through my lens, and I hope I’m not saying something I shouldn’t be saying here, but when I did that press conference (after Elimination Chamber), if you go back and watch it, the first half of it especially, because I was – those are legitimate feelings. I was disappointed, and I really genuinely felt like I let the city down because, man, if you were in that arena, it was a buzz unlike – I mean, the closest thing I can compare it to is Survivor Series ‘97. It really felt like some historic — the whole city was just onboard, and then losing just sucked the life out of them, and it was really deflating, and I was right off the heels of experiencing that, and that disappointment and that sting that we’re talking about and I go and do this press conference right after that, and I’m answering as I’m answering you now. I always answer very truthfully, and I know sometimes it’s not the answers people wanna hear, but I believe in just not BS’ing and just answering truthfully. That’s my interview style, and I don’t know (Zayn laughed),” Sami Zayn told Ryan Satin via Post Wrestling.

“For better, for worse, that’s what I went with this long in my career, and that’s what I continue to do. So I was asked questions, and I answered honestly, and I was feeling that funk a little bit, and Hunter talked to me a day or two later, and he was like, ‘Dude, what was with you in that press conference? You were such a downer. You gotta think of what those people saw. Those people just saw the culmination of this amazing story for the last year, and they saw one of the most electric crowds ever and the whole night was amazing and you brought it down with that interview,’ and I kind of saw his point actually because I was looking at it through my lens and then again, I am the one answering the questions but, it is true.”

Was Zayn a bit too hard on himself after the loss? You bet, but with a little bit of time and a renewed perspective, the “Underdog from the Underground” realized that maybe his match with Reigns wasn't as big of a loss as he initially thought.

Sami Zayn has reached acceptance in the Elimination Chamber stages of grief.

Continuing his conversation with Ryan Satin, Sami Zayn noted that, after effectively working through the seven stages of professional wrestling grief, he can now look back at the match fondly, especially since he landed an impressive follow-up to ease his anguish.

“If I step out of that disappointment for a week, people still talk to me about that match, people still talk about the atmosphere in that building. People still talk about whether I should’ve won, whether I shouldn’t have won. It’s like this amazing point of contention that fans go back and talk about. It was just a historic match, and it was the hottest match – I mean, man I can’t remember the time I’ve seen a crowd that hot for a match or a city that onboard in such a real sports team kind of way. It was monumental, and I’m just hung up on, but yeah, I lost, you know?” Zayn noted.

“So of course, I’m carrying some of those feelings with me, but again, what Hunter said was true. If you’re just a fan, you got to see something incredible, and so that also helped me alter my state a little bit. That in conjunction with main eventing WrestleMania (he laughed). It kind of got me thinking, you know, yeah, he’s right. That was super special, and I knew while I was doing it that it was special. I knew but, it’s just hard to untangle the feeling of disappointment that comes along with it. I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m expressing this correctly. I knew it was special, I knew it’s amazing, I knew how lucky I am to be in these shoes, but there’s still that part of you that goes, but man! So close! But not quite, and it’s just hard to compartmentalize that and go, hey man, let’s focus on what you got to do in the moment. So that’s what talking to Hunter and again, main-eventing WrestleMania a few weeks later, really helped put into perspective how special that all was.”

Would Zayn have been more critical of his Elimination Chamber loss had he not been afforded a chance to main event WrestleMania 39 with Kevin Owens against The Usos, ending the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions' run after a record-breaking 622-day reign? Eh, probably a little bit, but in the end, Triple H threw his “Underdog” a bone for an incredible job well done as the “Honorary Uce” and the entire WWE Universe was better off for it.