Heading into WrestleMania 40, the narrative pushed by WWE and present online was one and the same: is Sami Zayn a good enough wrestler to end Gunther's 666-day reigns as the Intercontinental Champion?

Sure, Zayn has accomplished a lot during his professional wrestling career, and just ended The Usos' record-breaking reign alongside Kevin Owens last spring, but Gunther is about as dominant a performer as they come, and considering he's been the IC Champ for pretty much his entire run on the main roster, no one truly knows how high his ceiling can be in the WWE.

Introduced to the fans with an expansive backstage segment featuring Chad Gable, his wife, and a special cameo from none other than Kevin Owens, his 2023 tag team partner against The Usos, Zayn marched down to the ring to his theme song “Worlds Apart” and had the entire Linc bumping, even if that hype chilled out considerably when Gunther made his way out into the ring with the rest of Imperium.

Could Zayn be able to overcome the odds to become a four-time Intercontinental Champion? Well, early on, it certainly didn't look that way, as Gunther just kept spamming his high-powered offense on his challenger, but, as is often the case, it's hard to keep a good “Underdog from the Underground” down, and Zayn consistently kicked out of maneuvers that would finish off a weaker man.

No, due to his seemingly endless reserve of internal resolve, Zayn just kept getting up, and after pairing a Helluva Kick with a Super Brainbuster with two more Helluva Kicks for good measure, Gunther didn't get up before the count of three, and the match ended with the announcement of “And New” from Samatha Irving.

What does the future hold for Gunther and Zayn? Only time will tell but in South Philly, Zayn got his big moment and his reaction was priceless.

Sami Zayn believed the fans had his back heading into WrestleMania.

While Sami Zayn clearly thought he deserved his main event spot at WrestleMania 40, as he did win in a qualifying match via a pinfall victory over Chad Gable, the online reaction was much more mixed, with some wanting to see the leader of Alpha Academy get his rematch with Gunther instead.

Asked by Sean Campbell and Mitch Gallo on Habs Lunch about how much stock he puts into online reactions, Zayn admitted that, to him, the live crowds hold far more weight.

“You'll notice that the live house, including on television, and not just television, but when you go town to town, to me, that's where my bread is buttered. Those are the people I cater to. It's not always 100% in line with the slightly more fickle or opinionated voices that you're going to hear on social media. Social media's whole function in ‘voice your opinion.' One must construct an opinion. In doing so, it's inherently meant to be contrarian or controversial or whatever. You're meant to be opinionated, whereas when you're watching a live show or on television, you're meant to consume it. I cater to consumption. I'm the entertainer, I'm the performer, and the viewer is the consumer of that performance. Afterwards, online, is the oppinionate aspect of it. To me, the real truth is in the live reaction,” Sami Zayn explained via Fightful.

“For example, in my storyline with Gunther, because it was an interesting storyline where there was another good guy in competition for that match in Chad Gable, the online reaction was a little surprising of, ‘ah man, we really want to see Chad Gable,' which is true and he does get great responses, but arena to arena, you're not getting negative backlash. They're excited to see what they're going to see. There is zero doubt in my mind that when I'm in the ring with Gunther at WrestleMania, they're going to be behind me, excited to watch that match, and be along for the ride. At the end of the day, I'm not one of these people that discount social media, I think there is a lot of validity to listening to that audience, to an extent, I don't think it's necessarily the hill you want to die on. I think the more honest reaction and what you truly need to judge by is the reaction in the arena night in and night out. That's where the real truth is. I'm not poo-pooing the internet or social media, I think it's very important and should be respected, but when it comes down to it, how are the people in the seats in the arenas, how are they reacting? I think that's the most important thing.”

Fortunately for Zayn, the reactions to his win have been almost exclusively positive, with fans already wondering who he should wrestle next as the IC Champ, even if Chad Gable is the logical choice. All in all, another storybook ending for the “Underdog from the Underground.”