Sami Zayn Reflects On Fans Turning On Him In Chase For WWE Title: ‘It Hurt’

Sami Zayn says that as much as he tried to pretend otherwise, it hurt to hear fans turn their backs on him as he chased the Undisputed WWE Championship. Zayn finally won the title from Cody Rhodes and Gunther in the main event of WWE Night of Champions. It was a win that came after Zayn had crashed out at times and taken on a darker turn, as he feuded with Trick Williams and others while trying to get back to the title picture.

Zayn weighed in on the matter in his appearance on Raw Recap this week. He noted that it bothered him just like it would anyone else. You can see the highlights below:

On Being Affected By the Fans Turning On Him:

“100%, and I think I really only pieced it together now once the weight of the world came off my shoulders and was replaced with the weight of this championship gold. That’s when I kind of realized how damaging that last loss at the Rumble was. Because I realized, ‘Oh no, I burnt this card. I can’t play this hand again. The Cinderella story of the underdog who finally wins the big one, it’s been played now. I had it in Montreal, I had it here in Riyadh. You can’t ask them to come along a third time at that point. Because even in reality, it was actually like the ninth or 10th time at that point.

“But you know, that story really getting to marinate and really being the crux of the story, and the focal point of the story going into the match, I’m like, ‘You can’t tell that story again.’ Because you know, they just won’t buy it again. They’ve already been on board and they already — you can only ask ’em to come on the train for so long.”

On His ‘Ride Or Dies’:

“That’s why I mean what I say when I’m talking about the ‘Ride or Dies.’ Because for as much as I like to pretend that it didn’t bother me at all. Some of the fans turning their backs or getting fed up with me or my story or whatever, it hurt. It hurt. And the fans that didn’t jump off, that means a lot to me. The ride or die fans that stayed, it means a lot to me.

On the Fans That Turned On Him:

“And there’s a part of me that — you know, my feelings are, or were very hurt by these fans that are turning their backs on me. But at the same time, part of me kind of understood it. ‘Cause it’s like, how many times can I ask them to stay and come up short? But that didn’t make — you know, that’s when I really think about it. That’s when I access what I call ‘higher plane Sami,’ when I think on a more deeper and spiritual level. But on the surface, I’m just like anyone else. I get my feelings hurt when I devote my entire life to trying to win for these people.

“And then half of them are jumping off board going like, ‘Ugh, we’re done.’ You know, that hurts, man, that hurts. That really hurts because I gave — my whole thing is my connection with the fans. Some people, their thing is this or that, or they’re cool or they’re whatever, counterculture or — everybody’s got their little thing. My thing was the fans and the connection with the fans. So to lose half of them or whatever — man, I don’t know. I like to pretend I don’t care and I like to pretend like, ‘Oh, go ahead, boo. You want to boo, think I care? I got my ride or dies.’ But man, I can’t sit here and pretend it doesn’t hurt. But it hurts a little less now that I got this, you know?”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.