Big E Reminded of His Journey to Becoming WWE Champion After Sami Zayn’s Triumph at Night of Champions: Riyadh

Sami Zayn’s epic heist at tonight’s WWE Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reminded Big E of his WWE Title triumph in 2021.

As noted previously, Sami Zayn pulled off a major heist at tonight’s PLE, as he pinned Cody Rhodes in the Triple Threat Match, also involving Gunther, to become a WWE World Champion for the first time in his tenured career.

At the post-show, Big E said that Sami Zayn’s triumph reminded him of how he beat the odds stacked against him to capture the WWE Championship in 2021. He likened his journey from being a midcarder to becoming the top dog amid apprehensions from critics to Zayn’s and doffed his hat to the Canadian for persevering against the odds and scaling the WWE summit.

Here’s what Big E said:

“I don’t want to make this about me, but when I saw Sami Zayn win his first World Championship, it reminded me of what I went through in my journey. That idea that ‘I’m just a midcard guy, you’ll never be in this spot.’ To see Sami Zayn overcome all of that, to see him defy all the odds, to be told, ‘You’re not good enough; you don’t have the right look; you don’t speak in a certain way,’ to be told all those things.

“For him to say, ‘This is who I am; this is how I’m going to carry myself,’ and to stick to those guns and do things his way, this is such a culmination of all his work. Two decades in this industry he has worked to finally get in this position. You can like him, you can hate him, but hats off to you, Sami Zayn. You put the work in, you grinded, you persevered, and you are now a WWE Champion.”

Check out his comments below:

Following his victory, Sami Zayn cut an emotional promo, reflecting on his journey to becoming a WWE World Champion. Check his comments HERE.

Please credit WWE’s YouTube channel and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this copy.