Sami Zayn Reacts To WWE WrestleMania Intercontinental Title Win

WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther vs. Sami Zayn was the co-main event of the WWE WrestleMania XL premium live event from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.

Zayn ended Gunther’s historic title reign and spoke about it in a backstage interview. Here are the highlights (per Fightful):

On how he’s feeling: “Yeah, I don’t know what to say, I’ll be honest. It’s hard to put it into words. I don’t know, maybe some people can relate to this, some people can’t. But I had a really good year in a lot of ways last year. A lot of ways it was very tough and a lot of ways that people don’t necessarily know about. When you do something big, sometimes it’s really hard to reconcile with what’s on the other side of that, because you might have to come face to face with the fact that it might not be, I don’t know, as big, as good, or whatever. You might not be as big, as good, and the shadows that are behind you can seem like they’re bigger than anything that’s ahead. I hope I’m not being overdramatic when I say I needed this. I needed this more than I can put into words, more than, you know, you talked about that self-doubt. Some of it was on television and you saw it for yourself. A lot of it you don’t see. You know, when I’m doing those long drives where I’m on the phone, my family back home missing me and all that, there’s just a lot. To end this, this historic moment, Intercontinental title reign that.. look, hats off to Gunther. Probably the most physical match I’ve ever been in and I tapped into something that I didn’t even know I had in me.”

On his motivation: “You know, right before I went out, he said, ‘you can do it’ and man, that hit me. That hit me. Then, you know, I’m getting the tar beat out of me, and I see her ringside. I see tears in her eyes. That hits you, man. I don’t know. I don’t know, Byron. I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer here. But just so many, so many feelings. But I think above all else, pride to be holding this fourth time. That puts me in some pretty elite company. But this is the most elite company I care about right here, just standing right next to me. I feel like the world’s mine right now.”