The King of the Ring tournament was well underway. All of the first round match-ups had taken place and so had some of the second round match-ups which in turn have created some intriguing quarter-final ties. One man who is in the second round hasn’t even competed in the King of the Ring tournament yet. Sami Zayn has had to watch the guys and girls go at it as he was awarded a bye in the first round, but the slight advantage he had was he could see what everyone would bring to the table. He watched Randy Orton step up in the King of the Ring tournament again, Stardust defeated Wes Ikeda which made him a firm favourite to reach the final also, but tonight we would see some excellent matches take place. Brock Lesnar goes up against the Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho whilst John Cena battles Bully Ray. But Sami Zayn also finally has his first King of the Ring match. Last year he just missed out by signing with the company whilst the tournament was underway. And this year his first, and potentially only match would be up against none other than Bad News Barrett, who defeated Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks in the opening round.
The last few months hadn’t been in favour of Sami Zayn, capturing the Intercontinental Championship from Trent at Fallout should have been one of the greatest things to happen to him in his career thus far, but dropping it to Chris Jericho at WrestleMania, his first WrestleMania, wasn’t what he had hoped for. The last time the EBWF Universe saw Sami Zayn, he was picking himself up from the canvas after losing to Matt Sydal and Sami desperately wanted to avoid a fourth consecutive loss. The scene opened up backstage at Warfare, at the early stages of the show right after the first match and the camera picked up Renee Young standing in front of, smiling as she stared into the lens. Eventually she was given the nod to begin with her guest.
RENEE YOUNG
Ladies and gentlemen, joining me at this time…Sami Zayn. Sami, thank you for joining me here today.
SAMI ZAYN
No problem, Renee. Thank you for having me.
Sami entered the frame, standing tall over Renee in his black and red wrestling tights with plenty of flags on there as designs, wearing a Sami Zayn t-shirt as it was clear he was still preparing for his match as his headphones were still around his neck.
RENEE YOUNG
Sami, it’s been quite a while since we last had you here, the last time we saw you…you lost to Matt Sydal and now you’re diving into the deep end against Bad News Barrett, your thoughts?
SAMI ZAYN
I’ve had time to sit back and think. I’ve had time to recover a little more and I feel like I can compete without being in pain, but we’ll see how tonight goes against Wade because he’s one of the toughest brawlers out there, and we know he’d love to break me in half. It’s…it’s not been the great of times for me recently, I’ve definitely fallen down the ladder in recent weeks, losing to Punk, Jericho and Sydal, three in a row isn’t something I envisioned. I felt like I gave it my all out there but it wasn’t enough, clearly. Tonight I hope to bring something different, and to leave it all on the line out there against Wade.
RENEE YOUNG
You’ve been out of action, but you must’ve heard the sad news last week, about the passing of The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. We know you worked with him before arriving here in the EBWF, how big of a role has he played in where you are today.
SAMI ZAYN
Dusty…was a huge influence on me and my career just like I know he’s influenced everybody on the roster in one way or another. If it wasn’t for Dusty and the work he did down with me on NXT, Sami Zayn wouldn’t even exist, he’s the reason that name came about and he’s the reason it’s stuck with me since. I know Cody did him proud by defeating the boss, and as one of his NXT kids I’m going to try and win my match tonight for him, but it isn’t going to be easy and I’m sure that will spur me on.
RENEE YOUNG
Well while you’ve been recovering, Wade Barrett was in action against Nick Jackson and picked up a win to advance to this match. Who do you think has the advantage here? You…who has had the rest and has been recuperating and finding yourself again? Or Bad News Barrett? Who knows what it takes to win in a tournament like this and has remained active?
SAMI ZAYN
I really don’t know, I don’t know if either of us has any advantage going in to this match. I’ve been watching the King of the Ring tournament and I’ve been impressed, Stardust has stepped up, Randy Orton is continuing to dominate in this tournament…but I also heard Wade talk his game last week. That kind of talk might get under the skin of a Young Buck, but not me. We know Wade is infamous for his attitude and being smug in general, but that won’t work with me. I’m sure he doesn’t want me to bring this up…but in one on one action…I’ve beaten Wade. Let’s just hope we get the same outcome tonight.
RENEE YOUNG
How bad do you want this? We know you have this determined attitude, we saw it when you were competing for the Intercontinental Championship, can we see more of the same here?
SAMI ZAYN
What you’ve seen so far is only 50% of what I can do. This is firing me up like nothing else. Sure, the Intercontinental Championship was a huge achievement in my life and of course, I’d like the chance to compete for it again. But right now I can’t fixate on that, I need to focus on Wade, on the King of the Ring tournament. There’s so much at stake here, I know we all want to be the one to stop Orton from winning this tournament for a third time, I know we all want to be King and I know we all want that shot against Dolph Ziggler, something I know I deserve.
RENEE YOUNG
You’re in an interesting tie though, you have Bad News Barrett and the winner of your match will take on the winner of Chris Jericho…and Brock Lesnar. Is there something there that makes you not want to win? Just in case you face the danger of facing Brock Lesnar?
SAMI ZAYN
Maybe Wade would be afraid of that, but not me. If anything, the prospect of facing either Jericho or Lesnar has me fired up. Yeah, he’s dangerous as hell but the chance to go up against Brock is something a wrestler like me who loves this business cannot turn down. And Jericho, well, I think we all know there’s unfinished business between the two of us so the chance to end his hopes of being the King of the Ring would be more than satisfying. But as I said, all of that can only happen and WILL only happen…once I defeat Bad News Barrett tonight.
RENEE YOUNG
Anything else you’d like to say to Bad News Barrett before your match a little later on tonight?
Sami looked down to the ground and smiled a little, scratching the left side of his head before answering Renee’s question.
SAMI ZAYN
There’s a lot I’d love to say to Wade but I don’t think my comments would be welcomed especially on live television. Whatever I have to say, I’ll say it before my match inside of the ring, right now he’s not worth my time.
Sami put the headphones over his ears before walking off in the opposite direction, going off for his final preparations before his match with Barrett. As the night progressed, it was almost time for the match between Sami Zayn and Bad News Barrett and the arena erupted into cheers when “World’s Apart” by CFO$ hit the PA system and the titan-tron started to play his video. Eventually Sami Zayn emerged on to the stage in confident fashion and as per usual, hyped up for the match.
JIM ROSS
And here he is, King! Sami Zayn making his first ever appearance in the King of the Ring tournament! And boy does he look ready!
JERRY LAWLER
Has anyone told him who his opponent is tonight? I don’t think he’ll be smiling if he knew Bad News Barrett was his opponent, JR!
JIM ROSS
I’m sure he’s fully aware King, we’re all familiar with the heart this young competitor possesses.
He shouted “Let’s Go!” into the camera before jumping and skipping and jogging his way down the ramp, before stopping on the steel steps and pumping the Kansas crowd up more as he got into the ring. He leaned out of the ropes to receive a microphone after he was introduced to the audience, before walking around in circles, clearly excited and eager to get his shift underway.
SAMI ZAYN
Damn, it’s been a while, I’ve missed this. In fact me not being here even for one week is one week too many, but it’s clear to me one person you have definitely had enough of is Bad News Barrett. Because that’s just what he is, he’s bad news for you guys, he’s bad news for me, he’s bad news for this tournament and he’s bad news for this company, and if I’m taking a leaf out of his book then Wade…I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.
The fans cheered as Sami smiled back at them, using Barrett’s infamous quote before delivering the ‘bad news’.
SAMI ZAYN
Tonight your King of the Ring journey ends, so if I was you I would start focusing on your Tag Team Championships, or start preparing for next year’s tournament, although next year I’d eliminate you again, and again, and again because I’ve already beaten you once in this company and let me tell you, it felt good! And I definitely plan on doing it again. To me, you’re one of those opponents who I can never get bored of beating, because it shows me my efforts are paying off. I’m not saying you’re easy to beat, hell no, you’re one tough son of a bitch and I realised that in our last match, but when I pinned your shoulders to the mat it showed me that I belong here, and tonight when I defeat you I will cement myself as a top star.
The fans continued to cheer as Sami showed his infamous determined attitude and heart, adamant that he was going to eliminate Bad News Barrett from the King of the Ring tournament.
SAMI ZAYN
This is my first ever match in the King of the Ring tournament, ever. And I know only the best of the best are advancing to the later rounds, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting Wade get one over me when it’s clear who wants this more, who needs it more, and who deserves it more. There’s a big difference though, our intentions couldn’t be more different. Wade will want to come down to this ring, slap me around like a bully for his own entertainment and go on to eventually become King, for his own selfish reasons. He wants the fame and glory that the opportunity brings with it, not me. I want that crown to prove that you don’t need to be a company man to achieve such an accolade, I don’t care about the fame it brings, or the power, hell even if I wanted to be an asshole of a King, who would actually obey me at the back? I don’t care about that, I don’t care who fears me or who respects me or who bows down and cleans my shoes and polishes my crown or vacates the throne for me. All I care about is what it means in terms of my success inside of this ring, if it means getting a shot at the World Champion, then you can all bet I’ll put on five star match after five star match to get to where I want!
Sami calmed himself down a little after the shouting turned his face red. But the fans continued to show their support as he circled the ring.
SAMI ZAYN
I know, I know what Wade Barrett thinks of me. Hell, I know everyone else in the tournament is thinking the same, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Randy Orton…they all want to face me because THEY think that the easiest way to advance to the next round is to get into a match with Sami Zayn. To them, I’m just some punk kid who caught a lucky break after busting his ass for so long, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get me out of the picture, but they won’t know what’s hit them if any of them step into the ring with me, including Wade tonight. Do I think Wade can win this tournament? Of course he can, he could win it any year because I know what he’s capable of, but can he win it by taking on Sami Zayn? Definitely not, his momentum ends tonight, his tournament ends tonight. To all of those guys, Sami Zayn wearing the crown is laughable, and one by one they would want to come down here, starting with Wade, to put me out of my misery and to stop me from having these dreams of being the King. But I’ve fought too damn hard for too damn long to get here and let an opportunity like this pass and if that means I have to embarrass the gods of this business, who everyone looks up to and thinks that they are the best things going, then so be it. I’m not holding back on anyone for the sake of my own development, not anymore. Their time is over, they’ve achieved damn good things in this business, things I will never even reach but if this company needs to look to the future, then their future is Sami Zayn and it starts tonight when I hit the Helluva Kick on Bade News Barrett and prove the entire world wrong, and show that Sami Zayn is good enough, to do anything and everything he sets his sights on.
Sami’s confident mood didn’t go unnoticed by the Kansas crowd, they cheered as he smiled at the fans who chanted his name along with the infamous ‘Ole!’ chant which followed him through the various promotions he worked in.
SAMI ZAYN
Wade…you talked a big game ahead of your match with Nick Jackson and you followed through with it by defeating him, and as a fan of the Young Bucks I can safely say that individually, they may get their asses handed to them by you and Ryback…but they’re that good together that if you and Ryback had the balls to defend your titles against them, well let’s just say you won’t be surviving or enjoying the Superkick Party. Just like you won’t survive my kick to your skull tonight. I mean we all know who is carrying your team anyway, you need Ryback more than he needs you and we know HE is responsible for your current success. But after tonight, I’m sure even Ryback will see sense with whatever he has inside that thick skull of his and dump you into the same gutter you crawled out from.
It was clear his little promo was coming to an end as he picked up the pace, but the fans made it clear they appreciated his Young Buck statement and his attempts and pissing Barrett off by citing that Ryback was the key to their success, something he knew Barrett would want to prove wrong.
SAMI ZAYN
I mean, just because you’re British doesn’t mean you deserve to be our King, in fact having a pompous, arrogant King like you parading his crown backstage will only piss everyone else off more than you already do. It may not seem like it, but if either of us win…we both have targets on our back. If I win, then guys will queue up to prove they’re better than me and will stoop to any level, your level, to take me out and prove that I wasn’t a worthy winner in the first place and you know what? That’s fine by me. If you win, well…who wouldn’t enjoy kicking your ass for a valid reason? I don’t expect you to be standing back there in fear of me, or thinking I can beat you, or thinking I can win this tournament. I know what you’re like Wade, you don’t like me and I don’t like you so it will give me great pleasure knowing I dumped you out of this tournament while you were laughing and looking down on me. I certainly may not look the part, but by the end of this tournament I’ll be the King, and you’ll just be the joker.
Sami dropped the microphone and took off his shirt as he circled the ring, waiting for Bad News Barrett to make his way out.
JIM ROSS
A defiant message from the young Sami Zayn here, King. Let’s hope he can match his attitude inside of that ring when Barrett does make his way out.
JERRY LAWLER
You’re right, JR! But we all know what Bad News Barrett is capable of, I have some bad news of my own for Sami Zayn, I don’t think his name will stay on the tournament brackets by the end of this match!
Sami continued to circle the ring, before jumping on the spot and then stretching on the ropes, doing his final warm-up before the match.
OOC: Good luck to Ben! It's the best I could produce this week and for the next few weeks because I'm going to be fasting for Ramadan.