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Monday June 20th 2016 – EBWF Monday Night Warfare – T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas; Nevada
The EBWF was in Las Vegas for this week’s episode of Warfare, a stacked card was on show for the lucky fans in attendance at the sold out T-Mobile arena, with the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments slowly winding down. Sami Zayn was the star defending his crown and started off his defence in impressive fashion a couple of weeks ago, disposing of Alex Shelley upon his return to the company and after waiting on the side lines for a short while, Sami was going to be in action once again and this time against a familiar foe in Syxx. He had performed opposite him numerous times, and even dethroned him for the Intercontinental Championship when he first arrived, but this time it was a little different.
The cameras started to roll and instantly we saw Renee Young’s face appear on screen, with the monitors behind her reading ‘Warfare Pre-Show’, and she didn’t waste time in getting the show under way.
Renee Young: Ladies and gentlemen, we are inside the brand new T-Mobile Arena here in Las Vegas and it’s almost time for this week’s episode of Warfare with an action-packed episode almost upon us. I’m Renee Young and joining me on the panel this week is none other than Sami Zayn. Sami, thank you for joining me tonight.
The camera panned to Sami who was sat next to Renee with a grin on his face, wearing his usual attire with only his jacket and flat cap visible as he sat behind the desk and faced Renee.
Sami Zayn: Thank you for having me, Renee.
Renee Young: The last time you were here, you were sat at the announcer’s desk next to Corey and Joey watching the match between PJ Black and Dolph Ziggler, PJ advanced to the next round but were there any words exchanged between the pair of you at the stare-off?
Sami Zayn: No, not really. He stood there with the championship title and I watched him celebrate his win. There’s nothing more to it and to be honest, it didn’t bother me one bit who won that match, whether it was Dolph or PJ because I have too much on my plate right now to focus on one specific thing. There’s the silly little paper rivalry with Dolph which ended a year ago and I have no interest in pursuing, there’s the constant threat of Kevin Owens over my shoulder because the scumbag could strike at any time whenever I am doing something these people are enjoying. Then there’s the Path to Glory Championship and PJ, then this King of the Ring and Syxx tonight…so there’s a lot of good things going on and I’m hoping that tonight it continues.
Renee Young: It’s certainly been an impressive few months for you, let’s focus on tonight, what’s your mind set going into this knowing if you win, it could be either Carlito and Chuck Taylor awaiting you in the next round?
Sami Zayn: You know…I’m surprisingly confident. It’s a weird feeling for me because this time last year I had no idea what the King of the Ring tournament brings, one week after the next you’re going up against the best of the best and I had that belief in me to come out the other end as the winner and I succeeded. This time, I have the experience behind me to go out and do the same, so I’m not overly worried.
Renee Young: You’re up against someone you know very well, Syxx, he’ll be hoping to use this as a platform to get back on to that big stage, what are your thoughts on him heading into this match?
Sami Zayn: It’s a strange one to be involved in if I’m being honest. I know he’s been through a lot personally recently and I’m not going to hold that against him. It takes courage to come back from a loss, something or someone that affected you so much and for him to remain in the tournament just goes to show that he’s a professional and like any good human, he’s putting the business first, but…that doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over for him either. He wants to win, I want to win and that’s what matters tonight. Nothing else.
Renee Young: So you could argue that you’re in the driving seat heading into this match? You’ve been on a great run, constantly in action, racking up the wins. On the other hand, there’s Syxx who hasn’t been in action a lot, the personal issues, and those other rumours circulating, could that be something you look to capitalise on?
Sami Zayn: You see, that’s one thing I DON’T want people assuming, that I took a great opportunity to beat Sean because of all of those things. I appreciate that it’s probably a tough time for him, but the show must go on. I know I’m in a good place so all of the pressure is on him to go down to that ring a little later and show to everyone that he’s not just here to make the numbers. We have a pretty talented roster back there; you can see that on the card tonight so while we have guys like Will and Chuck out there, Syxx is only going to fall further behind everyone while I sit at the top. At the end of the day, it won’t bother me either way what happens after he exits the tournament later tonight.
Renee Young: How big of a rumour is this retirement news? There haven’t been many more follow-ups to it, all we know is the difficult situation and retirement could be an option.
Sami Zayn: That’s probably something only he can answer, only he knows how he’s feeling and whether he thinks he should continue or not, that’s not for me to say. My job is to go out to the ring, put on the best show possible and do what I have to do to have my arm raised in victory.
Renee Young: You know some might say that the confidence you have for tonight, could be classed as overconfidence. I don’t want to dampen your mood or anything but we all know what happened two years ago when you overlooked Syxx in your first match with him.
Sami Zayn: I’ll be the first to admit that I got ahead of myself and the Intercontinental Champion at the time taught me a valuable lesson, that I can’t come here expecting things to fall at my feet. Yeah, it was a rude awakening but one I definitely needed and if I’m honest, I’m happy that it happened. But what everyone fails to overlook is that he hasn’t been the same since he lost that championship two years ago…to me. He may have beaten me once but since then, every single time he and I have shared a ring he has not been able to one-up me, I’ve not let him and maybe that’ll eat him up tonight, maybe it won’t, I guess we’ll have to see. But facts are facts, he beat me once, I beat him over and over and the same happens tonight.
Renee Young: How much does this tournament mean to you? We all know you’re adamant on retaining your crown, but we also know Syxx isn’t an easy opponent.
Sami Zayn: It means the world to, this is the same tournament that allowed me to hold the World Championship and that’s where I want to be again, that’s where I know I’ll be and this Syxx-shaped obstacle standing in my way has no idea what’s in store for him. He can stick his tongue out and crotch chop all he wants but we’re not in 1997 where people find that entertaining. The fans want to see a great match and while Syxx may be happy sitting at the back quietly letting the world pass by him, I’m not one to let others get ahead of me. But regarding Syxx, you have to ask what we both bring to the table, why one deserves it more than the other and I know that this entire company knows a win will suit me best. I mean, what has he done for the last two years? Who has he beaten? What has he achieved? I mean I was at the bottom of the barrel when I arrived and since I dethroned him I have been on the up, and he’s been more than happy rotting at the bottom, so he deserves to stay there. I’ve beaten him before, I’ll beat him again and when he wakes up from the Helluva Kick…nothing will change. I’ll still be claiming my crown as the King of the Ring and he’ll still be the King of his imaginary kingdom.
Renee Young: Any final thoughts before you leave us?
Sami Zayn: I just hope the fans enjoy the show, that they enjoy the match, that they’re out in full force tonight like they always are. Then, I hope Chuck and Carlito are ready because despite my thoughts on Syxx, there’s no way they’re getting past me easily. I’ve done way more than Syxx in this company to even let him stand a chance of advancing in this tournament and if I’m being honest…King of the Ring or not…I’m ending up as World Champion anyway, sooner or later.
Sami stood up to leave as he unclipped his microphone from his t-shirt, before he could walk away he was topped by Renee once more.
Renee Young: Sami, before you head off just a quick word your former best friend, Kevin Owens, he looks to be entering the picture for the World Championship, something you believe you deserve…your thoughts?
Sami laughed to himself with his hands on his hips, thinking about the differing situations with Owens squirming his way to the championship Sami has worked so hard for, he then picked up the microphone and looked down as he responded to Renee’s questions.
Sami Zayn: Y’know…as much as I’d love to test myself against Chis for that championship, I actually hope Kev does this, I hope he becomes champion. Only so I can be the one to wipe the smirk off his face when I beat him one on one. That’s all I have to say on him, thanks for today, Renee.
Sami dropped the microphone as Renee smiled into the camera, signalling the end of the interview.