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Monday February 20 2017 – EBWF Monday Night Warfare – Frank Erwin Center – Austin; Texas
The final stop before the Fallout pay-per-view saw the EBWF bring Warfare to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The big focus of the night fell on the Elimination Chamber participants that were competing in the main event in a six-man tag team match. However, there was still one spot left to be filled and the eagle-eyed fans who went online before the show knew that there was important match taking place just before the main event to decide who takes up the sixth and final spot in the Elimination Chamber for AJ Styles’ World Championship, but most of the fans in attendance didn’t know all of the participants involved. Of course, Sami Zayn was one of those involved, but was going to be opening the show to discuss his future after floating around in mid-card obscurity for many months.
After the commentary team of Corey Graves and Joey Styles welcomed the fans to the show, it didn’t take long for fans to get up out of their seats as ‘World’s Apart’ by CFO$ blasted the PA system and in usual fashion, out came Sami Zayn on to the stage in his cheery, dancing mood. He stopped on the stage and looked around at the packed-out arena, nodding as he loved what he saw before shouting ‘Let’s Go!’ into the camera and dancing his way down the ramp.
Christy Hemme: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the ring…Sami Zayn!
Sami smiled as she introduced him to the fans and handed him the microphone, before his circled the ring with his music eventually fading out. He raised the microphone to his bouth but let out a little laugh as the ‘Ole!’ chants broke out in the usual thunderous fashion, and he smiled as he looked around at the fans enjoying themselves. Eventually, though, he raised his hand a little as he signalled they he had to interrupt them to speak.
Sami Zayn: I honestly can’t tell you how good it feels to hear all of you sing that, thank you. I mean it, thank you.
It gave the fans another reason to cheer and continue chanting, and after laughing some more, Sami had to keep the show rolling and was forced to interject once more.
Sami Zayn: It’s no secret that for me, things aren’t going as well as I’d have hoped. I mean, I’m super grateful to be in the position I’m in and I’ve always said that if you told me I’d be at this stage when I first joined the EBWF, I’d have laughed at you too. I’ve won championships, main evented shows and pay-per-views, won awards, I’ve done a lot, thankfully. But it turns out they were right, success does change you and it makes you more hungry, and I fell victim to that as well. I take great pride in coming out here to put on a good match, but I’m man enough to admit that I got too distracted by wanting to be the top guy, that I fell off the wagon a little and now you, my fans, have to watch me in a position you know I’m not happy to be in, but I keep going on anyway, and I’ll keep doing that.
Sami circled the ring again, clearly a little annoyed and frustrated but not wanting to be a huge let down for his fans.
Sami Zayn: It got to a point where I thought I’d do something out of character, I thought maybe taking a month or two away from it all would make it better, and every day I walked backstage and came close to knocking on the door and asking for a short leave of absence, but I couldn’t do it and I just carried on like it was nothing. Whether it was the odd win or the back-to-back losses, I stuck around. Then last week, when I was backstage at Warfare, I stuck around until the end of the show even though I wasn’t in this ring. I left the same time as everybody else and I got a phone call, from the office, and they brought all of my feelings up. Everything I wanted to tell them, they told me and I was just waiting for them to tell me to take time off, rather than ask for it. I didn’t think there’d be anything wrong with it, half of the guys do it and I feel that I have proved myself to be at the level where I deserve it, I’ve worked for it. But…they didn’t give it to me. No leave of absence, no week off, no vacation. Instead, I got offered something else…a match.
Fans cheered as Sami hinted that he would be featured in a match soon, or made it seem that way anyway as he continued to speak.
Sami Zayn: It’s a match that takes place tonight, and for those of you that don’t already know…I was offered a spot in Fatal Four Way match to determine who gets that final spot in the Elimination Chamber.
More cheers were let out as Sami scratched his head in confusion.
Sami Zayn: And I was thinking, is it worth it? I mean, it’s an incredible opportunity, to compete with Roman Reigns again, finally meet Finn Balor and Cesaro in the EBWF too, great. Even though I know I can win, is it worth putting my body on the line in such a hellacious structure where I know my body will never be the same again? Is it worth going in there knowing that the treacherous AJ Styles or Jimmy Havoc or Chris Jericho will snatch a win? Is it worth shortening my career for one night where I go up against five other men to take that World Championship and head to WrestleMania as the champion, something I have dreamed of. There I was, thinking that they’d tell me to go find myself, come back refreshed after working every single live event and house show, and instead I get offered the chance to enter the Chamber, should I win. You know what? It’s totally…totally worth it!
Fans loved the enthusiasm Sami finally let out as he looked pumped up, something they hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Sami Zayn: THIS, this tonight is my vacation, this is what I live for and I’d be damned if I let somebody else take this spot from me, and that goes for the other three guys in the match tonight too! I’d step into that Chamber every single day for a month if I had to, to get that championship and if my career shortens because of it, then so be it. I’ve worked too hard for far too long to let anyone take this from me, and quite frankly, I feel sick at the thought that I came so close to going home because the fact is, where I’m standing now, this is my home. This is where I’m most comfortable and this is where I am at my best. I’m done being the pushover, I’m done sitting at the back and being depressed and competing in matches with no end in sight. It starts tonight, I’m taking that win, I’m stepping into that Chamber at fallout, I’m surviving that structure, I’m taking that championship and there’s not a DAMN thing anybody in this whole company can do anything about it!
Sami looked over at the stage, with a smile on his face as he turned his focus to the rest of the guys involved in the match.
Sami Zayn: You know, I even heard rumours that if I didn’t take the spot they offered, Bobby Roode was next in line so that does make it a little sweeter that he misses out. But I know the guys at the back are going to be pretty pissed off that I am in there, because one way or another, I share a history with all of them. Roman…Roman and I had a match not too long ago and I know he’s going to try and get payback, which I fully expect him to do. But I think deep down he knows that if he couldn’t get past a demotivated Sami, he sure as hell won’t get past the motivated version. I’m not going to lie, though, I’ve always said I like Roman, even if I don’t like the company he surrounds himself with. I know that he’s probably the guy most suited to the Chamber, in fact, if he was already in the Chamber and I was watching from the pre-show panel with Renee, I think we would have a new champion before the match even begins. But…unfortunately for him, I’m involved and when I’m involved he can be at his best, but it won’t change the fact that he still won’t hit the heights many expect him to, and it’ll be because of me.
The Ole chants started up again as Sami leaned over the ropes and continued looking over at the stage.
Sami Zayn: Cesaro…has had his hands full recently with someone I know all too well, but I don’t think he’d let that get in the way of him trying to get into that match on Sunday. I know Cesaro, he and I have mixed it up plenty of times and again, fantastic competitor but the Cesaro in the EBWF is not the Cesaro I know would give me the match of a lifetime. You’re no longer the Cesaro that I KNEW would get the best out in me. You’re not the Cesaro I knew I could tear the house down with and you’re certainly not the Cesaro that I’m worried about in a match with so much on the line. Then it’s Finn Balor who doesn’t seem to even go to the bathroom without his whole club following him. What is it, Gallows holds the toilet paper, Karl holds the plunger and Kenny cleans your mess? Look, you guys had your chance to show that you’re the new force to be reckoned with in the Royal Rumble, but I’m pretty sure you don’t need reminding of what happened in that match when all the odds were stacked in your favour. You couldn’t do it then, and you certainly won’t do it now and it’s going to take more than bringing out the demon once a month to prove to me that you’re better than me. Tonight, I’m proving that and I’m proving it all by myself, just like I always do.
Fans thought Sami was done as he put the microphone on the floor, but picked it up again as he confident spoke up again.
Sami Zayn: It’s the survival instinct that I have in me. I’ve had it all my life. That desire to keep going even when you’re broken in two, none of you have that. But I do. I’m just stubborn that way, I just don’t know when to call it quits, and that’s why I’m tailor made for the Elimination Chamber because you can throw my body from steel to steel, I’ll still get back up. That’s why I’m winning tonight, that’s why I’m winning on Sunday, and you can believe that.
Sami finally dropped the microphone as he rolled under the ropes and out of the ring as his music hit the PA system again, and he looked more confident and more motivated than ever as he walked up that ramp.