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Monday September 19 2016 – EBWF Monday Night Warfare – Legacy Arena – Birmingham; Alabama
Joey Styles: Well ladies and gentlemen, coming up next we have Baron Corbin of The Broken in action, he goes up against Sami Zayn who picked a massive win over Seth Rollins last week.
Corey Graves: That’s right, but at what cost was the big question when we went off air last week. The Broken proving to be a big distraction and Sami ate a vicious Curb Stomp, I get the feeling tonight we’ll see him even more fired up.
Joey Styles: Well that may be so, but let’s not forget this is another member of The Broken, which means despite what they may say, chances are if and when Baron is in trouble, they’ll be here!
Corey Graves: I don’t think that’s the point, we’ve all realised by now that Sami is used to the attacks, what he wants to do is win. He’s doing that, and I’m pretty sure he’s over last week already.
Joey Styles: You caught up with him just a few moments ago when he arrived, didn’t you?
Corey Graves: Yes, I did, and I can say that Sami is all smiles and…well…let’s just take a look at what went down.
Corey and Joey smiled into the cameras as it faded out, beginning the video package of a couple of hours earlier when Sami and Corey met up for an informal interview. The scene opened up with Sami walking through the doors of the locker room, with Corey not far behind him as they let in the camera crew. Sami dropped his bags and stretched, letting out a big groan as he fell on to any of the chairs he could find. Corey followed suit, wiring up as he shared a joke with Sami, staying in character as Sami sat up, awaiting what Corey wanted to ask him.
Sami Zayn: I’m pretty sure I know why you guys are here, and what it is you want to ask.
Corey Graves: What makes you say that? Maybe I’m just here to catch up with an old friend, see how you’re doing since SummerSlam.
Sami Zayn: Yeah…right. I can’t remember the last time somebody came in here to talk to me and had an entire camera crew following him, go on. It’s about the Broken isn’t it?
Corey Graves: Well…yes and no. They seem to involved in literally everything at the minute anyway so even if I didn’t want to talk about them, I probably would end up talking about them. Let’s talk…Kevin Owens.
Sami Zayn: Ah, here we go.
Corey Graves: Hear me out, man. On the microphone again, takes on The Miz later on tonight. He’s full of praise for you again, and I’m sure we all heard a little offer in there somewhere that he’d have your back if you ended up taking this thing with the Broken to a new level.
Sami Zayn: Yeah, he’d have my back. And he’d slam it on the apron to make sure if it didn’t snap into a million pieces the first two times, that it’d snap the third.
Corey Graves: So…nothing? Not even an ounce of trust or anything?
Sami exhaled, folding his arms as he thought about what Kevin had to say not too long ago.
Sami Zayn: I don’t know, man. It’s just, there’s a level of trust you can give to someone and when they not only stab you in the back, but turn the knife and leave the blade inside, then it’s just too far. What’s happened between Kevin and I, I don’t know, I genuinely don’t know. Maybe there will be a time when I’d need him, maybe my conscious will get the better of me and tell me not to go through with it. If he helps me, great. Do I expect it to be smooth sailing though? Absolutely not, noting in the EBWF is smooth sailing. We may reunite for one night and take down the Broken, but if by the end of the night I have another partner stabbing me in the back, it’s not really a victory. Truth be told, there’s a bit of fear involved, and it’s stopping me from ever picking up the phone and telling him I need him for one night. So, until the odds are stacked against me and there’s genuinely no way out, and not even you can help me Corey, then maybe, just maybe I’ll give Kevin a call. Until then, nobody needs to think or expect, or worry that Kevin is helping me, or I’m helping him. That’s all I have to say about him for now, I have my own stuff to be dealing with.
Corey Graves: Last week, you defeated Seth Rollins in a great, close match. But, you were distracted and then you ate a Curb Stomp…not the end of the night you were hoping for, right?
Sami chuckled, sitting up in his chair again, thinking about the Curb Stomp he took.
Sami Zayn: It doesn’t really bother me now that I think of it. I think it just goes to show the weakness of Seth, and the rest of the group for that matter. Now he knows he needs to keep hold of his Intercontinental Championship a little closer to his chest, because one loss changes everything, I know that better than anybody. Now the insecurity has kicked in, and his Curb Stomp after I kicked his ass…well…that just proves that.
Corey Graves: It’s not ending there, though. Tonight, you have the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, another member of the Broken, Baron Corbin. How are you going to deal with his one?
Sami Zayn: I’d like to think it’s business as usual, and by usual I mean I’ll beat Baron and then I’ll get my ass handed to me when somebody attacks me from behind. This is just the story of Baron’s career though, isn’t it? I like Baron, I think the transition he made from a football player to a wrestler is nothing short of incredible. I saw him over in the WWE, and he should have been a huge star for them, and if I’m being honest, him leaving wasn’t the companies loss.
Corey Graves: What do you mean?
Sami Zayn: I don’t think any promotion in the world that’s watching us right now thinks, ‘we need to sign Baron Corbin as soon as possible’, and he only has himself to blame. I don’t know whether that comes down to laziness or whether he thinks the wrestling industry needs him, I don’t know, but I know if he’s to ever become the mega star we all hoped he’d be, and the potential he had, the way he’s going isn’t taking him in that direction. Robbie Brookside couldn’t do it, and Jimmy Havoc certainly can’t.
Corey Graves: What do you think Baron should do then, to reach this potential you say he can reach?
Sami Zayn: Ha-ha, there’s no way…I’m the last person Baron will listen to for advice, that’s for damn sure. I genuinely don’t know, I’d say go get that Intercontinental Championship, don’t listen to anyone or anything, and steamroll through everyone wanting your title, or wanting to use you for selfish gains. I mean, let’s face, it, do you genuinely believe Jimmy wants to help Baron? Really? No, right now Baron is expendable, when Baron fails, he’ll be thrown to the side. That’s just how these things work, and unfortunately Baron has a lot of pressure on him to make sure he delivers for the Broken, and I feel bad that a loss to me tonight will trigger his downfall.
Corey Graves: So you’re not worried about the task at hand?
Sami Zayn: I don’t think so; I’ve teamed up with him not too long ago so I know what he has to bring. Tonight I guess I’ll taste his new vicious streak that Havoc has placed inside of him, that won’t be enough either, though. He can talk all he wants about me being the one that cost us the match in the tag team classic, sure, whatever makes him feel better. We all know who ate the pin that night, or is that just something he’s forgotten, and he’s the one taking a back seat in a stable, not me. I know I should be worried, though.
Corey Graves: And why should you be worried?
Sami thought about it for a second, not wanting to boost Corbin’s ego even more.
Sami Zayn: We’ve just been discussing it; he should be at the top but he isn’t. If he went things about a different way, then this situation would be a whole different ball game. There’s no way you’d be sat here, there’s no way I’d be as calm as I am. The way I see it, is this is all like a video game, and I’m the guy with the lives running out taking on the big threat. And you know how it how it works, right? You play through the levels, my levels have been PJ Black and Chris Jericho and then I reached the level of Seth Rollins last week. And this is where it gets interesting, because the next level, which takes place tonight, that level should be Jimmy Havoc. Because the potential was in Baron, and the final boss, should be Baron. Instead, I’m taking on Magaki from King of Fighters or Gill from Street Fighter tonight, and eventually I’m going to get my hands on Diddy freaking Kong, and that’s as big of an anti-climax as we can imagine.
Corey Graves: So you’re adamant that Baron is the biggest threat in the group?
Sami Zayn: Oh, for sure. Tonight is the big test. We’ve seen this before though, numerous times. The groups always recruit someone better, why would they recruit someone worse? Why did The Miz recruit Kevin Owens and Finn Balor for Vertex? You need somebody to hide behind, the muscle to hide behind. Last week I took out the best wrestler, tonight I take out the biggest threat and whenever it may be…I take out the brains of the operation.
There was a little pause as Corey thought about wording his next question carefully.
Corey Graves: A lot has been said about how your wrestling career has panned out. Amazing matches, but when the big matches roll around, you…choke. How are you going to avoid this from happening?
Sami Zayn: I mean, all I said was that in my eyes, Baron is the biggest threat, the threat I’m beating, the threat who I’ll either pin to the mat or submit like there’s no tomorrow. I never said this was a big match. In fact, I’m glad this isn’t a title match, because as you and everyone else says, I choke. So tonight, what this means is that I won’t choke, which means this isn’t a big match, which means I simply cannot lose.
Corey Graves: Any final words before I let you get on?
Sami Zayn: I just hope Baron is prepared for whatever is coming his way. Overlook me all you want with your boys by your side, and no matter how many times you try to tell me you can’t break the broken, I don’t believe it. I’ve beaten and embarrassed one when he was adamant he’d beat me. I guess I’ll do the same a little later on when I kick Baron’s ass. The way I see it, after tonight, there’s not much left to break. It’ll be two down, one to go.
Corey Graves: Thank you for your time, Sami, and good luck in your match later on.
Sami Zayn: Thanks, Corey. I appreciate it.
The cameras focused on Sami, as he exhaled and slumped in his chair, folding his arms and placing his flat cap over his face as if he was going to have a quick nap.