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Sami Zayn eyes WWE championship at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia

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Sami Zayn gets another shot at winning the WWE title when he steps into the ring against Cody Rhodes and Gunther at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Rhodes booked the match between the two top wrestlers on “Friday Night SmackDown” after Zayn came under criticism for serving as the special guest referee. He quickly counted out Rhodes after his brawl with Gunther broke out in the ring. Gunther attacked Zayn after Rhodes demanded that SmackDown GM Nick Aldis restart the match with a new referee. Zayn later returned the favor. The match was booked and Zayn was facing one of his biggest challenges yet.

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Sami Zayn steps into the ring during a WWE live event at Palacio Vistalegre on June 4, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

But speaking to Fox News Digital before the event, Zayn was in high spirits.

“Good,” he said when asked how he felt. “Look, the fact that whenever you’re in a big PLE main event, Saudi Arabia is always a little special to me because I’m from that part of the world, of course. And the fact that you’re in the main event for a WWE championship.

“I don’t think there’s a better place to be here than to be a champion, which is the goal here. But besides being a champion, this is the best place you could ask for. I really can’t complain.”

Zayn was born in Canada after his parents arrived in the country from Syria. If he wins the championship, he will become the first WWE world champion of Syrian origin.

He said winning the title in Riyadh would be a big moment for him.

“I think it’s one of those things that’s hard to process. I really don’t know. I don’t know how the fans will react,” he said. “I hope they enjoy it, but you never know because my current character is a bit polarizing, I really don’t know. But I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of cultural and historical significance that will shake me up after the fact.”

Sami Zayn makes his entrance during SmackDown at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sami Zayn will make his entrance during SmackDown at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on May 22, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)

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“I think it would be absolutely amazing from an emotional standpoint. I actually think it would be a big cultural moment. I don’t think about it. I kind of ignore it at this point because we come to the Saudis so often. A lot has been made about the fact that I’m Arab or Muslim or whatever. But that wasn’t the case growing up. It wasn’t a regular thing or something you could even imagine. I couldn’t even imagine it. So, yeah, I think it would be a pretty big deal.”

A potential Zayn win dovetails perfectly with Jey Uso’s King of the Ring win. Uso could hypothetically choose to defeat Zayn or world heavyweight champion Roman Reigns.

While speaking with Fox News Digital about the possibility of challenging Uso for the title, Zayn seemed intrigued given his history with The Bloodline.

“I’ve thought about it a little bit, but I’m really trying to focus on one thing at a time. But I think because The Bloodline is reuniting on ‘Raw’ from a slightly different perspective because Jacob adds a slightly different dimension, but the elephant in the room is ‘Where does Sami Uso lie in all of this?’ It brings to mind a question like: “Since we are in separate programs, I do not know if or when this situation, this question will appear in our television program as well,” he said.

“I think it would be interesting one way or another, and that would be a really interesting thing. In fact, it would be very, very interesting. But we just have to see where the chips fall. But I think, if that scenario were to happen, I think it would lead to some interesting weekly programming that you’ll have to see what it would be like.”