Why Sami Zayn Must Pull Double Duty with WWE Main Roster and NXT

Sami Zayn made quite the return to Monday Night Raw.

The March 7 episode of Raw featured two of his old NXT rivals dueling it out: Kevin Owens and Neville. Both men fought an amazing match until Owens rolled up Neville for the pin.

Owens wasn’t done. The Intercontinental champion attacked Neville and hit his Pop-Up Powerbomb on his unsuspecting opponent. Owens then attempted to hit a powerbomb on Neville on the apron, until Zayn arrived.

Zayn brawled with Owens until he clotheslined him over the top rope. Zayn sent Owens packing in front of a frenzied audience in Chicago.

It appears the stage is set for a huge confrontation between these former best friends.

Owens is looking for a WrestleMania opponent. Zayn is out for revenge; he’s already acquired some form of retribution on Raw. At January’s Royal Rumble bout, Zayn also eliminated Owens.

Zayn vs. Owens for the Intercontinental title would be enormous for both men, as they would make their WrestleMania debuts. However, there’s a slight hiccup to those potential plans.

Zayn is already set for WrestleMania week. He’s all set to take on Shinsuke Nakamura, who is making his NXT in-ring debut, at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, which takes place on April 1, two days from WrestleMania 32.

It might seem Zayn could be pressured into doing too much. On the contrary, it could be the big break Zayn needs.

Sami Zayn deserves to pull double duty for both NXT and WWE.

Zayn has an authentic persona, representing the everyman. He’s not the biggest guy there, but he has the biggest heart all around.

Booking Zayn for both shows would be tricky. Nakamura is no small name, and keep in mind that no other wrestler has attempted to fight two tough opponents during WrestleMania week in the span of two days. In fact, it’s insane to fathom.

Despite that, Zayn is capable of performing this feat.

The booking for NXT can be secondary. Zayn vs. Nakamura will not likely be the main event. That honor could go to Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT title.

Even if that doesn’t become the case with Zayn main-eventing, he’s definitely not headlining WrestleMania. That honor goes to Triple H vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE world heavyweight title.

The Zayn vs. Owens story is already set and would fit perfectly into the midcard: two former best friends going to war since Owens debuted at NXT in December of 2014. Owens is credited for putting Zayn out of action. He also took Zayn’s NXT title from his former friend. Plus, Zayn never got full retribution over Owens.

The story of former best friends battling each other is too tempting not to highlight it at WrestleMania 32. The only concern would be Zayn’s health.

Zayn suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out for most of 2015. Putting him in that spot would be worrisome considering the wave of injuries that have swept WWE in the past few months.

If WWE Management is cautious of putting Zayn in that position, an option could be to include more superstars in that potential bout. Owens has been on the wrong side of many WWE Superstars. Putting a few others in the match would preserve Zayn while giving others time to shine, namely Neville and Dolph Ziggler.

Regardless, Sami Zayn has a fresh opportunity on his hands. He could become the first wrestler to appear on NXT and WWE programming on WrestleMania weekend. Whether WWE Creative gives him the ball to run with remains to be seen.