Sami Zayn's Best Booking Options for WWE Survivor Series Match vs. Dolph Ziggler

On Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, Sami Zayn defeated Rusev to earn the opportunity to square off against SmackDown Superstar and intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler at the 2016 Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Zayn was originally announced as the challenger to Ziggler’s IC title at Survivor Series by Raw general manager Mick Foley, but Stephanie McMahon belittled the Underdog from the Underground and forced him into a match against Rusev on Monday night.

Now that Zayn is the No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship, here are the best booking options heading into the marquee title match at the November PPV.

Zayn Wins IC Title, Quits Raw

Since making his main-roster debut, Zayn has been utterly misused by WWE, and his addition to the Raw roster looks to have been a clear mistake.

Officials have the chance to right a wrong when Zayn takes on Ziggler for the IC title.

After dealing with Stephanie running him down and flat-out saying she hates everything about him, what better way to rub it in the Raw executive’s face than by winning the championship and quitting Raw to join SmackDown?

Ziggler dropping the Intercontinental Championship already wouldn’t be ideal for his character, but if the long-term booking has Zayn jumping to the blue brand for a feud against The Showoff, then the WWE Universe would be fine with the booking decision.

Add in the fact that The Miz is due a rematch at some point after he lost the belt at No Mercy, and the IC title scene would remain one of the true highlights each week on SmackDown with Zayn holding the title.

Zayn Gets Fired After Loss, Signs with SmackDown

As the quintessential underdog who has been booked to lose all of his big matches, Zayn may well lose his match at Survivor Series. After what Stephanie said about him, a loss would likely result in Zayn being fired from the Raw brand.

With SmackDown looking for depth, signing Zayn as a free agent would be a huge boost.

While taking yet another loss would seem counterintuitive when it comes to rebuilding his character, Zayn would hit the bottom of the barrel before ultimately rebuilding his underdog persona on the blue brand. With a much better concept of storytelling and use of talent on SmackDown, Zayn would be fighting for the IC title—and possibly the WWE Championship eventually—on a consistent basis.

Zayn was the heart and soul of the NXT brand while there, but he has been an afterthought since making the jump to the main roster.

At the very least, starting from the bottom on the SmackDown brand would give WWE Creative a chance to hit the reset button on his character and harness the support of the WWE Universe.

Maybe this time, Zayn wouldn’t be wasted in meaningless matches and storylines.

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