Sami Zayn feeling “strangely detached” following the 2023 WWE Elimination Chamber PLE

During a press conference after the 2023 WWE Elimination Chamber PLE, Sami Zayn reacted to his loss to Roman Reigns…

“I want to apologize in advance because I’m feeling very strange. I know some of these answers are going to be, maybe not what you would expect. I feel very strange in that, I feel very strangely detached, which I don’t know if people want to hear. You want to hear, ‘Wow, I did this. It was awesome. I’m riding high.’ I normally am, but I’m feeling very strange, strangely detached, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. On a cognitive level, I know what we just did. I think I still have to see it back and see how it played. That’s a big lesson I’ve taken out of this storyline with the Bloodline over the past nine, ten months. I’ll feel good about something I’ve done, but I have to see how it played. What were the angles, did they get in tight, did the emotion come through. All that kind of stuff. I’ll see how it played. If you asked me these questions tomorrow, I might have very different answers for you, but I feel strange. That might be the recurring theme for some of these answers. The other part might be, it was kind of an unhappy ending tonight. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t affect me. Of course, it’s unbelievable…this is a dream come true. You ever have a dream, it’s going in a certain direction, and then you wake up right before. That’s kind of what this was. It was like a dream, it’s a dream come true, it’s surreal, it’s everything you could ever want, and a storybook ending obviously has a certain ending to it. That’s not what happened tonight. I can’t act like there’s not a small part of me that is like, ‘ahhhh, I wish I could have given that ending.’ To the people, to the story, to myself, my family, my friends, to Montreal. I know what this is, we all know what this is, but some of this stuff is real. You just kind of dream of that happy ending. So close, but no cigar. Maybe that’s a small part of this strange feeling that I keep coming back to. I don’t know. It’s also, looking out into the crowd after the three count. Seeing their faces, I was like, ‘Oh, this is not fun.’ They’re hurt. They were so deflated, but not in a storyline sort of deflated.”

“It’s almost if like GSP comes back to Montreal and…loses. That’s a bit of a downer [laughs]. Even if the fight is great. It was a great fight. On a cognitive level, I’m well aware of what we did was awesome. I’m giving you the most honest answer I can give you at this moment, even if it’s not the best answer. I might feel very different if you ask the exact same question tomorrow once I watch it back and watch it play out. ‘What was wrong with me. They were on their feet, beginning to end.’ Of course, that was magic, but at this exact moment, I feel strange.” (quotes courtesy of Fightful.com)