Sami Zayn’s world title reign said to have been short because WWE doesn’t see him as a “money player”
As seen during the July 6th 2026 edition of WWE RAW, CM Punk defeated Sami Zayn to capture the WWE Title. Zayn was only champion for nine days.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com explained why Zayn had a short title reign…
“Sami Zayn was never going to be the champion that the people who were really happy he won wanted him to be. It was never going to happen.
The big question was, was it going to be nine days, three weeks, or a month? You know what I mean? And it was nine days.
I saw a lot of people upset about it, but it was like, look, this is what it was going to be. You knew that going in. At this point in time, they do this for the undercard titles. They really don’t do it for the two major men’s titles.
In the past, absolutely, there were times when the belts were passed around. I’ve told the stories. We’ve all told the stories. They really aren’t pass-around belts now. They really are in the hands of the people who are perceived as the money players.
And Sami is not, in their minds, one of those people. He could have been. There was a time when he was, but even then, in their minds, he still wasn’t. It’s one of those things where they’re still brainwashed by the cosmetics in a lot of ways, and that certain people are good hands, but they can’t be the guy.
And Sami is one of those guys who, in their minds, can’t be the guy.”