“The Young King” Jay Asta

One of the numerous reasons why Sami Zayn’s current character arc is so brilliant is because in many ways, it feels like such a wonderful payoff for long time fans of his. Not just in terms of him having the belt itself, but him having this persona where he fully acknowledges he’s one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and no one on the roster can touch him. People have been waiting decades for Sami to finally not only get that recognition from the audience, but to also proudly proclaim his greatness himself without any asterisks. He put himself in conversations with Eddie, Shawn & Kurt, which had certain people who discredited him throughout this career losing their marbles. But it’s true, it’s been true for years. Sami is finally talking his shit. And everyone who’s ever undermined him has to just sit here and hold it because he is the Undisputed WWE Champion of the world. He gets to make these statements while also doing some of the greatest character work of his entire career. There aren’t many people on that roster who deserve this spotlight more than Zayn. If it were up to me, he’d hold the belt until Mania. Just a brilliant, all time great talent working on an all time great level.