Ignoring Triple H and Even Best Friend Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn Credits AEW Star for Making NXT ‘A Thing’

There are certain events that happen that emerge as a game changer that change the entire course of our lives. The same is the case for any business or establishment as well. As in the case of the WWE, we can definitely credit The Attitude Era for getting the eyeballs back to the television screens when the ratings threatened to reach an all-time low. The success of the aforementioned era led to an increase in interest and investment from wrestling fans. Recently, a WWE star praised an AEW superstar for changing the landscape of the industry.

And recently the beloved Sami Zayn praised an AEW star for something that totally changed the way fans looked at NXT.

Sami Zayn says his match with Cesaro 10 years ago is something that changed the industry forever

Sami Zayn is currently one-half of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions with his buddy Kevin Owens. And this week on RAW, The Judgement Day was at the receiving end after Kevin Owens returned from injury. But going back to Zayn, he was also part of Roman Reigns The Bloodline and that is precisely when his popularity soared amongst the fans.

But prior to all the wrestling fame and accolades, Zayn had to struggle by working hard on the independent circuit. He was part of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Chikara, Ring of Honor, and many other promotions from 2004 to 2012. Until the WWE finally spotted him and signed up for NXT. On NXT, he had a successful run and during his 2 year stint, he had quite a few memorable matches. But there is one match that he says is one of his proudest moments in pro wrestling.

And recently on the 10th anniversary of that match, Zayn took to Twitter to praise not just the match but also his opponent, Cesaro, who is currently with AEW. He commended the match by saying the fans perceived NXT in a much more positive following this match.

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He said, “At this risk of sounding dramatic or arrogant, this one match changed the industry. This was the day NXT became ‘a thing.’ Hard to explain the significance/context/landscape at that time, but suffice to say it’s one of my proudest matches, with one of my all-time best opponents”.

But let’s exactly take a deeper look into the match and see why it’s so special for Sami Zayn.

Zayn and Cesaro battled in an exciting two-out-of-three fall match 10 years ago

Zayn made his NXT debut on 22nd May 2013. Right from the get-go, he had his eyes set on Cesaro, with whom he started a long-standing feud.

Both these star performers had multiple matches which finally culminated in a two-out-of-three fall match on 22nd August 2013. The crowd was right behind both athletes, as both were fan favorites.

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Zayn was the first to pin Cesaro within mere seconds of the match starting. Post that, Zayn tapped out to a vicious chokehold, thus both the stars were tied at 1 win each. And finally, Cesaro used his brute strength to counter a DDT and eventually won the 3rd fall with his finisher ‘The Neutraliser’, thus winning the match by leading 2-1. But did you guys get a chance to watch this match 10 years ago?

What did you make of Sami Zayn’s claims about the match? Let us know in the comments section below.