Underdog resilience, heartwrenching narrative, and audience-attracting impact have characterized the WWE Raw stint of Sami Zayn. Nevertheless, recent events in his televised character hint at the end of his stay on the red brand. The decline in the level of violence in the plots to the overall deflation of the sense of creativity, the data is beginning to accumulate that point towards a possible switch in the brand or even a break.
Beats of Violence in the StoryLine
In the last couple of weeks, the Raw segments of Sami Zayn have assumed a darker tone. Having been once the invincible hero, he has now been placed as a beaten man on the edge of breaking down. Fans have seen him suffer physical abuse over and over in stamina sapping main events most famously when he was speared by Bron Breakker and received a ruthless ass kicking by Seth Rollins. Such hard hitting, devastating scenes usually serve notice of a storyline write out, before yielding to intermittent disappearance or quantum change in the character direction.
Turning down the Heel Turn Temptation
Interactions with Karrion Kross backstage have provided another element to the arc Sami is currently in. During a very dramatic face off, Kross encouraged Zayn to relinquish the high moral ground in favor of indulging his shadow side. The fact that Sami denies it is also a trope long used by WWE, to have a popular character refuse to take a heel turn only to be written off to reinvention or change of scene. This storyline segment has come to cause fans to speculate that his Raw story is coming to a natural conclusion. Yet another such indicator is the regular medical breaks by Sami. In a number of episodes in recent times he has been stretchered out or remained dazed during in ring beatings. These are not mere moments of shock value they are commonly used as an easy method of killing off a wrestler without losing kayfabe.
Creative momentum comes to an End
Although Sami is a reliable character with a good ability to connect with the crowd, his creative arches were not very dynamic of late. He racks up losses with no real follow up and is no longer in bleeding edge feuds, playing in the title matches any more. This creative plateau indicates that the WWE might be interested in developing new main event talent, which will put Sami outside the center of plot developments.
Constrained “Muted” Return Receptions
Even on the occasions when Sami does emerge out of short breaks, the time is not filled with explosive fanfare as it used to be earlier. Although his returns remain good, they no longer run the show signaling that perhaps, WWE is ready to shift the focus to other talent. The combination of bloody escapes, narrative forks, slowed pace, and tone downed returns all are telling signs that Sami Zayn may now be reaching the end of his tenure on Raw. This will either result in a transfer to SmackDown or even a resting period without appearing on the screens or perhaps a complete overhaul of the character which is one thing that is sure to happen in the WWE career of the Honorary Uce.
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