Matt Hardy says Sami Zayn has earned a world title run that actually means something, after a first reign that came and went in nine days.
Hardy was asked about Zayn regaining the Undisputed WWE Championship on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy. He said upfront that he had not seen the match, which took place on the September 11 SmackDown from Mexico City, and does not know what the plan is from here.
“I’m honestly not sure what they’re going to map out for him as far as that goes,” Hardy said. “But I do like the opportunity. I do like the fact that he is getting now an opportunity to have a better reign. The first one was obviously very quick. He was a transition guy, more or less.”
The short reign Hardy is referring to came in July, when Zayn held the title for nine days before CM Punk took it from him. Zayn then went roughly a month without wrestling because of a broken hand before returning to challenge Punk in Mexico City, where he won the championship back. That win came on a weekend in which WWE also put titles on Stephanie Vaquer in Chile and El Grande Americano at TriplemanÃa 34, part of a run of babyface title changes across the international tour.
Asked whether Zayn deserves another run, Hardy did not hesitate.
“I think he’s worked hard for a very long time, and he is someone who does deserve a run,” Hardy said.
Hardy said the standard for what qualifies someone as world champion material has shifted over the years, and in his view that is a good thing.
“A lot of things have changed over the years as pro wrestling has gone on. They’re not quite as selective on who could be classified as a world champion material performer now,” Hardy said. “But if you have solid ring work and people are behind you and you’re over, and they like you or they hate you, whatever it may be, yes, I think you can get in there.”
He said the brevity of the first reign is what made it fall flat.
“That first run he had was pretty lackluster overall because it was so short,” Hardy said. “But I think it’s nice of them to give him a run that feels legitimate, so that he can be very proud of it.”
Hardy also warmed to the idea of a Kevin Owens program for the title, after host John Alba raised it as a possibility.
“That’s one of the first things that pops in my mind because they have such a storied history, and being best friends and all the work they’ve done together throughout the years, that feels special,” Hardy said. “I think people would see that and they’d be like, wow, this is a very attractive match. I want to see this. I watched what they did in Ring of Honor. I watched what they did here. I watched what they did on the indies. That would be very cool if that came to fruition.”
The history Hardy is pointing at is genuine and long. Zayn and Owens came up together in Quebec, and their Kevin Steen and El Generico feud ran through Ring of Honor and the independents for years before either reached WWE. They picked the rivalry back up in NXT and on the main roster, then swung the other way and won the tag team titles together at WrestleMania 39 in 2023. Few pairings in the company have that much accumulated material to draw on.
Hardy’s caveat is worth keeping in view. He is offering a read on Zayn’s standing and on what a title reign should look like, not reporting anything about WWE’s plans, and he says so himself more than once. He has spent the past two years in TNA, where he and his brother Jeff have held the TNA World Tag Team Championships and feuded at length with The Righteous.
