An Unusual Hometown Reunion

From fighting to... friendship? Photo Credit: WWE.com

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are destined to do "this" forever. Most people think the "this" only means fighting. They're Batman and Joker, except the relationship is a bit more complex than just always trying to one up each other in the squared circle. As El Generico and Kevin Steen on the indies, their relationship was punctuated by feuding with periods of glasnost to the point of friendship even. They were the very definition of "good friends, better enemies." However, their WWE run has been all fisticuffs outside of the beginnings of Owens' first appearance on official NXT television at Takeover: R-Evolution.

However, Saturday night, Zayn got himself a shot at Jinder Mahal in his hometown of Montreal at a WWE house show "live event." Of course, Mahal and the Singh Brothers beat him down. Geriatric-ass Pat Patterson tried to make the save first, but again, he's so old he worked St. Paul at the Masada Fortress Memorial Show. And then, well...



So, yeah, goosebumps, right? Right. Obviously, for now, it was a one-time special thing in their shared hometown, an Easter egg if you will. The brush-off at the end was enough to signal that Owens isn't ready to be a good guy just yet. However, for as well as they play off each other as adversaries, they team together quite well. The Steenerico team was one of things that drew me into Ring of Honor in 2009, and obviously, the big turn at Final Battle of that year was a catalyst for the feud that would take them all the way into WWE. It has to be revisited in WWE at some point, since the company is hell-bent on recreating everything the two have ever done while also cribbing from the work of every indie promotion that ever booked these two in some capacity instead of retelling the story on its own terms (which is why the Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano feud in WWE will be better even if indies + WWE the edge will still go to the Canadians).

Anyway, speaking of Sami Zayn, he's currently organizing relief efforts for innocents afflicted by the gruesome fighting in Syria right now. Honestly, while Milkshake Duck comes for many celebrities and notable people, if it ever came for Zayn, I would be simultaneously shocked and devastated. Sami For Syria is the goods, man.

An update on #SamiForSyria

We are almost up and running!
Let's keep things moving!

For more info & to donate: https://t.co/gvJde51MvNpic.twitter.com/G1UEuGenwb

— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) August 2, 2017