Sami Zayn Gets Emotional While Addressing Tampa Crowd After WWE Raw Goes Off The Air
Sami Zayn performed in his first singles match in almost two months Monday night, when he took on Drew McIntyre in the main event of "WWE Raw." While Zayn ultimately lost the contest, the severe beating he received at the hands of "The Scottish Warrior" did not stop him from making an emotional speech to the vocal Tampa crowd.
"Not gonna lie, physically I'm not feeling too good at the moment," Zayn confessed. "I've sat on the shelf [for] the better part of two months, and I was really visualizing coming back. I was hurt — I've been hurt, but I was hurt, and I didn't know when I would come back, exactly. But, I did have one date circled on my calendar that I absolutely wanted to be back for, and it is tonight: Monday Night Raw in Tampa!"
"Some of you know this, some of you don't," Zayn continued, "but some of the very best — the guys who are main-eventing every PLE, the guys who main-event every Monday night on Raw, the guys that are gonna main-event WrestleMania — every one of them had to move to Tampa, Florida! When they first came to WWE, they wanted to learn this craft — we all, all of us, had to come live in Tampa, Florida. And for almost a year, I was proud and I was happy to call my hometown of Tampa, Florida."
Tampa was the home of FCW, or Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's first developmental program and the predecessor to "WWE NXT". Founded in 2007, FCW trained some of the biggest stars in WWE, from nostalgic icons like The Bella Twins and Dolph Ziggler to modern-day superstars like current World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Zayn's opponent, Drew McIntyre. In fact, it's difficult to think of a current WWE star under a certain age who didn't come up through FCW and/or "NXT."
Sami Zayn loves Tampa
"And there's a reason that it was in Tampa, Florida," Zayn explained. "It's because every single one of you, through years, and years, and years, and years, of coming to these shows — years and years and years of using your voice, of cheering us on, of supporting us — every single one of you made this a wrestling town!"
"I'm not gonna go on and on about the time I lived in Florida, and the many wonderful, wonderful memories I carry from living in Tampa," Zayn concluded. "All I'm gonna say is that it is a sincere honor, and it is a sincere pleasure, and a privilege to be able to walk out here and perform for every single one of you here tonight. Tampa, we love you. Thank you for your support! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Zayn was sidelined after a brutal assault from McIntyre on the December 4 episode of "WWE Raw". His whereabouts were unknown until this past Saturday, where he entered the Royal Rumble match at the coveted number 30 spot. Zayn was eliminated shortly after by an irate McIntyre, and their feud has carried on past the Rumble and onto the opening segments of tonight's episode of "Raw", when Zayn defended an injured CM Punk from a Scottish assault. Despite online disappointment with the short-lived nature of his Rumble return, Tampa was ablaze with passion as they cheered for Zayn following his speech.