Sami Zayn Explains How Second WWE Championship Victory Feels Different Than The First

Sami Zayn has compared his two WWE Championship wins and explained how his second victory has silenced talk that his first was a one-off.

Zayn became champion again when he defeated CM Punk on the September 11, 2026 edition of "WWE SmackDown," winning back the title that he had lost to Punk. In an interview with "Busted Open," he compared the two title wins. 

"The first one and the second one, even though they were so close together, felt really different. Because the first one's like, 'Wow, I can't believe I did it,'" he began. "But then it was also quite short-lived, as has been pretty widely discussed by now. It only lasted a very short time. So, I don't know, it kind of felt like maybe it was a miracle, maybe it was a fluke, maybe it was this, but I got to say I did it, you know? And, you know, it's really hard to get there. I mean, there's probably less than a hundred people in human history that have held that title. So, now to be on that list was like, well, I did it."

Zayn explained that he had different emotions with the two title wins. He, though, said that his second world title win has dismissed all suggestions that his first was a fluke.

"But now doing it the second time was like it's no fluke. I feel like it cemented me in a way," he added. "Equal amount of pride, but it kind of washes away that little part of like, well, I just got lucky, because maybe that is in the back of your head."

The Undisputed WWE Champion's second world title win came just two months after he lost it to Punk, and reports have suggested that the title change likely happened with the upcoming Crown Jewel PLE in Saudi Arabia in mind. WWE will likely have a champion-versus-champion clash at the show and didn't want a rematch between Punk and Roman Reigns, hence crowning Zayn as champion.