Kevin Owens broke his silence on Sami Zayn’s first Undisputed WWE Championship win Saturday, posting a heartfelt tribute to his longtime friend and rival while sidelined with injury.
Zayn pinned Cody Rhodes in a triple threat main event at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, also overcoming Gunther to capture the title for the first time in his WWE career. The win ended a chase that commentary framed as Zayn’s tenth shot at a world championship in the company.
Owens, who has been out of action recovering from neck fusion surgery, made clear how much missing the moment hurt. “I’ve missed a lot of things I wish I hadn’t in the last 15 months because of this injury but today is, by far, the one I wish I had been there for the most,” he wrote.
He went on to praise Zayn in plain terms. “He has brought out the best in me as both an ally and a foe. That’s because he is THE best. When you’re consistently that good for that long, you become undeniable.”
Owens called the win overdue. “Sami becoming WWE Champion was inevitable. He has deserved that moment for a very long time and I am so happy to see him finally get it.”
The tribute closed with the kind of needling that has defined their decades-long relationship, as Owens shared photos of the pair across their careers. He pointed to one image of Zayn helping him dress in a Texas hotel room after Owens believed he had broken his back the night before. “Look how happy he is… Now tell me he doesn’t deserve to be champion!”
The post lands a day after the rivalry surfaced in storyline. On the SmackDown before Night of Champions, Rhodes invoked Owens’s name to get under Zayn’s skin, prompting Zayn to tell the champion to keep Owens out of his mouth.
Owens and Zayn share one of the most intertwined histories in modern wrestling, dating back to their independent run as El Generico and Kevin Steen. They have traded the roles of best friend and bitter enemy repeatedly, most recently teaming as Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions and later colliding in a brutal non-sanctioned match at Elimination Chamber.