| Sami Zayn | |
|---|---|
.png) Zayn as Raw Tag Team Champion in May 2023 | |
| Birth name | Rami Sebei |
| Born | July 12, 1984 Laval, Quebec, Canada |
| Spouse(s) |
Khadijah Sebei (m. 2018) |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big Larry[2] El Generico[3] Rami Sebei[4] Sami Zayn[5] Stevie McFly[4]Sami Uso |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[5] |
| Billed weight | 212 lb (96 kg)[5] |
| Billed from | Montreal, Quebec, Canada[5] Tijuana, Mexico[3] |
| Trained by | Jerry Tuite[6] Savio Vega[6] |
| Debut | March 1, 2002[7] |
Rami Sebei (Arabic: رامي سباعي; born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sami Zayn.
Sebei made his professional wrestling debut in 2002 under the ring name Stevie McFly. Prior to joining WWE, he competed for Montreal-based promotion International Wrestling Syndicate (IWS), where he became a two-time IWS World Heavyweight Champion, and would achieve breakout success in the United States with Los Angeles-based promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and then-Philadelphia-based promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), all under the ring name El Generico, using the character of a luchador from Mexico with the catchphrase "Olé!".[8] He wrestled while masked from 2002 until 2013. During his time in PWG, Sebei became a two-time PWG World Champion and five-time PWG World Tag Team Champion. He is the only person to have won both of PWG's annual tournaments, the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament in 2010 and the Battle of Los Angeles in 2011. In ROH, he held the ROH World Television Championship and the ROH World Tag Team Championship as part of a team with Kevin Steen, with whom he later earned the 2010 Feud of the Year award from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He has also performed in Chikara and Evolve. Having wrestled internationally, Sebei competed for Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in Germany, where he won the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship, and also competed in Japan for DDT Pro-Wrestling and Dragon Gate (as well as its American branch), having won the KO-D Openweight Championship in the former promotion.
Upon signing with WWE in 2013 and taking on the ring name Sami Zayn, he began wrestling without a mask in WWE's developmental brand NXT, eventually winning the NXT Championship. After being promoted to the main roster, he would become a four-time Intercontinental Champion. Starting in 2022, his popularity with fans would begin to skyrocket thanks to his critically acclaimed work with The Bloodline faction.[9] In addition to his other WWE accomplishments, Sebei also wrestled in the main event of several pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania 39, where he became one half of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions (the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships) alongside longtime best friend Kevin Owens.
- ^ "Sami Zayn's wife on the most important match of his life - Elimination Chamber 2023 Diary". WWE. February 18, 2023.
- ^ "Pee Wee VS Big Larry (Sami Zayn) (EWR in Quebec City)". YouTube.
- ^ a b "El Generico Profile". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ a b "Sami Zayn Bio". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Sami Zayn". WWE. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Cagewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Career - Sami Zayn". Cagematch. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
- ^ Kapur, Bob (November 7, 2008). "El Generico defies the odds". Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Sami Zayn Betraying Roman Reigns, Bloodline Is WWE's Greatest Storyline Ever". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 4, 2023.