On the February 17, 2023 episode of WWE SmackDown, Sami Zayn cut a sensational promo in front of his hometown crowd of Montreal, vowing to dethrone Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event.
Fightful Select has provided several backstage notes on the promo segment including the reaction from Zayn and others in WWE.
Zayn had been incredibly busy this week, as he arrived in Montreal for promotional appearances mid-week and did media throughout Friday. Zayn also appeared on RAW on Monday night and got a speeding ticket while in Brooklyn, New York.
Michael Hayes produced Zayn’s promo segment on SmackDown. Hayes has produced much of The Bloodline segments since the inception of the storyline. After multiple fan demands, WWE finally gave Zayn his old theme song ‘Worlds Apart’ back.
Zayn reportedly looked “visibly anxious and nervous” ahead of the promo. Those “in the know,” including people in the Gorilla position, were confused and expected a different promo. But Zayn took the audience’s lengthy ovation into account and went with the flow. There was also panic from the production team when they had to censor the ‘F**k You Roman’ chants. However, the majority of WWE was happy with the final outcome, and one longtime producer labeled it as “special.”
