Sami Zayn's Title Win Was Opposed by People Backstage, Surprising New WWE Rumors Reveal

While many fans were pleasantly surprised to see Sami Zayn defeat CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship on Friday's episode of SmackDown, some of his peers reportedly didn't feel the same way.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, there were some people backstage who opposed the idea of Zayn winning the title for the second time this year.

Zayn hadn't won a world title in WWE before this year, but he surprisingly pinned Cody Rhodes to claim the WWE title at the Night of Champions premium live event in June. However, his first reign lasted just nine days, as he dropped the belt to Punk in his first title defense.

After fighting his way back to title contention, Zayn turned heel last month when he cost Kevin Owens in his championship match against Punk, hitting his longtime friend with the belt to allow Punk to escape with the win. Zayn finally got his rematch against Punk on Friday and exacted his revenge to reclaim the belt.

Zayn's win certainly makes things interesting in WWE for the last quarter of 2026, but it sounds like he will need to regain some support behind the scenes if he wants his second reign to last longer than his first.