Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Sent Home From European Tour

[Jack-Hammer]

There are all sorts of reports saying that Owens and Zayn have been sent home from WWE's current tour of Europe. Sports Illustrated is saying they were sent home "for conduct deemed detrimental to the WWE."

As of right now, the story is that Zayn and Owens didn't follow directions given to them during their segment with the New Day during last night's SmackDown taping as they were supposed to continue attacking New Day. Allegedly, the plan was for them to keep trying to mount an offense against New Day, being pushed back each time, until they finally had enough and retreated with the ultimate intention being to help generate a bigger reaction for New Day. Owens did jump in the ring after Kofi won the match, but Zayn and Owens quickly exited the ring afterwards, which just left New Day standing there, making for an awkward ending to the segment. Furthermore, according to the report, the two of them have become "increasingly difficult to work with" and have been "unhappy backstage."

This is really surprising and it seems that the discontent among some talent is on the rise. In this particular case, if anyone should be unhappy, it's Sami Zayn as he's been on the main roster for close to two year and looked to be just now in line for good things to happen. As for Owens, just based on how he's been used in the 2.5 years he's been on the main roster, I dunno what the hell he has to complain about; he's consistently been booked as one of the top talents on the roster, he's either been chasing championships, holding championships or just generally in the middle of high profile programs from the moment he came up from NXT.

As I alluded to, Sami Zayn seems much more justified in being "unhappy" or having some sort of chip on his shoulder. Zayn was essentially the heart of NXT for a good long while but has ultimately been just another mid-card wrestler, albeit a really talented one who many fans have wanted to see something done with for a good long while.

At the same time, however, I don't know how much of this is accurate as even Sports Illustrated has been getting the facts wrong as of late. Lately, SI looks to be as reliable as the dirt sheets and, just like many of the dirt sheets, continue to stick to their guns even when it's shown they've gotten things wrong, such as the reason why Nia Jax "walked out" and the Rock encouraging her to do so.

 

[LODemolition]

This somewhat clears up my confusion as to why it seems Owens and Zayn might be left off the Survivor Series card. It seems that this is leading up to them interfering in the big 5 in 5 elimination and costing Shane and the Smackdown team the match. However, I thought it made much more sense to just make them a part of the team in the first place. Personally, I would have gone with the team of Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode and Randy Orton. Cena feels completely out of place and I don't think Nakamura would be missed too terribly. But anyways, if they're earning a reputation of being difficult to work with, I guess we'll be seeing less and less of them, which hurts everyone because Owens is the best thing going on not just Smackdown, but all WWE programming in general in my opinion. Hopefully this gets ironed out and we don't have another CM Punk situation on our hands here.

 

[Khalifa]

My initial thought was that it's kayfabe until they mentioned the new Day segment part. Not sure why they (mainly Sami) would be kicking up a fuss if they're clearly in line to receive a massive push and be the top guys of SD for a while. What is Owens even complaining about? Like JH said, not many guys have been featured in as many main event matches or main feud matches as KO. It's s real shame if this stops their push or continues to happen as both are great workers and I would prefer to have them on the show every week. I still hope for kayfabe but I can only dream.

 

[Navi]

Really hoping that this is kayfabe and not anything really serious. Owens is one of the best heels on the roster and it would be a shame to lose him the way Neville walked out. I watched a show they did on him and he said it was his dream to be a WWE wrestler, so can't see him throwing this away for something unless it was very serious.

Used to be when you became a WWE superstar you stayed where you were until you were let go or retired. Now we have seen a lot of wrestlers asking for their releases over the last few years just because they are plain fed up. Never used to be this way.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I doubt it's kayfabe if there are still dates on the UK tour since this basically means 2 key guys in the SD Live roster are out of the tour.

I find it strange Zayn and Owens are being punished for "going into business for themselves" considering this what Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and even The Rock did to get over.

 

[JoeMallard]

I've always wanted a Kill Steen Kill shirt. You take Owens off the roster, you kill the reason why Smackdown and the product as a whole is watchable as he has one of the best personalities in the entire company. You lose Owens, all you have is Joe that can do what he does as good as he does it. In reality Owens should be the WWE champion and top heel on Smackdown, but they obviously see more in that fucking loser Jinder Mayhall.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I'm taking this news with a grain of salt considering the original source. Let's face it, sports illustrated's Justin barasso hasn't had the best track record at reporting news on the website.

He does like to report rumors he heard from third or fourth hand sources which lead him to look like a complete idiot. Having said that, I kinda of feel like they probably just didn't need them on the tour right now and they gave up then the week off so they can be ready for whatever role they will have at survivor series.

I feel like this is kinda just like the nia Jax story, SI's Justin barasso made up a story so that we talked about it when actually theirs nothing to this story at all.

 

[ShinChan]

Used to be when you became a WWE superstar you stayed where you were until you were let go or retired. Now we have seen a lot of wrestlers asking for their releases over the last few years just because they are plain fed up. Never used to be this way.

Indeed. And I think that it's good if you actually want to improve your position as a a wrestler. If you want security, then you can stay in WWE. Even as a jobber. But if you're not happy with your position like say Cody Rhodes or Neville, you should definitely leave. And I actually support both of these. Not to mention WWE putting all eggs in one basket (again!) is obvious for other deserving people to be hurt about.

If it's true about Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, I'm not getting what's Kevin Owens' complaint!? Sami Zayn could rightly be unhappy but Kevin Owens has been on top along the likes of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Zayn has been just there before this heel turn.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

I think they're working the sheets. The black sheep of Smackdown live will cost them. They wouldn't have anything to do for a week so let's keep them out of people's eyes. That bit works the 'average' fan. Dirt sheet leaks work the 'smarks'.

Probably leading to HHH vs Owens at 'Mania or a brand power struggle with Owens and Zayn siding with HHH.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I think they're working the sheets. The black sheep of Smackdown live will cost them. They wouldn't have anything to do for a week so let's keep them out of people's eyes. That bit works the 'average' fan. Dirt sheet leaks work the 'smarks'.

Probably leading to HHH vs Owens at 'Mania or a brand power struggle with Owens and Zayn siding with HHH.

Actually what I was thinking, lately I seem like sports illustrated as become to go to if they wanted to worked the dirt sheet because they know that M. Barasso won't check is sources before putting the info on the website and since sports illustrated is a well known publication , it's easier for them to pull this off.

Let's face it, their no reason for Owens or Zayn to be unhappy with the wwe right now. Owens is probably the biggest heel in the company right now and his making a ton of money off merchandise sale along. He the face of wwe in Canada especially Quebec. As for Zayn, he's getting the biggest push of his career right now and he's doing the best work of his career as a heel so I don't get why they would be unhappy.

I feel like this is all a work by WWE just like the whole nia Jax walk out rumour was or pretty much anything that M. Barasso as printed since he started his Wednesday report, it's just that now, other websites have pick up those reports and publish them as fact,

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I think were over thinking the possibility of WWE working the "dirt sheets" or the IWC. Looking at the history of these reports 99% of the time when news breaks out like this it's normally legit.

Daniel Bryan getting fired for choking Justin Roberts with a tie, CM Punk walking out, Seth Rollins getting injured by Samoa Joe, there are even those that thought The Montreal Screw Job was a work.

So yeah I think this is legit and history tells us that is the case.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I think were over thinking the possibility of WWE working the "dirt sheets" or the IWC. Looking at the history of these reports 99% of the time when news breaks out like this it's normally legit.

Daniel Bryan getting fired for choking Justin Roberts with a tie, CM Punk walking out, Seth Rollins getting injured by Samoa Joe, there are even those that thought The Montreal Screw Job was a work.

So yeah I think this is legit and history tells us that is the case.

But at the same time 99% of the time a report like this came out on the sports illustrated website, they turns out to be fabricated so I kinda see why some of us think that this might just be WWE working the dirt sheets.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

This is really strange. Why did they get sent home? I may have missed something, but I don’t think anyone has said anything.

I hope this is a false report and nothing serious because Owens and Zayn are two of the best in WWE and the best thing on Smackdown right now.

I really don’t want to see Owens leave WWE because he has potential to be the best heel of this era and maybe all time. Zayn could be a major star as well.

Of course that’s assuming this isn’t too serious, and hopefully it’s not.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

But at the same time 99% of the time a report like this came out on the sports illustrated website, they turns out to be fabricated so I kinda see why some of us think that this might just be WWE working the dirt sheets.

Well I suppose that's one thing to look at. But if other sources start to confirm it then it's probably not a work.

 

[LODemolition]

If this news is legitimate, I find it really strange. Owens just left their tour a couple weeks ago I believe for personal issues with his family needing him home and according to the tweet Owens made, WWE was nothing but cooperative and accomodating. Now suddenly he's "difficult to work with" and "in business for himself"? It just doesn't add up, but I'm sure the whole story will come out eventually.

 

[therockiswwf]

I find it strange Zayn and Owens are being punished for "going into business for themselves" considering this what Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and even The Rock did to get over.

There is a big difference between taking a chance in a promo and not taking a beatdown. There is a big difference between HBK being one of the main stars during a time when WWE desperately needed him and KO/Sami Zayn. HHH has said guys can go off script (in a promo) if they are willing to take the heat and it works. He mentioned Vince sort of likes it when talent has the balls to do that. Though it is probably best to talk to Vince or someone first before doing it.

That said, I'm taking this with a grain of salt. Don't see why they would be unhappy at this time. Good push. Focal point. Top heels. Can't really ask for much more.

 

[ISkye]

Depending on how much leniency is in your WWE contract it can be a career death sentence or a dream job. Two people with an example of a good tale are Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar.

Rollins will never make as much money for the work he'll put in as he will at his peak in WWE. If you really deep dive into people he frequently is collaborating with and the moves he's making he is setting up on what on paper is a great long term game plan with a lot of breathing room. WWE is the platform he needed to accomplish this so every single move he's made in his entire career has been geared towards him using WWE and not the other way around. It may of been his dream and his long term goal, but he's always been smart enough to make calculated moves to go beyond just getting there and making more of it. In regards to Lesnar. You can literally just hop on google for 5 minutes and there are exact numbers to debunk every single possible argument as to how his current status in WWE would be detrimental to his career at all.

In regards to the death sentence. Unless you know what you're going to WWE for and what you want to get out of it you shouldn't go. Of course I would never tell anyone who's wrestling in front of 200 people for a high payout of 500$ a show or whatever to skip on a tryout or something like even doing a job on Raw or Smackdown. Especially one of my friends. I would tell them to try to capitalize on the situation in every way possible and to basically figure it out fast. Wrestling isn't a business where you're worth as much as the guy standing next to you. In every single case in the last century it has been like that. The hungrier you are, the political moves you make, and work you put in truly dictates your worth at the end of the day. It's not WWE's job to care if you're unhappy and how they'll ensure you'll retire nicely on the beach with a perfect family.

Kevin and Sami are victims of a wrestling world practically owned by WWE and they're before a time where there weren't as many options. Sometimes a month in wrestling can be a year of change in a different medium of sports or entertainment. The last 5 years that they haven't been around definitely are some of the most heavy ridden with that change. You can trace both of their mindsets going into the company and compare them to someone like Seth Rollins & AJ when he was leaving NJPW and coming into WWE for hours. You'll see a relatively big difference.

If worst came to worst. Looking at Sami in particular he has a gimmick he can always fall back on that would sell tickets in today climate whether it be making seven figures plus in Japan full time while working ROH or doing bar shows. Owens has the same, but maybe a little less value in regards to a global perspective. With that being said he is a lot more secured as a name in North America as a whole as opposed to Sami. Neither of them are stupid and they do know their worth, but they definitely think more like a Juice, Pac, or Cody Rhodes than they do someone like Swagger or Ziggler.

I wouldn't put it past Sami if it came to tooth and nail, but Kevin is worth a lot in WWE. He is a future Hall of Famer and Wrestlemania main event if he really wants to be. You can run down his accomplishments in the short time he has been around and while someone may denounce Titles and what not in WWE.. It means they see you in a very high regard for whatever the reason may be. There is no way that they will let him go with as much they have invested into him and if it comes to pass it'll be a situation where only he wants it.

This did actually happen, but it was more likely a mess up in means of communication than trying to get themselves over or anything like that. I would understand the frustration of the booking considering how they have been pinned on television in recent, but this would be a beyond weird straw that broke the camels back. Work or shoot I just hope at the end of the day WWE gets what they are paying these guys to do and Owens & Sami are mentally and physically healthy. As well as getting paid their worth and taking care of their families.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

A little bit more, allegedly, came out regarding this story and what's come out is that Owens and Zayn are put off by what happened with Neville and Jimmy Jacobs because they're said to be really tight with them. If what's said regarding Neville is true, then I get where he's coming from if he feels he's not valued for his work; he made the CW Division watchable but he gets left off the WrestleMania DVD release entirely and no royalties, plus indications were that he was just going to spin his wheels in the division. As for former writer Jimmy Jacobs, I'm less sympathetic because he had to know that Vince wouldn't like him taking a selfie with the Bullet Club when they "invaded" Raw; he had to know doing something like that would piss Vince McMahon off somethin' awful. It might be petty, I grant that, but it's still Vince's ballgame and even if by some miracle Jacobs didn't know how seemingly little things sets Vince off, he's surrounded by people at any given time of the day who do.

If this is legit, if any of it is for that matter, then I get being disheartened when a friend loses his job but what's getting yourself into hot water gonna accomplish? This little bit of info makes it more difficult to believe this or, at the very least, not to think the thing hasn't been made to sound like a bigger deal than it actually is.

If it's all true, however, then the impression I'm getting from the being "unhappy" and "difficult to work with" comments from the original story is that the segment with New Day is the latest in a string of unprofessional behavior that's been going on for a while. If so, then this could be the end of their pushes and that's a damn shame, but a shame they sound like they'd brought upon themselves.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I would understand the frustration of the booking considering how they have been pinned on television in recent, but this would be a beyond weird straw that broke the camels back. Work or shoot I just hope at the end of the day WWE gets what they are paying these guys to do and Owens & Sami are mentally and physically healthy. As well as getting paid their worth and taking care of their families.

Whether or not this was actually the plan, I think most of us felt that Owens & Zayn coming up short lately was just a short term means to an end that resulted in them screwing over SmackDown at Survivor Series by costing them the 5 on 5 men's elimination tag team match. Also, there's a rumored match between the Shield and New Day at Survivor Series so if New Day were set to ultimately beat back an assault from Owens & Zayn, perhaps Owens & Zayn would do something to cost the blue brand to lose another high profile tag team match that'd give Raw even more "bragging rights." This would immediately set them up as the top heels of the brand and there'd be no shortage of interesting feuds for them whether it be against New Day for a bit, Orton, Nakamura, even potentially Cena.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Something i kinda realise and this my look like a conspiracy theory but what if, Justin Barasso found a way to make a name for himself by writing the most outlandish report and see which dirt sheet and wrestling website would pick it up as real news.

stick with me on this one.

First he was the first one to report about the neville walkout, which might or might not happen nobody knows at this time.

Then he was the first one to report about Nia Jax walking out which turnout to be totally false even through he tried his best to convince people otherwise.

Next was he was the first to report why EMMA got release. Again it's been proven that he was wrong but it didn'T change the fact that a lot of website and dirt sheet thought it was real and ran with it.

Now they're this news which seem a little bit fabricate to me as well. The reason i'm saying that is that the way the segment ending on smackdown, it felt we to clean to be something they would have done on their own. What i mean by that is that the editing of the segment and the way the commentary team was presenting it made it fell like this was the plan all along and nothing went off script.

The thing is, i really have my doubt about this one, especially that Zayn and Owens would throw away everything they have right now just because they are upset about Neville and Jacobs. This is their dream job and they would jeopardize everything because they are upset that Neville and Jacobs got treated badly by management? I think they we're just sent home because WWE didn'T need them for the rest of the tour and they gave them some personal time to rest until they come back to tv next week.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There are some reports claiming that the whole thing was a miscommunication, though I don't really see how that could be given that they were told about what was supposed to happen backstage at some point during the day.

At any rate, it MIGHT not be seen as that big of a deal as PWInsider.com reports that Owens & Zayn are scheduled to be working Tuesday's Survivor Series go home episode of SmackDown Live. The report says that they're scheduled to face the New Day, though I don't know if it's a dark match or if it's to be part of the live broadcast. This doesn't mean they're out of the woods just yet, though the fact that they're not going to be kept off TV via some sort of suspension strikes me as a positive sign.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Not entirely sure what is going on here but I hope it's just a rumor. Sami does have his reasons to be disgruntled. He's been on the main roster for a while now and other than that feud with Strowman he has done next to nothing. I'm surprised he hasn't even won a midcard title yet. Owens on the other hand does not have much to complain about. He's been Universal Champion, Intercontinental Champion, United States Champion, and has been featured in high profile matches. Perhaps there is frustration over getting demoted to the US Championship for Wrestlemania when he and Jericho deserved to have the Universal Championship in their match. I won't even start on the Brock as Universal Champion issue, that's for another discussion. Owens has very little, if anything, to be really upset about. The two of them have been one of the best parts about Smackdown in recent weeks so to lose them would be very bad for the blue brand. If there genuinely is an issue then I hope they are all able to resolve it.