Sami Zayn feels there’s a ‘middle ground’ for who benefits from wrestling on WWE house shows
WWE house shows are back, and Sami Zayn has opened up on the benefits of wrestling on them.
With WWE house shows reportedly coming back after a hiatus, former United States Champion Sami Zayn was recently asked to share his thoughts on it.
Looking at a middle ground, Zayn believes wrestling on house shows is crucial for the younger talent, although he believes there should be a “fine line” for the volume of the live events.
“Well, even this, like anything else, there’s polarizing views on all of it, right? So, however, I can say no matter what you think, or I think, or whatever, it’s pretty clear that the best way to get good at anything is to do it over and over again. So I think when you’re starting to look at stars of the future, you’re looking at Trick [Williams], you’re looking at Je’Von [Evans], Bron Breakker, Oba Femi, and guys like this. A lot of these guys just simply don’t have a lot of reps under their belt and they’re doing phenomenal, all things considered. So I just think that there’s no disputing the idea that if they get a few more reps, especially live events where, really, that’s like the true performance,” Zayn said while speaking on Huge POP!
“That’s really what this business is. It’s you in a ring, a live house, not worried about the constraints of television time and hitting break spots and commercials, and you know, it’s really just the art form at its kind of most naked and truthful form. So, I think it’s invaluable experience for those guys. I think it’s a good thing to see some returning for sure. I’m not gonna get into the business side of it, as far as, you know, is it worth it from a profitability standpoint? I don’t know,” Zayn added.
He further opened up and explained why performing at live events is a ‘little harder’ for the veterans. Although he still sees the merit in them.
“I enjoy them, but I’ll also say that there’s two separate generations going at the same time here. You have guys like Roman [Reigns] or Seth [Rollins] or myself or [CM] Punk or Drew McIntyre or Kevin Owens or Finn Bálor, all these guys that are mainstays who are on the later side of our careers and have already put in 20 years. So, doing a bunch of live events is a little harder on our bodies.
“So, I kind of see the merit in, well, these are a lot of your top stars, and you wanna not run them into the into the road while you have ‘em. But I also see the merit in, well, these guys, the JeVons and the Bron Breakkers and the Obas, they need to get there too, so I do think there’s definitely this fine line of the volume of live events,” Zayn said.
“Because I don’t know if you wanna keep a lot of the guys that are current television stars or in their later years, you wanna keep them healthy for the next three, four, five years. The way it was before, with like 160 live events, might be a little much… Understanding the different town-to-town responses and just getting a feel for the audience, I think that’s crucial for these guys, so I do think having some of these live events around is a great thing. But the volume, I think, there’s like a middle ground.”
WWE’s next house show is scheduled on July 11, 2026, at the Pan American Center in New Mexico, the tickets for which are expected to be much more affordable.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.