A little over two months after he won the NXT Championship, after he vanquished his demons and beat the longest reigning NXT Champion in history, Sami Zayn is forced to go back to the drawing board. Sami Zayn fought his best friend/mortal enemy Kevin Owens in the main event of last night’s NXT Takeover: Rival, and the result was hard to watch. The match is being compared to Brock Lesnar’s decimation of John Cena at last years Summerslam, but it was more than that. This was total annihilation. This was a man possessed overpowering and beating the ever loving hell out of a more than worthy champion. As far as wrestling stories go, this was the necessary next chapter for Sami Zayn. He finally won the big one, beat his good friend Adrian Neville and became NXT Champion the same night his best friend debuted in the company. It was a fairy tale ending. But then everything changed, and Sami Zayn was just not ready for someone as physically and mentally strong as Kevin Owens. Zayn was taken out of his game from the opening bell, as Owens continually ducked out of the ring, infuriating Zayn to the point that he jumped over the referee and the top rope to take out Owens. That would be the last legitimate offense Zayn would get in for the majority of the match. Zayn came into this match looking for revenge, and Owens knew that; he knew Zayn would be over aggressive and would throw caution to the wind one too many times, and it was that rope assisted backflip that ultimately spelled the end for Zayn, as he hit the back of his head on the entrance ramp. For Zayn, this wasn’t about the title, it was about getting even. For Owens, it was about winning at all costs, and that’s why he is your new NXT Champion.

– Ryan