Sami Zayn gives honest thoughts on the need for WWE live events

WWE is looking to bring back live events during the summer. Sami Zayn has given his thoughts on this.

Under the Vince McMahon regime, WWE held live events on a weekly basis. Superstars were on the road 300 days a year. However, times have changed since then. The talent now enjoy a more relaxed schedule. Instead, WWE only holds live events during the holidays or during any overseas tour. The sports entertainment juggernaut recently announced the dates for its upcoming European summer tour.

Speaking on Huge Pop!, Sami Zayn said that live events offer younger talent like Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, or Bron Breakker to get more reps in without having to worry about hitting production cues like they would need to for a live event.

“Well, even this, you know, like anything else, it’s polarizing views on all of it, right? So, however, I can say, I think no matter what you think, or what 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, right? So I think when you’re starting to look at stars of the future, you know, you’re looking at Trick, you’re looking at Je’Von, Bron Breakker, Oba Femi, guys like this, a lot of these guys just simply don’t have a lot of reps under their belt. They’re doing phenomenal, all things considered, right? So I just think that, you know, there’s no disputing the idea that if they get a few more reps that are, especially live events where you’re really, that’s like the true performance, you know, quite well, right? I mean, that’s really where, what this business is. It’s you in a ring, a live house, not worried about the constraints of television time and hitting, you know, break spots and commercials, and, you know, it’s really just the at form and its kind of most naked and truthful form,” said Sami Zayn.

Sami Zayn further added that the experience of live events is invaluable for young wrestlers. However, he refrained from commenting on the profitability of these shows.

“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 like, you know, is it worth it from a profitability standpoint? I don’t know, there’s people that, you know, we have a team for that. But strictly from an artistic performance side, I obviously, I’ve been doing this my whole life almost now, 20-something years.”

Sami Zayn also commented on the impact WWE live events have on older wrestlers

While the younger wrestlers can benefit from having more WWE live events, the older generation of wrestlers may feel differently about having to put their bodies on the line more frequently. However, Sami Zayn feels it is a great move to have more live events.

During the same podcast episode, Sami Zayn said that live events will be a little harder for the older wrestlers like himself, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Finn Balor, since they have already put in the work.

“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 or Seth or myself or Punk or Drew McIntyre or Kevin Owens or Finn Balor, all these guys that are mainstays who are on the later side of our careers and we’ve already put in 20 years. So doing a bunch of live events, you know, it’s a little harder on our bodies. So I kind of see the merit in like, well, these are a lot of your top stars and you wanna not run them into the road while you have them. But I also see the merit in, well, these guys, the JeVons and the Bron Breakers and the Obas, they need to get there too,” Sami Zayn said.

Sami Zayn further added that there is a fine line between the volume of live events so that the older wrestlers can stay healthy for several years. He also noted that live events allow wrestlers to adapt well to different crowds.

“So I do think there’s definitely this like fine line of the volume of live events, you know, because I don’t know if you wanna keep, you know, a lot of the guys that are current television stars who are in their later years, you wanna keep them healthy for the next three, four, five years. The way it was before, like 160 live events might be a little much. But I do definitely think there’s something to like getting these guys in front of especially Canadian crowds are different from the crowd in Toronto is gonna be different from the crowd in Topeka or, you know, whatever. And 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 are a great thing. But the volume, I think there’s like a middle ground, you know?”

It remains to be seen if WWE will do more live events in the future.

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