The Story So Far: Kevin Owens Vs. Sami Zayn 'Unsanctioned' At WWE Elimination Chamber

Some wrestling matches are just wrestling matches; you don't need to know anything ahead of time and can just jump in. Most of the time, though, at least a little bit of context is required, especially for big event matches that are often the culmination of weeks, months, or even years of storytelling. Sometimes to get the whole story, you have go back even further than that — sometimes the story has been told for decades; careers; lives.

At Elimination Chamber, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens meet one another in an Unsanctioned match. According to Cagematch, it will be the 80^th time these two have met in singles action over the course of their careers (though the real number is likely much higher). It'll be their 19^th singles match on WWE TV (Owens has 11 wins, Zayn has four; three matches ended in a no contest) but just the first to take place in their home country of Canada. And it will be the first time they meet under the Unsanctioned stipulation since 2010, back when Owens wrestled under his real name and Zayn was still a mystery wearing a mask. These two have so much history there's about to be an entire book about it; we won't go that far, but we are here to provide all the information you need about Zayn vs. Owens heading into Elimination Chamber.

How far back does this rivalry really go? How many times have Zayn and Owens achieved greatness together, and how many times have they betrayed each other? As we approach the latest chapter in their epic tale, this is The Story So Far.

The story of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn dates back to 2003, when the two were working their way up through their home independent territory of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kevin Steen was a young wrestling prodigy being groomed for stardom in rote, meticulous fashion by former WWE star Jacques Rougeau, who wouldn't let him work anywhere else; Rami Sebei, in contrast, used multiple ring names depending on where in the Montreal scene he was working on a given night. The character that took off, however, was El Generico, a black-and-red-masked "luchador" (with strangely pale skin and red hair) who spoke in broken English when he spoke at all and seemed to only barely comprehend the concept of standard human interaction. Generico was born in the International Wrestling Syndicate, and the promise of working with him in a more fun, less restrained environment led Steen to leave Rougeau for IWS. Their first match together was a three-way that saw them team up for a time before Steen attacked Generico, establishing a theme that would resonate throughout their careers.

Steen and Generico quickly became wrestling soulmates, taking their talents to the United States and around the world. They were early cornerstones of Reseda indie Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but got the most visibility in Ring of Honor, where they won the ROH World Tag Team Championship in 2008 and where Steen infamously turned on Generico in 2009, kicking off a cross-promotional feud that raged for a full year before culminating in a bloody and brutal Unsanctioned Match at ROH Final Battle 2010. Generico won, forcing Steen to leave ROH as a result, but that piece of booking quickly proved ironic; Steen returned more popular than ever, avenging his loss to Generico and winning the ROH World Championship. He was still holding that title when Generico (who had largely stopped working for ROH) signed a WWE developmental deal in 2013, leaving Steen (who had long dreamed of working for WWE) behind on the indies. Their final matches together came in a one-night PWG tag team tournament that saw them reunite at long last, after which Steen bid Generico farewell with the words "I would be nothing without you."

Sami Zayn first appeared on "WWE NXT" in May 2013, and his timing made him a key player in the early days of the black & gold brand. The new name and lack of a mask didn't fool the Full Sail University audience, who regularly serenaded him with Generico's old theme song, and his in-ring skills and peerless ability to play the underdog fighting from beneath made him an instant fan favorite. In late 2014, after more than a year of coming up short, he finally won the NXT Championship at Takeover: R Evolution — but that show wouldn't end on the image of Zayn standing tall. Steen had finally made it to WWE too, changing his name to Kevin Owens, and R Evolution featured both his debut match and his most notorious act, as he returned to the ring after the main event to embrace the victorious Zayn before immediately turning on him, delivering a spine-shattering powerbomb to the new champion onto the ring apron. After being separated for two years, the eternal frenemies were back in the same company, and their fraught history re-ignited the moment they got too close.

Owens went on to have what is still one of the most successful "NXT" careers of all time — he ended Zayn's title reign in its infancy and debuted on "WWE Raw" as NXT Champion, where he proceeded to beat John Cena clean. After a quick main roster call-up, he won the Intercontinental title and was functionally the first Universal Champion, winning the belt after inaugural champion Finn Balor was forced to vacate it due to injury. He and Zayn feuded again when Zayn joined him on the main roster, but they became allies in 2017, when Zayn turned heel for the first time in his WWE career. By that point, however, both men had seemingly lost the momentum of their acclaimed "NXT" runs, and Zayn in particular plummeted down the card, being largely reduced to a comedy act within a few years. When he and Owens feuded yet again in 2021, their singles match at WrestleMania 37 barely moved the collective needle — and it ended up being mostly about Logan Paul, anyway.

But as it turned out, that was okay. Owens had already begun his years-long feud with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, and that story would prove capable of not only bringing he and Zayn back together, but of re-energizing their WWE careers.

It's difficult to overstate the extent to which Sami Zayn and the Bloodline storyline breathed new life into one another in late 2022, after Vince McMahon's unlikely ouster from WWE creative. Zayn provided the saga a fresh new character, brought out new sides in all the key players, and gave it a beating human heart, thematically, in the form of one man's desperate quest for acceptance. The saga, in turn, gave Zayn a lead role in WWE's top story and returned him to his underdog babyface roots. And since Kevin Owens was inextricably linked to both the Bloodline and Zayn, his involvement was not only inevitable, but vital.

Zayn's time in the Bloodline is notable for it being the only clear example of Zayn turning on Owens rather than the other way around. By the time of Survivor Series 2022, the Bloodline (particularly Jey Uso) were beginning to doubt Zayn's loyalty, a suspicion represented by his obvious desire to not fight his former best friend. The 2022 men's WarGames match revolves around that conflict, even though Zayn and Owens never physically touch during the match — until the very end, where Zayn finally makes his choice, hitting Owens with a low blow and allowing Jey to pin him for the victory. That moment should have cemented Zayn's place in the Bloodline, and it did for a while, but Roman Reigns was an erratic and paranoid leader who demanded Zayn prove his loyalty over and over again. It finally became too much after the main event of Royal Rumble 2023, which saw Reigns defeat Owens to defend his title. After the bell, Reigns and the Bloodline began to demolish Owens with a series of brutal attacks; when Zayn tentatively tried to intervene, Reigns handed him a chair and ordered him to strike Owens with it himself. Unable to countenance such a cruel test of faith, Zayn hit Reigns instead.

The aftermath of this moment saw Zayn unsuccessfully challenge Reigns for the world title in Montreal at Elimination Chamber 2023, but more importantly, it saw Zayn and Owens repair their relationship once again and come back together as a tag team. On Night 1 of WrestleMania 39, a tag team title match main-evented "The Showcase of the Immortals" for the first time in history as Zayn and Owens ended the record-breaking reign of The Usos, officially striking the first in a series of killing blows to the Bloodline.

Zayn and Owens held the tag titles from April to September 2023, and while their reign didn't quite live up to its potential, they anchored weekly "WWE Raw" programming during that period, primarily in tag and trios main events with the latest evil faction with a mad on for them, The Judgment Day. In this, they were often joined by Cody Rhodes, who had barely come up short against Roman Reigns the night after Zayn and Owens took the tag titles from The Usos. It wasn't the first time Zayn or Owens had interacted on-screen with Rhodes, but it was the basis for their new on-screen friendship — something that would have major ramifications down the road. It was also during this period that Owens began showing signs (well, more signs) of anger issues — while largely played for laughs, they were still a hint of something bubbling under the surface. Meanwhile, the Bloodline continued to deteriorate, with Jey Uso challenging Roman Reigns for the world title at SummerSlam; he lost (when his brother Jimmy turned on him) and quit WWE the following Friday.

The next month at Payback, The Judgment Day's Finn Balor and Damian Priest defeated Zayn and Owens for the tag titles. Immediately afterward, Rhodes appeared on the show, announcing that he'd set up a deal to bring Jey back, trading him from "SmackDown" to "Raw." This put Jey and Zayn, who had become good friends during the final days of Zayn's tenure in the Bloodline, back in close proximity — but it also separated him from Owens, as it was later revealed that he was the other part of the trade. Mere months after Zayn and Owens had finally come back together, they were now forced to part once again.

After their separation, Zayn and Owens went their own ways for more than a year. They still occasionally crossed paths (Owens memorably hugged and encouraged Zayn ahead of his WWE Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 40) but for the most part they went on completely different journeys, each involving notable characters from their previous history. For Zayn, this meant siding with the redemption-seeking Jey against former Bloodline victims like Drew McIntyre, winning the Intercontinental title for a fourth time, and feuding with the likes of Chad Gable, Bron Breakker, and GUNTHER. For Owens, however, it was the start of a brand new descent into madness.

Owens has always made friends (and betrayed them) easily, and it wasn't long before he had a new best friend on "SmackDown" in the form of Randy Orton. Together they humiliated Austin Theory and Grayson Waller, feuded with Logan Paul over the United States title, and renewed hostilities with The Bloodline. By now it was 2024 and Rhodes had ended Reigns' 1300-day reign of terror, but a new Bloodline led by Solo Sikoa had sprung up in his absence. Once again Rhodes joined in the fight, forming a unit with Owens and Orton against Sikoa, Tongan brothers Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, and the monstrous Jacob Fatu. But it all came crashing down after Reigns returned at SummerSlam 2024, looking to reclaim the title of "Tribal Chief" from the usurping Sikoa.

Reigns was a babyface again for the first time in years, but Owens wasn't buying it. He agreed to challenge Rhodes for the WWE title at the Bash in Berlin event, despite not believing he'd earned it, because the title shot would go to Reigns otherwise. During that match, Owens appeared to have the title won, but ended up losing after failing to ruthlessly capitalize on Rhodes suffering an injury. Against all odds, he was a good friend about it, congratulating Rhodes after the match — but Rhodes went too far when he agreed to team up with Reigns against The New Bloodline, something Owens could not forgive.

After the team-up at Bad Blood, Owens attacked Rhodes in the parking lot, kicking off a feud that would take both men to their physical and psychological limits. Nor did Owens only turn on Rhodes — when Orton took Rhodes' side, Owens turned on him too, attacking him backstage, fighting him at WWE Crown Jewel, and ultimately delivering a piledriver — long banned in WWE — that took Orton out of action indefinitely; has of this writing, he has yet to return. And Owens would go even further; after losing another title shot against Rhodes in a match he would have won if the referee hadn't been knocked down, Owens hit Rhodes with his old indie finisher: the dreaded Package Piledriver, which he hadn't used since changing his name from Kevin Steen. Insisting that he was the true champion, Owens left the arena in possession of the famed "winged eagle" championship belt (loaned to Rhodes for one night only by WWE CCO Triple H) while Rhodes left on a stretcher.

If Owens considered Rhodes teaming with Reigns at Bad Blood to be a betrayal, it was presumably nothing compared to what happened the following month. With Reigns still battling the New Bloodline with few allies and Survivor Series: WarGames on the horizon, his cousin Jimmy Uso suggested they get the band back together and reunite with Jey and Zayn. This was easier said than done considering the history between them, but in the end, family stuck by family — regardless of blood ties. Reigns, Zayn, and the Usos came back together in triumphant fashion, joining forces with CM Punk to win the 2024 men's WarGames match against Sikoa's usurpers.

Of course, WWE viewers knew what was coming next. While the "OG Bloodline" didn't stay together long after Survivor Series, Zayn returning to the Bloodline faction for any length of time after everything he and Owens had been through with Reigns could only be seen by Owens as a massive knife in his back. in the aftermath of WarGames, we waited for the inevitable Owens attack, and it was obvious on several occasions that Zayn was waiting for it, too.

Only it didn't come. For weeks. For months. Not until after "Saturday Night's Main Event," where Owens reclaimed the Package Piledriver; not until the WWE calendar approached Royal Rumble 2025, where both Rhodes' earned championship and Owens' stolen one would be hung high above the ring in a ladder match. And even then, it wasn't an attack — Owens just wanted to talk to Zayn, even saying he wasn't angry with him for teaming with Reigns, acknowledging that Zayn is simply a forgiving person. But Owens did come with an agenda: He wanted Zayn to help him defeat Rhodes and become the true champion.

At the Rumble, a conflicted Zayn did appear ringside, but he took no actions to influence the result, instead looking on as Rhodes drove Owens through one ladder and climbed another one to retain his title. Zayn was clearly on Owens' side throughout the match and tenderly checked on his fallen friend afterward, but that was never going to be enough — particularly after what happened later in the evening, when Zayn rushed to the defense of Reigns during the men's Royal Rumble match.

This time there would be no extended wait for the inevitable, and there would be no promos about forgiveness (except perhaps the lack of it). Zayn was a marked man.

Two days after Royal Rumble, Zayn competed in the main event of "WWE Raw" against CM Punk, with a spot in the 2025 men's Elimination Chamber match on the line. For months, Zayn had been under pressure to put his ambitions above his morals, to fight exclusively for himself. Karrion Kross wandered around backstage being cryptic and sinister, promising Zayn he'd find success if only he could let go of his principles. Wrestlers like Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre, who could never find it in their hearts to forgive Roman Reigns, questioned Zayn's killer instinct, with Rollins in particular cutting an in-ring promo exhorting Zayn to pull out all the stops against Punk — who just happens to be Rollins' bitter rival. And yet, after losing to Punk clean, Zayn remained the consummate babyface, shaking Punk's hand and congratulating his opponent on his victory.

Which is when Owens attacked, ambushing Zayn from behind, using his body to push Punk out of the ring before dropping Zayn with WWE's second-ever Package Piledriver, and the first to actually be shown on a WWE broadcast. Zayn had taken the move countless times, but it had been 12 years since the last one; in a video interview the following Monday, he said he was dealing with nerve damage — something Owens also claimed as a result of his ladder match with Rhodes, and for which he blamed Zayn — but that he wanted Owens at WWE Elimination Chamber. Owens didn't shy away from the idea, and when Zayn returned to "Raw," he acknowledged that he was in no shape to compete in a wrestling match, but said he was strong enough to get in a fight. "Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce — who had his own battles with Kevin Steen and El Generico back when they were all in Ring of Honor — eventually made the match, but subverted his own catchphrase in saying "It's not official: it's unsanctioned."

Since then, Owens has only upped the ante, cutting a menacing promo outside Zayn's house in which he filmed Zayn and his wife and child through the window in an implicit threat. Zayn's response, given during an interview on this past Monday's "Raw," was to explain that despite all the history between he and Owens — 3000 words' worth of history, and that's in condensed form — their families had never before gotten involved. Zayn said this war is different from all the previous wars, and fans who remember their ROH battles must have raised an eyebrow when Zayn said their match in Toronto would be worse than anything they had put each other through before. Zayn reiterated once again that his neck is not 100%, and he understands why WWE won't formally sanction the match. But if WWE is worried about what Owens will do to Zayn on Saturday, Zayn claimed, they should be equally worried about what Zayn is going to do to Owens.

The final "SmackDown" before Elimination Chamber airs tonight, and an Owens response or some other minor development is possible. Even so, there's really nothing more to say. After 22 years of love and loathing and friendship and betrayal, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are about to meet in the ring yet again, and this time, each will be trying his best to end the other's story — for good.