Sami Zayn achieves major WWE milestone following RAW
Sami Zayn is the WWE Intercontinental Champion. The veteran superstar has been on a wave of momentum since WrestleMania XL as a fighting champion. Zayn is now celebrating another significant career milestone.
The Great Liberator began his fourth reign with the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XL. Zayn won a grueling 15-minute match to end Gunther's historic title reign at 666 recognized days. Since then, the 22-year veteran has had successful title defenses over Chad Gable and Bronson Reed by DQ, Reed, and Gable in a Triple Threat, Gable, and Bron Breakker. This week's RAW saw Zayn retain but lose to Ilja Dragunov by DQ.
Zayn hit a major milestone in his fourth Intercontinental Championship reign this week. He has held the strap for 101 recognized days. Later this week, the 40-year-old will pass the mark of 270 combined days as Intercontinental Champion.
The next milestone will see the Canadian grappler pass the 272 combined recognized days Kofi Kingston has from his four reigns and the 272 combined days from Big E's two reigns with the IC Championship. The next on the list of combined days are Greg Valentine with 284 days in his only reign, Bret Hart with 288 days over two reigns, Chris Jericho with 311 days in nine reigns, and The Rock with 337 days over two reigns.
Zayn has the #23 spot on the list of longest combined reigns as Intercontinental Champion, while The Rock is at #17. In his single reign, Gunther holds the #1 spot with 666 recognized days.
Sami Zayn to defend his title at WWE SummerSlam
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is set to be defended at SummerSlam 2024. Sami Zayn will look to move up the list of all-time great IC Champions if he can hold the title for 18 more days.
Sami retained over Rick Steiner's son at Money in the Bank earlier this month, winning a brutal 13-minute match. This week's RAW saw The Mad Dragon defeat Zayn by DQ in the 11-minute main event, which ended with Breakker standing tall over both competitors.
There has been speculation that WWE will book another Breakker vs. Zayn singles match for SummerSlam. However, a Triple Threat with Dragunov is also rumored.
SummerSlam 2024 is scheduled for Saturday, August 3. The big event will air live on Peacock from Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio.