Major change reportedly made to Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn at WWE SummerSlam
The 37th annual WWE SummerSlam Premium Live Event saw Bron Breakker win his first major singles championship on the main roster. The second-generation powerhouse dethroned Sami Zayn in a heated bout. New behind-the-scenes details are being revealed on the match.
The young star defeated The Great Liberator in the second match of the night at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Saturday. The fast-paced match began when Breakker immediately went for a Spear as the bell hit. After trading signature moves and finishers, Rick Steiner's son finished Zayn off in just under six minutes by nailing a pair of Spears for the pin.
Breakker vs. Zayn was the shortest match of the night, coming in at five minutes and 40 seconds. Following the encounter, Fightful Select has now reported that the match ended up being much shorter than originally planned.
The early update from backstage on Saturday was that WWE had 12 minutes booked for the Intercontinental Championship. However, word now is that 10 minutes were allotted for the title change, which is still more than the end result.
Sources were not clear on why the match was cut short. The following times were recorded for the rest of the card: Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan at 15:55; LA Knight vs. Logan Paul at 12 minutes; Nia Jax vs. Bayley at 12:30; Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk at 17:00; Gunther vs. Damian Priest at 16:40; Solo Sikoa vs. Cody Rhodes at 29:10.
Breakker's championship victory over Zayn was actually the shortest SummerSlam match from the last two editions of the show. Besides IYO SKY's Money In the Bank cash-in on Bianca Belair, the quickest SummerSlam match in 2023 was Shayna Baszler vs. Ronda Rousey at 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
Triple H congratulated the new WWE Intercontinental Champion
Bron Breakker managed to put away the indomitable Sami Zayn and finally managed to win main roster gold at SummerSlam 2024. The star is slated to be one of WWE's faces in the near future and the company has established that by putting the coveted title on him so early into his main roster career.
Triple H took to X/Twitter after Breakker vs. Zayn and congratulated the second-generation champion. WWE's Chief Content Officer included a backstage clip of their post-match interaction.
"As unpredictable as he is, one thing’s for certain… @bronbreakkerwwe was born to dominate. Congratulations to your NEW #ICChampion. #SummerSlam," Triple H wrote with the video below.
Saturday's match between Breakker and Zayn was a rematch from Money In the Bank on July 6. That match saw Zayn retain the title in just over 13 minutes. It remains to be seen if Sami will receive another shot at the title.