Author: For this installment of Huge Crowd Reactions In Wrestling, we’re going to focus on Sami Zayn answering John Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge, where The Doctor of Thuganomics put his U.S. Championship up for grabs against anyone in the back willing to fight for it. This resulted in Cena taking on such names as Stardust, Bad News Barrett, Neville, Dean Ambrose, and The Underdog of the Underground, among others.
Welcome back to Huge Crowd Reactions in Wrestling. This series is basically an excuse for us here at Pro Wrestling Stories to revel in some of the moments that made us lose our minds. I mean, we’re all pretty huge wrestling fans. We live for those huge crowd reactions. Even as at-home viewers, those are the moments we crave. We want to be on the edge of our seats, or even out of them entirely.
On the May 4th, 2015 episode of Monday Night Raw, John Cena cut his usual promo and sent out his challenge. That’s when Bret Hart‘s music hit and out walked The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be. Could he be answering Cena? Get on the first bus out of town! They were in Montreal that night, so the crowd was hyped on some Hitman.
Bret Hart Introduces Sami Zayn.
The Excellence of Execution hit the microphone and it quickly became clear what he was doing there. He was in the ring to introduce Sami Zayn. The music hit and out he skanked. He had arrived. Sami was born in Laval, Quebec, Canada, so the Montreal crowd was all about him. The segment had a great atmosphere all around. Check it out below!
Related:BROTHERS: The Kevin Owens And Sami Zayn Story
How incredible was that? The fans gave Zayn a standing ovation at the end. John Cena even let him have the ring to bask in it, after raising his arm (as you see in the main image). This isn’t the last time he would receive such acclaim, but the man put in work against Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect with a legitimately injured shoulder.
Getting a bit caught up in the moment of hyping up the crowd, Zayn injured his shoulder BEFORE entering the ring. Despite the injury, the determination he showed to put on that performance is incredible. Not to mention the fact that he would go on to wrestle Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable in a highly physical match only sixteen days later.
Although Sami wouldn’t show his face again on Raw until March 7, 2016, Sami deserves all the applause for answering Cena’s challenge in a huge way!
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