Vince McMahon allegedly "hated" major Sami Zayn segment on WWE SmackDown; lied about liking it backstage

A popular star has just revealed information about a Sami Zayn segment from a few years ago on WWE SmackDown. Vince McMahon had different reactions to the segment, but ultimately, he disliked it.

In 2021, the former Intercontinental Champion was in a backstage segment with Hit Row. He had some comments about their entrance, as he disliked it. He approached the faction members hoping to improve it and was even willing to demonstrate how to do a proper entrance. They joined him on the entrance ramp but eventually did not accept his offer to work together.

Speaking to VladTV on YouTube, Swerve Strickland mentioned that after the segment, everyone went backstage, and Vince McMahon commended them. He even shook Strickland's hand and told them to keep smiling and head to the locker room.

"But real quick, Vince was talking about that, and then he switched it like, ‘But we’re gonna have a lot of fun tonight, guys. We’re gonna have a lot of fun. We got some good stuff for you coming up.’ I was like okay, cool. We did a segment with Sami Zayn on SmackDown. Came in the back, shook Vince’s hand, [he’s] like, ‘That was great. You gotta smile. Make sure you put that smile on out there, whatever.’ Cool, cool. Go to the back of the locker room. We were like, ‘Okay, I think that went well.’"

He then mentioned how they met up with Sami Zayn after the segment, revealing that Vince hated it. He lied to their faces at the time.

"Then Sami Zayn comes back, he’s like, Apparently, Vince didn’t like it. Vince hated it.’ We’re like, we just saw him five minutes ago. He’s like, ‘Yup, apparently, he just didn’t like it.’ Okay," [H/T Fightful]

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Sami Zayn debunks rumors for absence in WWE

Fast forward to 2025, and Sami has been absent from the promotion for some time. Earlier this month, he competed in an Unsanctioned Match against Kevin Owens during the Elimination Chamber PLE. He has not been seen on-screen since then.

Reports mentioned that Zayn had asked for some time off after his last match. They speculated that this could be due to Ramadan, and he had to fast. This could have caused some problems as WWE is on its Europe Tour.

Sami Zayn then took to X/Twitter to debunk these claims, mentioning that this was not the reason for his absence.

It is unclear when he'll make his grand return, but his rival, Kevin Owens, has found a new problem to deal with: the returning Randy Orton. The two are set to clash at WrestleMania 41.