4 things you didn't know about Sami Zayn

WWE superstar Sami Zayn has been wrestling for over a decade and he is still underrated at what he does. Zayn wrestled for many years on the independent circuit under the name El Generico.

The generic Luchador was beloved by fans everywhere as he wrestled for promotions such as Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerilla.

In 2013 he signed with WWE and was apart of NXT after Triple H took over to make it what it is today. He had memorable matches against the likes of Cesaro and Neville to name a few.

After months of him just barely winning the NXT Championship, he finally did when he beat Neville in December of 2014. It was short lived when his best friend and his greatest enemy Kevin Owens defeated him for it.

He debuted on the main roster in 2015 but didn't officially join the main roster until 2016 due to injury. He's had a lot of ups and downs on the main roster, and many will agree that he is underrated and underappreciated.

Let's take a look at a few things you didn't know about WWE Superstar Sami Zayn.

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#1 He wrestled under a mask in NXT

I didn't even know this

For those who never got to see Sami Zayn when he was on the indies, he was known as El Generico. His gimmick was that he was a generic luchador and that's about it. He wrestled under a mask his entire run on the indie scene. So it's surprising to know that he wore it on in NXT.

Sami made his debut in NXT at a house show in early 2013. His TV debut was against Curt Hawkins and he ended up winning of course. He had a memorable match against Cesaro later that year, and he ended up upsetting him in that match.

That match was overshadowed by their classic at the very first NXT PPV. After beating Cesaro the first time, Zayn went after the NXT Championship.

The champ at the time was Bo Dallas and he made an open challenge to anyone in the back that if they beat him, he would give them a shot at the title.

Zayn came out as El Local and won the match. He took his mask off to reveal that it was him and it got him the championship opportunity.

#2 He was trained by Savio Vega

Former WWE Wrestler

For those who don't know who Savio Vega is, let's explain who he is. Savio was around in WWE during the mid-nineties. His most memorable feud was against Stone Cold in 1996, before Austin became the megastar we all know him as. Vega had a decent singles run and then later turned heel and joined the Nation of Domination in mid 1997.

He wasn't in the group all that long as group leader Farooq kicked him out. He ended up making his own stable and they were known as the Los Boricuas.

They didn't last long as WWE had no idea what to do with them. Savio still wrestles to this day, this is insane considering he is in his fifties.

Early in Sami's career he was trained by Vega, and we can all agree that he did a good job training him.

#3 He ignored Stone Cold's advice

You might want to listen to Stone Cold when he gives you advice

Back in 2005, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens met Stone Cold at an airport while they were traveling to a show. Both men approached him and asked advice about their wrestling careers.

Austin told Owens to never stop running his mouth, and Kevin sure did listen. It would probably explain why Owens is one of WWE's best talkers right now.

On the other hand, Stone Cold told Sami to stop doing so many high risks maneuvers as it could really hurt him one day. Needless to say, Zayn ignored the advice and went on to have a lot of high flying moves in his arsenal.

Zayn has calmed down the high flying when he wrestles, but every now and then he does do one to impress the crowd.

#4 His debut match on Raw wasn't against John Cena

He debuted in a tag team match

We all remember the match that Sami had with John Cena back in 2015. We were led to believe that he had his first match on the main roster that night. Well, that wasn't true as he had his first match back in 2014.

On September 8, 2014, he wrestled in a tag team match with Neville to face Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd.

A lot of fans don't really remember this match about Sami as it was Neville who really shined during this match. Sami did also wrestle on WWE's ''Main Event'' show a few times as well.

But WWE probably would rather you remember his match against Cena for his first main roster appearance.