Royal Rumble 2026 is less than a week away, as Riyadh has the pleasure of hosting one of WWE’s biggest annual events.
Fans cannot contain their excitement for the surprises that will be in store, especially for the Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble Matches.
However, another anticipated match will take place at the King Abdullah Financial District, following the recent result of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Drew McIntyre is set to defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against a Canadian superstar at the Royal Rumble.
Zayn wins the #1 contender’s tournament
Last Saturday, the winners of the qualifying matches on Friday Night SmackDown prepared for a Fatal 4-Way Match to decide who would challenge McIntyre in Riyadh.
Damian Priest, Randy Orton, Sami Zayn and Trick Williams were all involved in a remarkable opportunity to contest for the WWE title.
It was likely that Orton and Zayn were the potential winners due to The Viper’s rivalry with the Scotsman and how the 41-year-old delivered his promos on SmackDown.
On Saturday Night’s Main Event, The Underdog from the Underground hit a Helluva Kick on Priest and just managed to get the three-count before Orton could break the pin.
The celebrations for Zayn were soon cut short as the Undisputed WWE Champion attempted to attack the #1 contender in the ring.
But, the Laval-born wrestler was on high-alert and avoided violence, saving it until the following week in Saudi Arabia.
It’s likely that both superstars will come face to face on SmackDown for their final preparations before the action begins on Saturday.
The fan-favourite could pull off an insane victory against The Scottish Psychopath and win his first-ever world championship in WWE.
Zayn’s history with McIntrye and world title matches
Surprisingly, Zayn has never defeated McIntyre one-on-one, despite coming close on several occasions.
The Canadian is 0-12 against the current WWE Champion and hopes to change that at the Royal Rumble.
The Last time these two wrestlers went head-to-head was one year ago on Monday Night Raw, just five days away from the Royal Rumble 2025.
McIntyre pulled off the victory with a cheeky roll-up pin against the ropes, before chaos erupted after the match, which included Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens.
The last time Zayn competed for a world title was in October 2024, when he faced Gunther for the WWE World Heavyweight Title on Raw, losing by submission.
Prior to that, the Canadian fought Seth Rollins for the same title on the same show, but this time lost by pinfall after a clever roll-up from The Visionary.
The former Intercontinental Champion also faced Roman Reigns for the WWE and Universal Championships at Elimination Chamber 2023, but couldn’t defy the odds and lost the match.
Zayn contested against Reigns for just the Universal title on SmackDown in December 2021, losing the match in 15 seconds as Brock Lesnar delivered a mauling beforehand, which gave the underdog a huge disadvantage.
A title triumph at the Royal Rumble will certainly be the biggest win and achievement in Zayn’s career.
He will have managed to defeat McIntyre and gain a world title for the first time in his career at the same time.
It doesn’t seem very likely that Zayn will be victorious in Riyadh, given the ongoing feud between WWE Champion Rhodes and Jacob Fatu.
However, do not rule out the ultimate underdog, as he may just shock the world and create a viral moment for the ages.