History of Sami Zayn in Timeline

Rami Sebei, known professionally as Sami Zayn, is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand. He is known for his high-energy performances and technical wrestling ability. Zayn has gained recognition for his work in various independent promotions before joining WWE, where he has held the NXT Championship and the Intercontinental Championship. He is celebrated for his connection with the audience, both as a face and a heel, and his ability to tell compelling stories in the ring.

Sections (2)

Full Timeline Career & Achievements

July 12, 1984: Rami Sebei's Birth

On July 12, 1984, Rami Sebei, the Canadian professional wrestler known as Sami Zayn, was born.

Others born on this day/year

March 1, 2002: Professional Wrestling Debut

On March 1, 2002, Rami Sebei made his professional wrestling debut for the FLQ promotion in Quebec under the name Stevie McFly.

2002: Professional Wrestling Debut

In 2002, Rami Sebei made his professional wrestling debut under the ring name Stevie McFly.

October 18, 2003: Triple Threat Match Loss

On October 18, 2003, at Blood, Sweat and Beers, El Generico (Rami Sebei) and Kevin Steen were defeated by Pierre Carl Ouellet in a triple threat match.

June 15, 2004: First IWS World Heavyweight Championship Win and Loss

On June 15, 2004, at IWS's fifth-anniversary show, El Generico defeated PCO to win his first IWS World Heavyweight Championship, only to lose it to Kevin Steen, who cashed in his number one contendership later that night.

December 26, 2004: ROH Debut

On December 26, 2004, El Generico debuted for Ring of Honor (ROH) at Final Battle as The Weapon Of Mask Destruction #2, where he was defeated by Jay Lethal.

2004: PWG Appearances Begin

In 2004, El Generico began making appearances in the independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).

February 19, 2005: Chikara Debut

On February 19, 2005, El Generico made his debut for Chikara, participating in the 2005 Tag World Grand Prix with Kevin Steen as Team IWS.

2005: Westside Xtreme Wrestling Appearances

From 2005 onwards, El Generico made several appearances for the German Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) promotion.

2005: First Battle of Los Angeles Appearance

Starting in 2005, El Generico consecutively appeared in the first eight Battle of Los Angeles tournaments.

November 25, 2006: ROH Return

On November 25, 2006, El Generico returned to ROH at Dethroned, where he was defeated by Brent Albright.

February 17, 2007: Tag Team Formation with Kevin Steen

On February 17, 2007, El Generico formed a permanent tag team with Kevin Steen in Ring of Honor (ROH), facing the Briscoe Brothers in a losing effort at Fifth Year Festival: Philly.

February 24, 2007: PWG World Championship Win

On February 24, 2007, El Generico defeated Human Tornado to win the PWG World Championship.

2007: Race to the Top Tournament

In 2007, El Generico competed as a singles competitor in the Race to the Top tournament, defeating Delirious, Hero, and Davey Richards before losing to Claudio Castagnoli in the final round.

2007: Dragon Gate Appearance

In the summer of 2007, El Generico traveled to Japan and worked for the Dragon Gate (DG) promotion as the gaijin (foreign) representative of the New Hazard stable.

February 16, 2008: IWS World Heavyweight Championship Win

On February 16, 2008, El Generico defeated Kevin Steen for the IWS World Heavyweight Championship at Violent Valentine.

June 6, 2008: ROH World Tag Team Championship Tournament

On June 6, 2008, Kevin Steen and El Generico participated in a one-night tournament to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions, ultimately losing in the finals to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black.

July 2008: Return to Dragon Gate

In July 2008, El Generico returned to Dragon Gate as Tozawa-juku's "foreign exchange student."

2008: King of Trios 2008

In 2008, El Generico returned to Chikara to take part in the King of Trios, teaming with Player Uno and Stupefied as Team IWS.

January 31, 2009: ROH World Championship Match

On January 31, 2009, El Generico failed to win the ROH World Championship from Nigel McGuinness at Caged Collision.

October 2009: Dragon Gate Tour

In October 2009, El Generico made his third tour of Dragon Gate, wrestling as a member of the Kamikaze stable.

October 2009: Do or Die Wrestling Event

In October 2009, El Generico traveled to Poland to take part in Do or Die Wrestling's event in Warsaw, defeating Michael Kovac in the main event.

2009: King of Trios and Rey de Voladores 2009

In 2009, El Generico participated in Chikara's King of Trios with Matt and Nick Jackson as Team PWG and also entered the Rey de Voladores tournament.

2009: Feud with Men of Low Moral Fiber

In mid-2009, El Generico began a lengthy feud with the tag team Men of Low Moral Fiber, consisting of Kenny Omega and Chuck Taylor, recruiting Colt Cabana, referee Rick Knox, and Human Tornado to stand by his side.

April 3, 2010: Generico and Cabana vs Steen and Corino

On April 3, 2010, at The Big Bang!, El Generico and Colt Cabana defeated Kevin Steen and Steve Corino via disqualification after Steen used a chair on Corino.

May 9, 2010: Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament and PWG Tag Team Championship Win

On May 9, 2010, El Generico teamed up with Paul London as ¡Peligro Abejas! and won the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, also winning the PWG World Tag Team Championship.

May 2010: Capital City Championship Combat

In May 2010, El Generico competed in the main-event of Capital City Championship Combat's show, Stand Alone.

2010: Feud of the Year Award

In 2010, Rami Sebei, along with Kevin Steen, earned the Feud of the Year award from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

January 11, 2011: TNA Tryout Dark Match

On January 11, 2011, El Generico wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the promotion's Impact! tapings, losing to Amazing Red.

January 23, 2011: Chikara Appearance

On January 23, 2011, El Generico appeared for Chikara, losing to Eddie Kingston.

January 29, 2011: PWG World Championship Match

On January 29, 2011, El Generico received a shot at the PWG World Championship during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend, but was defeated by Claudio Castagnoli.

March 2, 2011: El Generico signs with ROH

On March 2, 2011, Ring of Honor (ROH) announced that El Generico had signed a new contract with the promotion.

2011: ROH World Television Championship

In 2011, El Generico was involved in a feud where he won the ROH World Television Championship on June 26 at Best in the World 2011 by defeating Christopher Daniels. He then lost the title to Jay Lethal on August 13.

2011: PWG Battle of Los Angeles Win

In 2011, Rami Sebei won the PWG Battle of Los Angeles tournament, becoming the only person to have won both the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament and the Battle of Los Angeles.

2011: Union Pro Wrestling Appearances

In early 2011, El Generico began making semi-regular appearances for the Japanese DDT Pro-Wrestling sister-promotion Union Pro Wrestling.

January 3, 2012: DDT Extreme Championship Loss

On January 3, 2012, El Generico lost the DDT Extreme Championship back to Isami Kodaka.

February 26, 2012: Independent Wrestling Federation

On February 26, 2012, El Generico defeated Ivan "Locomotive" Markov at a show for the Russian promotion Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF).

March 4, 2012: Wins wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament

On March 4, 2012, El Generico defeated Tommy End to win Westside Xtreme Wrestling's (wXw) 2012 16 Carat Gold Tournament.

March 17, 2012: PWG World Championship Loss

On March 17, 2012, El Generico lost the PWG World Championship to Kevin Steen in a three-way match which included Eddie Edwards.

March 30, 2012: Last Man Standing match

On March 30, 2012, at Showdown in the Sun, El Generico lost a Last Man Standing match to Kevin Steen, and subsequently disappeared from ROH.

March 31, 2012: Debut for Dragon Gate USA

On March 31, 2012, El Generico made his debut for Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), defeating multiple opponents in a six-way match.

May 4, 2012: Defeats Kota Ibushi

On May 4, 2012, El Generico defeated Kota Ibushi in Ibushi's return match from a shoulder injury in DDT Pro-Wrestling.

January 12, 2013: Farewell PWG Appearance

On January 12, 2013, El Generico made his farewell appearance for PWG, teaming with Kevin Steen in the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, where they were defeated in the finals by The Young Bucks.

January 2013: Signs with WWE

In January 2013, El Generico, now known as Sami Sebei, signed with WWE after passing all medical tests.

January 18, 2013: Final Canadian Independent Appearance

On January 18, 2013, after signing with WWE, El Generico made his final Canadian independent appearance for Hart Legacy Wrestling (HLW) in Calgary.

November 2013: Number one contender's match

In November 2013, after tying a Beat the Clock challenge with Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn lost a number one contender's match to Neville on the November 27 episode of NXT.

2013: WWE Signing

In 2013, Rami Sebei signed with WWE and took on the ring name Sami Zayn, wrestling without a mask in NXT and later winning the NXT Championship.

2013: End of Masked Wrestling

In 2013, Rami Sebei stopped wrestling with a mask after competing as El Generico since 2002.

January 1, 2014: Two-out-of-three falls match

On the January 1, 2014 episode of NXT, Sami Zayn defeated Kruger in a two-out-of-three falls match.

January 14, 2015: NXT Championship Retained

On January 14, 2015, Sami Zayn retained his NXT Championship against Adrian Neville in a rematch, but suffered another post-match attack by Kevin Owens.

January 24, 2016: Royal Rumble Appearance

On January 24, 2016, at Royal Rumble, Sami Zayn entered the titular match at number 20, eliminating Kevin Owens before being eliminated by Braun Strowman.