Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens Is the WWE WrestleMania 41 Main Event We Deserve

Longtime pro wrestling fans know that few stories are as long, winding, and layered as that of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.

Friends turned enemies and back again, they have competed by each others' side in tag teams and against each other in independent promotions out of Canada, to Ring of Honor, into NXT, and onto the main roster in WWE. They have delivered countless classics between the ropes and after Monday's Raw on Netflix, teased their most monumental showdown yet: the main event of WrestleMania.

There is reason to believe such a match will never make it onto the grand stage, beginning with the sheer amount of stars vying for the highest-profile spot on the most important card of the year. Still, they deserve to write the latest and greatest chapter of their rivalry in that spot, in front of a worldwide audience.

More importantly we, the pro wrestling faithful, deserve to watch it all unfold under the industry's brightest lights.

An Epic Story

Even those WWE fans who did not watch young Kevin Steen and El Generico make a name for themselves across the industry during their time in Ring of Honor or in squared circles of Pro Wrestling Guerilla know of the legendary start to their time in pro wrestling's preeminent promotion.

Owens arrived in NXT the same night Zayn finally defeated Adrian Neville to win the brand's world title. He celebrated with his longtime friend and tag team partner, but then he shockingly betrayed him, laying him out on the steel ramp to close the show.

From there, they waged war in an intensely personal rivalry cut short by their call-ups to the main roster. Once there, they rekindled their rivalry, with Zayn besting Owens in a legitimate Match of the Year candidate at WWE Battleground in 2016.

They stood beside each other in their wars with SmackDown general managers Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan and it was Owens who went to war with "Honorary Uce" Zayn, then stood by his side against The Bloodline long enough to defeat The Usos in the main event of WrestleMania 39 Saturday and win the tag team titles.

Their history is complex, but their performances have long been so strong and convincing that even the most casual fans can invest in what they convey. They can tell a story on the mic and in the ring, and that has endeared them to the WWE audience when others with similar backgrounds, indie darlings who made the jump to the company, have failed.

It has also put them in a position where a WrestleMania main event is not out of the realm of possibility, nor is it one that fans would balk at. There is history there, layers to unpack, and a complicated backstory that WWE can explore that would make it a must-see match at the top of the card.

Even if it does not include Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Roman Reigns or any part-timer dropping by to add his name to the list of stars already jockeying for position on the most significant card of the year.

How Do We Get There?

Zayn vs. Owens is a realistic WrestleMania match-up that plays into the last two Showcases of the Immortals.

They won the tag team titles together in 2023 and it was Owens who was there to greet Zayn before he entered the arena for his match-up against Gunther, providing the last bit of reassurance the babyface needed before dethroning The Ring General and winning the Intercontinental Championship.

Then vice versa the following night.

The two of them, after a long and arduous journey from bingo halls and VFWs to the grandest stage in professional wrestling, squaring off for the top prize in a storyline that pays off Zayn's pursuit of his first world title is exactly what their story and the fans that have forever been engaged by and invested in it deserve.

Owens told Zayn on Monday that he was not there to attack him for his involvement in helping Roman Reigns take down Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline. The same Reigns who Owens risked everything to help Zayn takedown earlier in 2024.

Instead, he gaslit Zayn, telling him he expects he will have his back against Rhodes in the Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Royal Rumble.

And he should help Owens win the title. It breaks Rhodes off to have a star-studded match on the show, the likes of which do not demand the presence of the title, while Zayn wrestles internally with the monster he has created.

With the idea that Owens is as bad, if not more dangerous than Reigns ever was.

The only way for him to make up for it is to take down the monster he created by entering the Elimination Chamber in his home country of Canada, winning the titular match, and cashing his ticket to a showdown with Owens in Las Vegas, the top prize in the industry on the line.

With so many stars bigger in name and recognition than Zayn and Owens, the likelihood that they battle for the WWE title or compete in the main event is, realistically, low. It is the nature of an ever-growing beast, with characters up and down the card that people care about.

Still, they can have a meaningful and red-hot WrestleMania showdown that would serve as the latest, potentially greatest, chapter in a story that is already a modern-day epic. It would reward two kids from Quebec who embarked on a journey to be the best the professional wrestling industry had to offer and, along the way, saw their hard work pay off in the form of thousands of fans chanting their name in wrestling's most prominent company.

The real main event for those faithful who have cared and invested their emotions into every twist, turn, betrayal, reunion, and back again.