When I was getting into wrestling, I sort of considered it a guilty pleasure. Not something great, but something I liked anyway. That was when I only really knew about Raw and SmackDown. Then I heard that NXT was better, and I realized I could watch it all on hulu at the time. It was the story of Sami Zayn, the true good guy who couldn't win the big one, the heart and soul of NXT, that got me to finally buy in and fall in love with wrestling unreservedly.

Since then, I've always hoped we would see that version of Sami again, that the whole wrestling world would fall in love with him, and that he would win the big one again, but this time, with the adulation of thousands instead of a few hundred.

Well, we've got that Sami back. The whole wrestling world is in love with him. And he's fighting in the big one, with the adulation of thousands as the hometown hero at the climax of one of the most celebrated stories in wrestling history. It's all I've ever wanted for him, except for the win. I really, really want him to get the win.

I'm protecting my emotions by just assuming it's not possible. He can't win. The story has to go until Mania. They're going to break our hearts. They're going with Cody, not Sami. But I'm going to get invested, I'm going to bite on the nearfalls, and I'm going to be furious with the heels, just like I was when Adrian Neville pulled the ref out of the ring. And if he loses, it'll break my heart anyway.

I'm so glad to see him get this moment, with his city, when everyone knows how good he is. But goddamnit, I want him to win. Come on, Sami!