'I Still Hate Him' - Kevin Owens on Sami Zayn's WWE United States Title Win

Sami Zayn defeated Solo Sikoa to win the United States Championship in Lyon, France, on Friday (August 29) to claim the title for the first time in his career. He is now just a world title away from becoming a WWE grand slam champion.

Kevin Owens, who has been a friend and foe of Zayn throughout their pro wrestling careers, gave his thoughts on social media. He responded to Triple H's own post praising the 41-year-old as 'one of the best':

"One of the best indeed… Top 1, in my opinion. I still hate him though. Or maybe not. I don’t know, it’s hard to remember. Depends on the day, I guess. We’ll see what happens. One thing I do know for sure is that he’s the best."

Zayn's win came after hitting Sikoa with two Helluva Kicks, but also thanks to Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso, who evened the odds when MFT tried to interfere. It's a significant victory for the Canadian, who only moved to SmackDown from RAW earlier this month as part of a trade, with LA Knight moving in the opposite direction.

Owens would have been featured on the blue brand alongside Zayn if it weren't for a serious injury that saw him undergo single-level neck fusion surgery in July. There is no timescale for when the Prizefighter is expected to return, although it could be at least a year before the pair are reunited, albeit perhaps as rivals rather than friends.

"It's Like a War-Buddy Thing" - Sami Zayn on his friendship with Kevin Owens

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' bond is one that pro wrestling fans admire, given their long-standing friendship. Zayn touched on this during an appearance on the Whiskey Ginger podcast in May 2023: "Our paths have been so similar and like intertwined at every step… I don't think there's another two people ever in wrestling who have this same kinda story."

He added:

"We've been partners, enemies, or anything in between… nobody will understand it except him… it's like a war-buddy thing.”

Zayn and Owens first met as teenagers back in Quebec, Canada, performing on the indie circuit before joining Ring of Honor, where they took on different personas. In ROH, they were known as El Generico and Kevin Steen and were involved in several storylines, including a blood feud that followed the latter's betrayal at Final Battle in 2009, after their match against The Young Bucks.

Both eventually arrived on NXT, and Owens shockingly turned on Zayn to re-ignite their rivalry in WWE's developmental before both became main roster stars. They would mix up tag team competition along with heated feuds but their most emotional moment came at WrestleMania 39 when they defeated The Usos in the main event to become Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.