For more than a decade, one prize in the WWE remained just out of Sami Zayn's reach.
That changed at Night of Champions in Riyadh on Saturday, when the Canadian wrestler captured the WWE Undisputed Championship for the first time, defeating Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a triple-threat main event match.
This title win means that Zayn has reached a milestone that had long eluded him throughout his time with the company.
But, speaking ahead of the event, he insisted that, while becoming champion remained an ambition, it was never the thing that truly motivated him.
"From a career ambition point of view, the WWE Championship is still the one that I'm chasing," he tells The National. "But I don't think that's fully what really motivates me. Championships, material gain or making money – I don't think these are the reasons people do anything."
Instead, he compares wrestling to another lifelong passion: hockey.
"Professional hockey players want to win the Stanley Cup. They want big contracts and they want to be star players. But ultimately, they play hockey because they love hockey. I've never lost the love of the game, and I really think that is what propels me, even now."
These comments now carry extra weight following Zayn's victory in Riyadh. He had spent years pursuing the WWE title, but his perspective suggests that achieving it was never the end goal.
That outlook has remained consistent throughout a career that has taken him from independent wrestling cult favourite to one of WWE's biggest stars. Before joining the promotion in 2013, he built a strong following worldwide as the masked El Generico, wrestling across North America, Europe, Mexico and Japan.
Since then, he has become one of WWE's most versatile performers, moving between being a hero and villain while remaining one of the company's most popular stars.
His career has also coincided with WWE's own transformation as a company that looks to expand its global reach. Few places illustrate that better than Saudi Arabia, which will make history when it hosts WrestleMania next year, the first time the event has been set outside of North America.
Having competed in the kingdom several times, Zayn says he has watched local audiences go from curious spectators to some of the company's most passionate fans.
"If you go back and watch those first shows, they're totally unrecognisable," he says. "It felt like both sides were trying to accommodate each other. Now, Saudi Arabia has become almost as much of a home base as New York and Madison Square Garden because we have these big shows every year.
"If you watch those first audiences, at times, they almost didn't know what to make of the product. Versus now, they're red-hot, rabid, die-hard fans."
For Zayn, whose family is of Syrian heritage, this has taken on extra meaning.
"It's funny hearing people with Arab accents talking about inside wrestling terms, asking when someone's going to turn babyface (hero) or heel (villain)," he says. "They know all the insider lingo. They know all the stuff behind the curtain. It's just crazy how much it's transformed in this region."
This also mirrors WWE's own international growth. When the first Saudi events took place in 2018, they sometimes felt separate from the company's ongoing storylines.
"They used to be standalone shows. Now Night of Champions could happen in Baltimore, London or Riyadh," he says. "They're not token Saudi shows anymore. They're just big premium live events taking place in Saudi Arabia, and I think that reinforces what WWE has become, which is a truly global brand."
Despite WWE's expanding international calendar, Zayn believes there is still one destination missing from its premium live event schedule.
"Santiago, Chile," he says. "I've been advocating it for years. That crowd is one of the best audiences in the world. They're unbelievable, and I think the world needs to see it."
His affection for Chile could also go back to his days as El Generico, a character whose popularity has continued to grow despite having been retired for more than a decade. Even today, fans still have hope that the masked wrestler might return, particularly after the success of El Grande Americano.
"I've been mistaken for El Generico many times in my career," Zayn jokes. "My guess is that he's doing his thing and running his orphanage in Tijuana. I think that's where he's happy."
Despite the light-hearted answer, Zayn says El Generico belongs to a particular moment in time.
"I think it's better to occupy a warm place in people's minds for a time period that existed," he says. "All of this is fleeting. One day Sami Zayn's career will have a beginning and an end, too. It'll sit in its own little package."
While he has finally achieved one of his biggest career ambitions, Zayn believes there is still plenty more to achieve. One of those ambitions, he hopes, could one day include another match with a longtime friend and former opponent from his wrestling days in Japan.
"Somebody who's in another promotion who I'd love to mix it up with again is Kenny Omega," he says. "He's an old friend. We had matches in Japan many moons ago that I really enjoyed."
For now, the title marks a new chapter for Zayn. But even after adding the WWE Undisputed Championship to his already impressive list of milestones, he remains reluctant to define his career by any single achievement.
"I'm very lucky to have had the career that I've had," he says. "I don't have one singular thing. There are probably six or seven great chapters that I remember off the top of my head. It's all been great, it really has."
