Several factors suggest Sami Zayn’s Undisputed WWE Championship reign may be brief. WWE reportedly kept his title win at Night of Champions a secret from multiple key internal departments, per WrestleVotes Radio, which is unusual for a planned long-term champion.
Oba Femi, who earned a world title shot at SummerSlam by winning King of the Ring, declined to challenge Zayn and instead accepted a Hell in a Cell match against Brock Lesnar, telling Adam Pearce backstage he was forgoing his title shot. The decision removes the most credible immediate challenger from the SmackDown title picture.
Cody Rhodes defeated Jey Uso at the July 3 SmackDown taping to become the number one contender and will challenge Zayn on the July 6 Raw in Chicago. Per Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the original SummerSlam plan was “always” Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk for the championship — a direction that may still be the destination regardless of who holds the title.