Sami Zayn Got Vince McMahon's Attention In Segment Involving Golden Egg, Austin Theory

With Sami Zayn finally getting his opportunity to rise to the top of WWE this year, many have tried to pinpoint the moment the company changed its mind on his trajectory, with former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz nailing down the exact moment as a guest on "The Bill Simmons Podcast." As someone very close to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Gewirtz revealed the moment came during his business partner's involvement in Survivor Series 2021, where The Rock promoted his movie "Red Notice." As a part of WWE promoting the movie, Vince McMahon used Cleopatra's golden egg from the film in a storyline involving Sami Zayn and Austin Theory.

"I think Vince and team came up with this egg thing and most people watching it didn't like it for whatever reason," Gewirtz said. "And that's fine but I was told that during those vignettes where Sami kind of stooged off Austin Theory and wanted him to be punished and was put in a situation where whatever the creative was, that was the turning point."

He continued, "As far as Vince going 'hey, this Sami is... I've always liked him but I think we should look at that egg angle a little bit differently.' Talent always rises to the top, and Sami is amazing and would've risen to the top anyway but I just thought it was funny that it was those vignettes where Vince really took notice as far as Sami as a performer."

Gewirtz also revealed that the original creative involving the "Cleopatra golden egg" was something "much much much worse" than the story WWE told on its show, with The Rock ultimately deciding to change their plans and go with the idea fans got to see play out.