Sami Zayn’s WWE Championship Win Opens the Door for a Star-Studded Faction — Eight Names Who Could Join

Sami Zayn is the Undisputed WWE Championship after defeating both Cody Rhodes and GUNTHER at Night of Champions 2026, and the question now is whether he can hold onto it. One possible answer: build a crew around him.

Zayn has already been venting frustrations in backstage segments on a weekly basis, and there are several superstars on the current roster who seem to be in similar holding patterns — making a potential faction feel less like fantasy and more like a genuine storytelling possibility.

The two most compelling candidates are also the most personal. Kevin Owens, Zayn’s closest friend across more than two decades in the business, has been sidelined with a serious neck injury, but was among the first to post a heartfelt tribute when Zayn captured the title. A return that sees Owens align with a newly-crowned heel champion Zayn would be one of the more loaded character turns either man has ever attempted. Meanwhile, Solo Sikoa — who bonded with Zayn during their early Bloodline days — just lost Tama and Talla Tonga on the June 26 SmackDown after they abandoned him and left The MFTs. With Sikoa now at war with Roman Reigns’ faction and looking for allies, a partnership with Zayn would carry real history and genuine stakes.

Elsewhere, Becky Lynch has been dealt back-to-back losses: Sol Ruca took the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship from her at Clash In Italy, and she fell in the Queen of the Ring first-round four-way on the June 8 Raw. Lynch has publicly praised Zayn’s title win on social media, and the two are known to be genuine friends outside the ring. Shinsuke Nakamura, a man with deep history against and alongside Zayn going back to their NXT TakeOver: Dallas classic in 2016, has also been absent from regular SmackDown programming of late.

Rounding out the field are Johnny Gargano — who has been laid up backstage in a near-catatonic state for weeks, with Zayn recently seen trying to connect with him — Gargano’s wife Candice LeRae, who has stepped back from in-ring competition to watch over her husband, and the electrocuted duo of The Miz and Kit Wilson, both of whom have been stuck in a comedy-adjacent secondary role on SmackDown.

Whether any of this materializes remains to be seen, but with Zayn now sitting at the top of WWE, the company has the pieces in place to build something interesting around him.