Sami Zayn says winning the WWE Championship for a second time felt like validation after his first reign lasted nine days.

“There’s a lot of confidence. I have a lot of confidence in my game, but there’s also always self doubt. I think you need a healthy dose of self doubt. I believe strongly in it,” Zayn said. “So after winning the title and having this immense feeling of achievement, there is also this self-doubt of like, did I get lucky?”

“There is this part of you that gives into that self-doubt of like, well, at least I got to win it once, but I’ll probably never win it again. And then winning it the second time, it’s a different feeling,” he continued.

“The first time is like this euphoric, I can’t believe I did it feeling. The second time is like this validation of like, no, no, no, no. You can get lucky once,” Zayn said. “But you don’t get lucky twice, not like this. So, like, just made it real, solidified it concrete. So it’s overwhelming in emotion, but a different kind of emotion.”

Sami Zayn: ‘There Is No Such Thing As A Fluke WWE Title Win’

Zayn said that even in character, his first reign could be called a fluke, but he doesn’t believe any WWE Championship win is.

“There is no such thing as a fluke win. I know, like when I won it the first time and it was nine days, like in character, you could say I was a fluke. There is no such thing as a fluke WWE title win,” Zayn said. “To even be in the mix, to even be in the discussion, to even have title matches, even if you’re losing them, is extremely like one in a billion already to be put in that position.”

“So to win it, there’s an immeasurable number of variables that are required to be in that position. So there’s no such thing as a fluke WWE title win,” he added.

Sami Zayn on his emotional promos as champion

Zayn said the emotion fans have seen from him on TV since losing the title to Punk comes from a real place.

“It’s all coming from insecurities I’ve had for a very long time,” Zayn said. “It did take me 20 years to win the title, and I did lose it in nine days. That’s the character story. It’s also the real story.”

“It’s all operating on two planes at the same time, parallel planes. Like, yeah, it’s the character, but yeah, it’s me,” he said.

Zayn won the Undisputed WWE Championship for the first time at Night of Champions on June 27 in Riyadh, pinning Cody Rhodes in a triple threat match that also included Gunther. Punk won the title from him nine days later on the July 6 Raw in Rosemont, Illinois. Zayn won it back on September 11, when Kevin Owens accidentally hit Punk with the title.

Zayn defends the title against Trick Williams on Friday’s SmackDown in Charleston, West Virginia. The winner faces World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel on Saturday, November 7, in Riyadh.