Sami Zayn Talks Possible WrestleMania 39 Match Against Roman Reigns – Over the course of 2022, Zayn gained popularity as an honorary member of Reigns’ Bloodline faction.
With the groups storyline seemingly reaching a climax, some have called for Zayn to win Saturday’s Royal Rumble match and headline WrestleMania 39 against the Tribal Chief.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport, Zayn compared his current situation to Bryan Danielson’s ahead of WrestleMania 30, noting that he doesn’t think he’ll spark another Yes Movement.
Believing that he could hold the World Title, Zayn said:
“I don’t think the fans are kind of where they were five or six years ago, where they would revolt. Like, ‘No, Daniel Bryan is the guy! you’re trying to give us Batista?! No, we’ll force you!’
“I don’t feel that level of borderline contempt from the audience toward the creative direction. I think because the story has been so interesting, there’s a little bit of trust in that it’ll go where it goes, and it’ll still be fine.
“I’m sure there are a lot of people who are pulling for me. That’s great. It’s nice to be that guy, but I don’t think it’s at a place where Daniel Bryan was in 2014 where, if it’s anybody but him, it’s going to be a disaster.”
“I don’t think that it’s necessarily the same. Is there a possibility of whether it’s Cody (Rhodes), whether it’s anybody, if it’s done, right, you can do almost anything.
“It has to be done well. It has to be done just right. If it’s not done right, could there be some kind of backlash to, ‘Man, the story made the most sense. He was the guy that fans liked, everything was right there, but they went this way?’
“If they don’t do it right, there is the possibility of contempt toward whoever that person (that wins the Royal Rumble) is. Whether it’s Cody, whether it’s anyone, it could be anybody. If it’s not done right, it could hurt that person.
“We work with a lot of people who know how to do things right,” he added. “So if I’m not the guy, and I genuinely, as of this exact conversation, one day before the Royal Rumble, I have no idea what the plan is.
“I don’t know; it just doesn’t feel that way. I don’t know. I try to listen to the fans. I try not to put too much stock in the online kind of thing.
“But I’m sure there’s a good percentage like, again, if you follow nothing else but the storyline, the storyline, it’s a layup the I would be in that conversation. What actually ends up happening is, again, it’s not my control.
“I could win the World Title. I could carry it for a while. I could do talk shows. I could do all that stuff. I don’t know if I’m the guy that you could necessarily hitch your wagon to for the next 5-10 years and be the face of the company.
“If nothing else, because I’m somewhat realistic about my physical — I’m not as big as Roman (Reigns) or (John) Cena or Brock (Lesnar), and that’s typically the guy who’s at the head of that scene because they want a certain projection.
“I think for the long haul, could I win the World Title? I think especially because of the way the story is done. As I said a moment ago, if you do anything right, fans will buy it, and they’ll get into it.
“So I think at this point, the way things are built, and I’m not saying this is what’s going to happen if it was me and Roman at WrestleMania and I beat Roman, and we did it right, the way we’ve been doing it right the last nine months, No one’s going to go ‘Bogus. I’m out. I can’t take that,’ because we’ve done it right.”
Sami Zayn Talks Possible WrestleMania 39 Match Against Roman Reigns
