Sami Zayn discusses fan desire to see him win the Royal Rumble Match and feeling he could believably defeat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania as long as the creative storytelling remains strong.
Sami Zayn and The Bloodline is currently the hottest act in WWE. Starting from the inkling of an idea to have Sami and Roman Reigns interact, this storyline has now propelled Sami Zayn into a position where he is an integral part of Roman Reigns' historic Undisputed WWE Universal Championship run.
At this year's WWE Royal Rumble event, many fans want to see Sami Zayn win the titular Battle Royal and face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Zayn says he understands he's in the conversation as a fan-favorite to win the rumble this year. Still, he believes that WWE fans do not have a level of contempt towards the creative direction of WWE programming to where they might hijack the event if he does not win the Royal Rumble, similar to Daniel Bryan's Road to WrestleMania in 2014.
"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," said Zayn. "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."
Specifically name-dropping Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn says while he doesn't feel the fans resent the current creative direction, if the storyline isn't executed correctly, there could be cause for backlash against Cody or whoever wins the Royal Rumble.
"I don't think that it's necessarily the same," Zayn said. "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."
Asked whether or not he could be the face of WWE, Sami Zayn said that he believes he can definitely hold the World Championship for an extended period and knows that with the proper storyline, he can beat Roman Reigns believably. Still, he also doesn't see himself as the franchise player of WWE from an optics perspective.
"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," said Sami. "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 again reiterated that he doesn't think he can be the face of the company and believes that being the World Champion and the face of the company are two separate things. Sami believes he could carry the title for several months if the situation called for it.
"I could be a guy who could carry that title six months, go on Jimmy Fallon, give a couple of jokes, have him do his fake laugh that he does, all that good stuff. Sure I could do that. I could probably do it in my sleep, to be honest, but I understand the company's projection of what they see as the like face of the company, not being the champion. The champion and the face are almost two different things. I feel like I could be the champion, no problem. As far as being the guy that they like, 'Number one, He's our guy. He's the poster boy. He's the ultimate representation of what our company is,' I know physically, I don't fit that mold. So I don't know if that's me, like, being self-deprecating or what it is, but I'm a realist when it comes to that," said Zayn
So far, Sami Zayn is not even scheduled to compete in the Royal Rumble Match. All that is known about Sami Zayn's involvement at the Royal Rumble is that he is set to face his "final test" from Roman Reigns at the event.
Roman will be going up against Sami Zayn's former best friend, Kevin Owens, for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Fans can check out the full card for the Royal Rumble event here.
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