Sami Zayn: Johnny Knoxville Is Just Perfect. I Hate Him

At WrestleMania 38, Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville battled in one of the most memorable WrestleMania matches of all-time as the two engaged in a Jackass-filled wrestling match.

The build up to the match featured a number of stunts and social media gags, including Knoxville giving out Zayn’s phone number.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Zayn was asked when he knew the match could be something special.

“Well, I kind of knew. So I’ll have these, this is gonna sound cocky for sure, but I’ll have these moments. Let’s say I’ve put something together and I’ve thought of it and I’ve reviewed it a bunch of times in my head, where I’m just like, oh my God, these people have no idea what’s about to hit them. Okay, I’m exaggerating. What I’m trying to say is, I’ll go, this is bulletproof, there’s no way this is not going to get them. But then there is self-doubt. So right up until the curtain, I would fluctuate between oh my god, even if you hate me, even if you hate wrestling, and you somehow got dragged to this show, this will get you. There’s no way around it,” he said.

Asked if Knoxville had any wrestling experience, Zayn replied, “No. [He’s done stunts] Yeah, he’s not a wrestler. He’s not an athlete. But he’s a great man. He was perfect. I think he was just perfect. I mean, I hate him. It’s this gnawing thing that just doesn’t really go away. I don’t want to get into all that now, but he’s relentless. He really is. What I mean by he’s perfect is you can’t really replicate that match with [anyone else]. At that time, that match could only be Sami Zayn versus Johnny Knoxville. You couldn’t put two other people in there and have the same match. That’s kind of what I liked about it. Is like all the things that happened. It’s easy to watch it and reduce it to just oh there was a bunch of weapons and stuff, but in fact it was just a wrestling match, and those gadgets, that’s his signature offense, because his signature offense is from the Jackass world. He doesn’t have wrestling moves. He has Jackass stunts. So the moves were replaced by the Jackass stunts, but they still serve the same function.”

The bout featured a bowling ball to the nuts, a mousetrap table, a giant hand slapping Sami, Wee Man hitting a bodyslam, and much more.

Asked if any particular spot hurt more than another, Zayn said, “The table was crazy. That mousetrap table, that was a big one that really hurt. But that’s the one kind of sore spot because it almost gets reduced to a comedy match. Part of what I love about it is it had a little bit of everything. There are comedic elements, but there’s also some actual violence and some pretty serious bumps.”

Knoxville was victorious in the match, and the feud continues to this day.

Elsewhere during the interview, Zayn discussed the evolution of his heel turn in 2026. You can find his full comments here.