Sami Zayn doesn’t believe that he’s on a 2014 Daniel Bryan level heading into the 2023 Royal Rumble event this weekend.
SmackDown’s Sami Zayn was the latest guest on Ariel Helwani Meets to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked if he believes the WWE Universe will be upset if he doesn’t win the Royal Rumble, Zayn said he doesn’t know for sure if that’s the case.
“I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s true or not,” Sami Zayn admitted. “I don’t know that in the fans’ minds, maybe me and you are looking at a certain point a certain way because we’re kind of like diehards, but I think there’s a lot of casual fans that are just kind of along for the ride. And I don’t think the fans are kind of where they were five, six years ago, where they kind of would like revolt. And were 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 towards 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 like, Daniel Bryan was, I believe, in 2014, where it’s like anybody but him is going to be a disaster.
“And it actually was, so they had to fix it. They had to play clean up. So I don’t think that it’s necessarily the same. Is there a possibility of like, whether it’s Cody, whether it’s anybody, if it’s done right, you can do almost anything. It has to be done well and has to be done just right. If it’s not done right, could there be some kind of backlash to well, the story made the most sense. He was the guy the fans liked, everything was right there, but they went this way. And if they don’t do it right there is the possibility of contempt toward whoever that person is.
“Whether it’s Cody, whether it’s anybody, it could be anybody. If it’s not done right, it could kind of hurt that person. But you know, we work with a lot of people who know how to do things right. So if I’m not the guy, and genuinely as of this exact conversation, one day before the Royal Rumble, I have no idea what the plan is; I have nothing. 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 again if you follow nothing else but the storyline. It’s a layup that I would be in that conversation. What actually ends up happening is, again, that’s not in my control.”
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What do you make of Sami Zayn’s comments? Are you going to be upset if he doesn’t win the Royal Rumble this weekend? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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