Sami Zayn got his main event at WrestleMania 39, just not the one he initially predicted he would.
RAW Superstar Sami Zayn was a recent guest on My Love Letter to Wrestling to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked if he thinks his match against Roman Reigns should have happened at WrestleMania 39, Zayn admitted there was a point where he felt like it would.
“So there was a time period going around like from Survivor Series building into the Rumble and especially right before the Rumble and right after the Rumble where I 100% thought it could go to me and Roman at Mania and it would be the best story,” Sami Zayn said. “But that just wasn’t in the cards. Because of other things, again, when we talked about plans, and it’s very hard to have a plan and stick with it. There’s all these other variables. Well, a variable popped up, which is Cody’s return.
“But again, it was a good thing. There was no rejection. He was widely accepted. They wanted him, and they wanted him in the role that he came back in. They were happy to see him win the Royal Rumble. They wanted him to dethrone Roman Reigns. And actually, those stories even rubbed up on each other where Cody was kind of rubbed up on us, and we were rubbing up on him, and the whole thing was helping each other. I think it was all the stories kind of — everybody was lifting everybody. That’s when wrestling is done right; everybody’s elevating one another.
“So obviously, Roman Reigns is the biggest star. But when you put me in there because it adds a new layer, even though it’s not something that you would ever say out loud, like oh, Sami Zayn could actually elevate The Bloodline, which is already the top act because it gave it a new dimension I helped them, but they helped me immensely at that point.
“Me interacting with Roman and The Bloodline brought my stock up so much. So basically, it was a case of the tide rising for everybody. And then, when Cody came back, it was the same thing. Cody’s a huge star, and I was rubbing up — the tide was just going up for everybody. And I think that’s what made that eight-month, nine-month period exciting. It was just fun to watch the whole tide rise for everybody involved.”
When asked what that moment was like for him and Kevin Owens following the main event of WrestleMania 39, Zayn called it a bit surreal because 20 years ago, it would have seemed like an impossibility.
“It’s just a bit surreal, I suppose,” Sami Zayn admitted. “But it’s weird because there’s these two things happening at once because you’re living in the present. So when you’re in the present, you’re like, oh, yeah, naturally. So, for example, if you asked us 20 years ago about the idea of main eventing WrestleMania as a tag team, it seems absolutely insane and unlikely, and you wouldn’t even bother wasting time thinking about it.
“But then fast forward 20 years, you’re in The Bloodline angle, and The Bloodline is the hottest thing, and we’re here, it’s time to pick a main event, and we’re right there, like oh, yeah, of course, we’re gonna be the main event. It’s right there. You know what I mean? But if you take a step out of those shoes and you try to rewind to 20 years prior, you think, man, can you imagine how did we end up here?
“That’s one of the things about having Kevin as a friend on the road and a guy who I continue to share my career with is it forces you to constantly get out of the here and now of the hamster wheel that is WWE and remind you of where you came from because he came from the same place. So there’s always a reminder of where you started, and it’s standing right next to you at all times.
“I think anything that where you rise in the field that you dreamed of being in, is you lose perspective of the inner child, the eternal 13-year-old who wanted it to begin with like that guy gets buried away because you’re here now, and you’re caught up in the business side of it and the ego and the and the climb and the chase and all this kind of thing and competitiveness or whatever.
“So anytime you can touch back in with that inner child that reminds you of why you’re actually doing this. It just gives you perspective. It gives you gratitude, and it gets you. I just think it’s very important mental clarity to not get diluted.”
READ MORE: Sami Zayn Feels Lucky To Get Two WrestleMania Moments In Six Weeks
What do you make of Sami Zayn’s comments? Are you happy with how things worked out for him at WrestleMania 39? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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