According to Sami Zayn, the idea for him to work with Roman Reigns dates back to WWE Survivor Series 2021.
Over the past few months, Zayn has gradually joined The Bloodline (Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa). He went from operating as a stooge for the group to becoming “The Honorary Uce” when Reigns acknowledged his role in the stable. Throughout this run, Zayn and his stablemates have been praised for their character work, as the story has been praised as one of the most compelling parts of wrestling.
In an interview with Peter Rosenberg, Zayn was asked to describe how his storyline with Reigns and The Bloodline began. Zayn explained that he had an idea where he’d have some sort of on-screen connection with “The Tribal Chief” has far back as WWE Survivor Series 2021. He shared his vision of how there was some potential in exploring a story between Reigns and his “locker room leader” character.
“I won’t pull the curtain back too too much, but the idea kicked around just around just about a year ago actually, so it was actually a good six months before even the seeds were planted on-screen,” Zayn said. “The first time I think there was any sort of interaction with myself and The Bloodline was just after WrestleMania. But in actuality, the idea was first kind of discussed going into Survivor Series last year.
“I was doing this whole thing on SmackDown, I was the longest-tenured member of SmackDown, I was the locker room leader, and I just thought there would be something really interesting there with the locker room leader and ‘The Head of the Table,’ the premise sort of being that ‘The Head of the Table’ isn’t in that locker room anymore, and he needs eyes and ears sort of in the ground.
Zayn stated that he didn’t initially envision himself joining The Bloodline. He noted that he pictured a role where he’d occasionally interact with Reigns on-screen and give him notes about the locker room.
“I wasn’t originally envisioning being a full-blown member of The Bloodline or anything like that,” Zayn said. “Just something to where Roman and I can occasionally get on-screen together in a sort of lighthearted way, and I’m kind of giving him these reports of what’s going on and here’s what you need to be careful for, and every once in a while, I’d get some things kicked my way too. That was just sort of the idea.”
When asked if the storyline was his idea, Zayn emphasized that it was a mutual thing, as it came about after he discussed the idea with Reigns. He recalled that he had heard Reigns praise him and expressed his interest in working together in an interview.
“It was talked about with Roman as well,” Zayn said. “I think we were just kind of sitting at catering one day, and I had heard an interview that he did with Ariel Helwani where he was very kind towards me and saying very nice things about me as an on-screen character and that he’d like to do something with me down the road one day. I don’t know how. We just got to talking, and I don’t remember exactly how it went. But it was a mutual thing.”
Following The Bloodline’s win in the Men’s WarGames Match at WWE Survivor Series, Zayn has been fully embraced by the stable. Time will tell what the future holds for the group.
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