When Sami Zayn offered up his services to Roman Reigns on an otherwise random episode of SmackDown in 2022, few WWE fans expected it to be the sort of near-year-long storytelling device that would elevate the “Underdog from the Underground” into the main event picture and give fans flashbacks to Daniel Bryan's “Yes!” movement.

Why did it work? Why did Reigns and Zayn seemingly click in a storyline all about family and claw up from the guy who lost to Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania 38 to the “Honorary Uce” who was partying with Solo Sikoa and seeing thousands and thousands of now-irrelevant t-shirts?

Well, Zayn has a theory, as he explained to Ryan Satin on Out Of Character: expect the unexpected from Roman Reigns.

“Yeah, even the first backstage we did, uh, I think it was like five minutes long, and it didn't feel like the one in Montreal where it's the first time I finally get in the locker room, there's no other Bloodline, there's no other Paul Heyman, it's finally me and him and you don't know how it's gonna go and turns out he's kind of, you know, he's along for the ride like ‘What are you up to,' you know,” Sami Zayn said with a laugh.

“One of the beautiful things is Roman's character often does not do what you expect him to do, right? So even him talking to Sami Zayn, that's the whole story and then, of course, there are other beautiful nuggets that landed into our laps like the story between Jey and I and trying to win him over and Jmmy accepting me and not really knowing where I stand with Heyman and all these cool dynamics of all of these different characters but the whole thing hinged on Roman reacting in a way that you wouldn't expect him to react and Roman's character is really good at that.”

Would The Bloodline's story have still worked had Zayn's inclusion been nothing more than a one-off? Sure, Paul “Triple H” Levesque still would have had Sikoa in his back pocket and could have developed all sorts of different scenarios for the Anoa'i'-Fatu family to work through on the way to WrestleMania 39. But Reigns clearly saw something in Zayn that he liked, and the former PWG World Champion took that lateral to the house like it was the plan all along. Excellent stuff all around.

Sami Zayn admits that this WrestleMania feud is far from over.

Speaking of WrestleMania 38, Sami Zayn was asked about his match with Johnny Knoxville and whether or not the duo have squashed their beef and become friendly.

Unsurprisingly, the answer to that question is no, as things got downright personal last spring.

“It’s deranged (that Johnny Knoxville is still coming after me), and actually, what’s very funny is he showed up at this year’s WrestleMania, and the tide had turned. I was obviously very disliked that year going into the match with Johnny Knoxville, and through the story with The Bloodline and everything, people kind of softened on me, and by the time WrestleMania 39 comes around, I’m pretty well-liked, and I’m in the main event, and it’s this really big deal and Johnny Knoxville shows up, and he’s sitting out in the stands, and he’s still cursing me out and flipping the bird the entire match and people start turning on him, and it was just so funny. I saw all these pictures and videos of fans filming him, and he definitely comes off like a crazy person. But really, the whole thing makes me laugh, and his dedication to pettiness and revenge, I suppose, is somewhat admirable, and the fact that he won’t let it go I think is a little sad but also kind of enjoyable as well,” Zayn said via Post Wrestling.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever bury the hatchet. We bumped into each other at WrestleMania 39, actually, and just, it doesn’t feel right, I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right, but I feel like it’s not over. I feel like, obviously, turned the page, and I’ve gone into a new chapter in my career here, and as you’ve said, I’ve reached even higher highs than before, but I still feel like this thing with Johnny Knoxville’s not quite over, and I feel like there’s somewhere to go with that, you know?… I’m not above it, I’m not above it. I want you to know that. I’m not above it. I’m also petty in some ways, and I’m not like, ‘Oh, well, now I’m a big star, and I don’t need Johnny Knoxville.' No, I’ll happily mix it up with Johnny Knoxville any day of the week.”

Would it be cool to see Zayn “mix it up” with Knoxville again in the future? Sure; while it may feel like Zayn is “slumming it” in a match against Knoxville at this point in his career, the “Underdog from the Underground” has described his WrestleMania 38 match as one of his favorites of his career on Broken Skull Sessions no less, so if he can secure a match sans giant flytraps and bowling balls, he might just take it.