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With Roman Reigns officially securing the cover spot on WWE 2K25, with a deluxe edition featuring the rest of The Bloodline, fans have been reflecting on Sami Zayn's inclusion, removal, and now return to the group ahead of the 2025 Royal Rumble.
How, fans wonder, did the Montreal-based babyface become a member of the biggest heel faction in recent WWE memory, split with them, and ultimately return to them once more once the group reformed as unlikely heroes? Well, for Reigns, the genesis of Zayn's inclusion in the group began with the idea of adding a comedic foil to his serious act, before expanding it into something grander.
“I'll take full responsibility for Sami. He was doing whatever he was doing with Jacka** and all of them. I just admired the work because it's not easy to do what we do when you're across from a veteran professional, someone who has been in the ring for a long time. To have to do it with people who don't necessarily know what they're doing, and a bunch of them, the whole Jacka** crew, and the way he made that work, I saw something completely different than what we were doing,” Reigns recalled.
“We were extremely successful; we were all champions at the time, but to me, I was like, ‘That's a personality that I can really bounce off and show a few different layers of what I have and my personality, and I think I can elevate him.' This is a veteran performer, a journeyman who has been around for a long time. I knew that he had, not only the talent, but the experience to be able to work in the main event. I was right. He proved to be a great asset for the Bloodline. He helped us, but we helped him greatly. That's how it works. That's a true partnership right there, where everybody benefits.”
Fortunately, Reigns' prediction was right on the money, as Zayn became one of the most popular performers in WWE and took the group to new heights grander than even another title could garner. So when they got back together, it was a no-brainer to bring Zayn back, too, right?
“That's why you see him come back in this reunion,” Reigns noted. “We could have maybe done it a different way, but Sami is such a special performer and such a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes, but that's because he cares. God bless the Wiseman for having to deal with him all the time. Honestly, it's on me, because I saw it, I knew it, I felt it, and I knew once you put me and him backstage together, it was going to be gold. It ended up taking a lot longer to get to that point, but once we did, I believe we were in Montreal, and when he finally got in the locker room with me, it was magic. One and done, it was probably live. We just knew from there that chemistry was going to be great. The proof is in the pudding.”
While only time will tell what the future holds for Zayn, Reigns, and The Bloodline, it's clear this partnership was pitch-perfect.