Roman Reigns: Sami Zayn is ‘such a special performer’

Roman Reigns believes Sami Zayn’s association with The Bloodline is a “true partnership” that has benefitted everyone.

In an interview with SHAK Wrestling, Reigns confirmed that he was largely responsible for Zayn being added to the Bloodline story. He was impressed by the work Zayn did against Johnny Knoxville in 2022 and thought Zayn could bring a dynamic that The Bloodline did not already have. Reigns praised Zayn as a special performer — but jokingly admitted that Zayn can be a pain in the ass to deal with backstage sometimes because of how invested he is in everything.

“Yeah, I’ll take full responsibility for Sami [being in the Bloodline story]. He was doing whatever he was doing with ‘Jackass’ and all of them. And 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 this ring for a long time. But to have to do it with people who don’t necessarily know what they’re doing, and a bunch of them — you know, a whole ‘Jackass’ crew — and just the way he made that work, I just saw something completely different than what we were doing,” Reigns said. “We [The Bloodline] were extremely successful. We were all champions at the time. And to me, I just was like, ‘Man, that’s a personality that I can really bounce off and then I can just show a few different layers of what I have and my personality, and then I think I can also elevate him.’ Because this is a veteran performer, this guy has been around. He’s a journeyman. He has been around for a long time. So I knew that he had not only the talent but the experience to be able to work in the main event, and I was right.

“He proved to be a great asset for The Bloodline. And he helped us, but we helped him greatly. And that’s how it works. That’s a true partnership right there is where everybody benefits. And that’s why you’ve seen him come back in this reunion. 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.”

After splitting off from The Bloodline in 2023 to feud with Reigns, Zayn is now back aligned with the faction. He was part of their WarGames team at Survivor Series last November, helping them defeat Solo Sikoa’s new version of The Bloodline.

Reigns was recently unveiled as the cover star of WWE 2K25, which will feature a Bloodline showcase mode. The game is slated to be released on March 14.