Sami Zayn’s career trajectory has taken a drastic turn over the last year. Following his loss to Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania 38, he entered into a storyline with The Bloodline. What was initially meant to be short filler comic relief while Roman Reigns was away due to his new schedule, blossomed into perhaps one of the best stories ever told in WWE history, and the highly entertaining and engrossing Bloodline saga took a new turn and reached new heights, even as Roman Reigns’ schedule was more part-time than ever.
The day of reckoning finally came upon us at the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event when Sami Zayn turned on The Bloodline following Roman Reigns’ title defense against Kevin Owens. Sami then challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber in Montreal (his hometown) just a week ago, coming agonizingly close to dethroning The Tribal Chief.
It is now apparent that while WWE seems intent on anointing Cody Rhodes as the one that dethrones The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 39, Zayn has more than proved himself to be a World Champion in the future, firmly cementing himself as a main event talent in WWE. It is almost a certainty that he will be teaming with Kevin Owens to challenge and dethrone The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 39.
Despite being a mid-card wrestler since his promotion to the main roster in 2015, the former NXT Champion’s swift ascension to the main event scene has raised eyebrows and been a treat to witness at the same time, drawing parallels to former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page.
In a recent episode of Sportskeeda’s “WrestleBinge” podcast, Eric Bischoff, who played a critical role in DDP’s rise, drew similarities between the two wrestlers’ journeys. He said,
“There are some parallels there. [DDP] was kind of in the middle of the roster, right, and he was pretty good. But once [DDP] made that transition, once he turned down the nWo and started working with Randy Savage and so many other top names, he just blew out of the pack. He didn’t slowly grow his way to the top of the roster; he just blew the doors off.”
“Sami has been around a long time, you know, and he’s been very successful and he’s very talented and he’s very good. But the way he has completely blown the doors off and taken ownership of that character and that role is very similar to what DDP did.”
Diamond Dallas Page became a three-time world champion by the end of his career, while Sami Zayn’s quest for his first continues.
