Sami Zayn is slated to work a match at WrestleMania 38 against Jackass star Johnny Knoxville.
The two stars have been feuding since January and although Knoxville was always planned to be part of the Royal Rumble, Zayn doesn’t think WWE originally planned for Knoxville to wrestle at Mania. Instead, he thinks the reaction from fans got the match booked.
“I don’t think this was ever the plan for WrestleMania,” Zayn told The Dallas Morning News. “I think he was here doing some stuff for Jackass Forever, doing the Royal Rumble and promoting his movie – and that’s all well and good. Then, he showed up here [on SmackDown], and – I’m going to say this. I don’t like him. I have a problem with him, and I’m going to beat him up. So, let me just get that out of the way because I’m about to say something kind of nice about him.
Every single time I was in the ring with him, every time he snuck in the ring or he did what he did or whenever his music hit, it was, by far, the biggest reaction on the show that night – and I know because I was in the ring for all of them,” Zayn said. “So, the fans love him, and I think what happened is there is such a gravitation toward him and the response was so good that I think it ended up pushing this story further, which has both been a good thing and a bad thing for me because, you know, now I have to deal with all his shenanigans and his … ugh … all the stuff that comes with dealing with Johnny Knoxville.”