"Fans rejected Batista" - Top WWE star believes his big match could have headlined WrestleMania if not for one reason
Batista's return to WWE in 2014 was met with unanimous disrespect from fans as The Animal was not who they had envisioned to main event that year's WrestleMania. Considering that Bryan was relegated to a lower-card storyline, everything backfired from a booking standpoint. Sami Zayn brought this up in a recent conversation about this year's main event.
Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes headlined WrestleMania 39, and the WWE Universe firmly believes that despite the sour end to the match, it was a worthy main event. Sami Zayn believes his heart-stopping thriller against The Tribal Chief at Elimination Chamber could have been pushed for The Grandest Stage the month following.
In a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, Sami Zayn explained why he thought the scenario was very different this time around when compared to the "Miracle" storyline of Daniel Bryan back in 2014:
"That was a bit different because the fans rejected Batista, because they viewed the whole thing different. But the fans love Cody, so I knew there wouldn't be a backlash like that," Zayn stated. [6:37 onwards]
However, the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion believes that if The American Nightmare was not ready to return on the Road to WrestleMania 39, Zayn and Reigns could have easily headlined the biggest show of the year. He continued:
"But yeah, to answer your question in short, for sure. I think if we had done things a little differently, and if Cody wasn't ready to return at the right time, for sure I think we could have gone all the way with Roman and myself just because of the level of investment of the audience at that time was through the roof."
Sami Zayn still got to main event WrestleMania 39 Night One, albeit for the tag titles. He won the belts alongside Kevin Owens in a historic match against The Usos, as the bout was only the second tag team contest to close out the Show of Shows.
John Cena reveals an interesting detail about WWE Superstar's character work
During John Cena's interview with Andrew Santino two months ago, The Franchise Player discussed Sami Zayn. He revealed that the latter had to undergo many changes in his character over the last three years, or maybe even more, before making it to where he is today.
Cena re-asserted that it wasn't just an organic rise in popularity and an overnight success:
"Everyone now, because he’s very popular now, thinks it’s like [snaps fingers], alright, it clicked. His character went through a major reconstruction just about three years ago, maybe even a little more than that. It’s taken him three and a half years, and now all that hard work, and I can see it, I can see how hard he works, and I see how he’s invested in connecting with the audience. It’s paid off. Everybody loves him because they know who he is."
After being part of all the main event programs in premium live events, closing out every show throughout the Road to WrestleMania 39, Sami Zayn will once again wrestle his biggest adversary, Roman Reigns, in a tag team match at WWE Night of Champions.
Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Undisputed tag team championships
Night of Champions 🔥 https://t.co/moR9QOOqLf
You can read more about why Sami Zayn will fly to Saudi for a WWE event the first time this year after spending years avoiding it for personal reasons here.
Who will emerge victorious in this first-ever clash for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use any quote, please credit the original source and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.