"Couldn't do with any other superstar" - Sami Zayn recalls unique WrestleMania match build
Surprisingly, one of the most elaborate WrestleMania 38 builds was done by Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville. Both rivals went to great lengths to antagonize and play mind games with each other in the most humorous ways possible.
Fans saw Zayn intrude on the premiere of Jackass Forever to get to Knoxville and subsequently get thrown out. The former Intercontinental Champion also had his phone number publicly leaked when Knoxville hired a plane to fly all over Los Angeles with a trailing banner reading "Call Sami Zayn".
In an interview with Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast, Zayn recalled the events leading up to his over-the-top match at WrestleMania 38:
"Some of the stuff we've done, what I've really loved about it is building a story to a WrestleMania match in a way that you couldn't do with any WWE superstar," said Zayn. "There's no other WWE superstar on the roster where the way we're gonna build our WrestleMania match is I'm gonna go to a movie premiere or he's gonna fly my phone number, stop calling by the way, seriously, stop calling. He's going to fly my phone number over Los Angeles and put it on the internet and now every one of these fans can just google my phone number and it's there, and really, again, you don't have to use it." (29:13)
I GOT JOHNNY KNOXVILLE’S PHONE NUMBER!!! https://t.co/xSyTPQzucf
Sami Zayn loved his WrestleMania 38 match with Johnny Knoxville
Considering the build to the WrestleMania match between Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville, fans knew to expect a wild spectacle. The rivals ultimately delivered with a plethora of shenanigans.
Some of the most over-the-top things involved Zayn getting smacked with the iconic High Five machine and getting body-slammed by Wee Man. The whole Jackass crew got involved at one point to aid Knoxville and trapped Sami in a giant mousetrap to help their partner win the match.
Following the bout, Zayn was in high spirits. The former Intercontinental champion took to Twitter to share how proud he was and called the WrestleMania match one of his all-time favorites.
My Wrestlemania match against Johnny Knoxville is one of my all time favorites. Definitely one of the matches I’m most proud of.
I’ve had a lot of great matches in my career, I’d put this up with any of them.
Anyone who saw this match will remember it. That’s as good as it gets.
Zayn is now expected to enter a feud with Drew McIntyre as he evaded him in their match at SmackDown. Fans will have to tune into the next episode to see where it goes from here.
Did you like the match between Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn? Let us know in the comments below