WrestleMania Season is officially upon us. Thanks to the delightful change in pace brought about by Paul Levesque’s booking, we can confidently predict 10 of WrestleMania 39‘s matches based purely on the weekly TV product despite the two-night event still being two months away. But now that all of the Dwayne Johnson speculation has been pushed to the background, the big conversation among online wrestling fans is whether or not Levesque is making the right call to have Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes as the WrestleMania main event regardless of the overwhelming popularity of Sami Zayn.
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Even though Reigns vs. Zayn is booked for Elimination Chamber later this month in Montreal, vocal fans are arguing that Zayn should somehow be added to the WrestleMania main event equation. The common comparison is how Daniel Bryan (now Bryan Danielson in AEW) was eventually added to the WrestleMania XXX main event thanks to overwhelming fan support, resulting in one of the most beloved WrestleMania finales of all time. But I’m here to tell you, just as Zayn pointed out to Ariel Helwani, the comparison doesn’t actually work.
But first, it’s time for a history lesson. Heading into SummerSlam 2013, John Cena was the WWE Champion and Bryan was a fan-favorite thanks to his unlikely tag team championship run with Kane and his infectious “Yes!” Chant. Cena chose Bryan as his opponent for the show and wound up dropping the title to the submission specialist, only for Levesque (at that point an authority figure on TV and behind the scenes, though not to the degree he is now) to turn heel on Bryan and assist Randy Orton in immediately becoming the new champ. Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, Orton and The Shield announced themselves as The Authority faction the next night on Raw and deemed Bryan unworthy of representing WWE as its top champion due to his appearance. Please ignore the fact that Bryan was already a former World Heavyweight Champion by that point and had challenged CM Punk for the same title three times on pay-per-view the year prior without any protest.
What followed was months of Bryan trying to overcome the odds against the group, only for the rug to be pulled out from under him each time. He beat Orton for the title at Night of Champions, only for it to be vacated when Levesque tried to frame Bryan for paying off the referee. Bryan and Orton would then clash for the vacated title at both Battleground and Hell in a Cell, but interference from Big Show and Shawn Michaels kept preventing Bryan from winning back the title.
Despite Bryan being a three-time world champion and as popular as ever, WWE then tried to run away from the whole thing. An attempt was made for Big Show to co-opt the “Yes!” Chant, Orton unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship in his umpteenth pay-per-view match with Cena and Bryan was briefly made a member of The Wyatt Family before feuding with its titular leader. By the end of the 2014 Royal Rumble, in the face of overwhelming negativity, Bryan was on the losing end of his program with Bray Wyatt and wasn’t even involved in that year’s Rumble match. Instead, a returning Batista won the 30-man match and was set for a main event world championship match with Orton.
WWE has since attempted to spin what happened next as all part of the company’s master plan, but between numerous interviews, backstage reports and a leaked early draft of the original card courtesy of Punk, it’s clear that Orton vs. Batista was supposed to be the main event while Bryan was down in the midcard in yet another Mania match with Sheamus. But Punk’s decision to walk out of the company the night after the Rumble due to a long list of grievances suddenly left Levesque without a WrestleMania match. Between that and the consistently negative reception toward the main event program, the company pulled the trigger and changed its plans to give Bryan his crowning moment.
And while there are some rumblings about fans not being too keen on Reigns vs. Rhodes, the idea that Zayn fits in the same role as 2014-era Bryan is simply false. The entire Bryan vs. Authority storyline had the WWE Championship at its center — Bryan wanted it and felt he had earned it time and again, while Levesque & co. disagreed simply because he didn’t fit their mold for what a world champion should be. But the Zayn/Bloodline storyline, great as it’s been, has never been about Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. It’s been about Zayn finding where he belongs.
Every chapter of the storyline has revolved around Zayn’s relationship with each member of the group. He easily won over Jimmy Uso but it took months for Jey to finally trust him. Paul Heyman feigned approval and claimed to welcome Zayn with open arms, only to stab him in the back the moment it benefited him. Reigns initially viewed him as a harmless nuisance but eventually recognized he could weaponize Zayn’s loyalty and make him yet another foot soldier within The Bloodline.
The storyline, like many of the all-time greats of WWE’s past, connects so well to fans because of its relatability. Many of us want friends and a sense of belonging, yet often don’t know where to look and sometimes wind up trying to fit in with people that use that desire for comradery as bait for their own selfish ambitions. It’s sold all the more by Zayn’s complete earnestness and his ability to conjure a better acting performance out of everyone around him, from the simplicity of Solo Sikoa to the complexities of Reigns and Jey.
This is why the biggest moments of the story have been more emotional than physical. Zayn’s unbridled joy at being handed his “Honorary Uce” shirt, the “Ucey” promo, Jey’s acceptance of him after the WarGames match and what happened at the end of last week’s Royal Rumble are all infinitely more memorable and pertinent to the story than Reigns’ title defenses against Matt Riddle, Brock Lesnar and Logan Paul.
It’s also why saying the proper conclusion to the story is Zayn somehow overcoming the odds against Reigns in a match doesn’t add up. Sure, we’re getting that match on the 18th in Montreal, but that doesn’t solve all the dangling narrative threads. Has Zayn’s friendship with Jey finally opened the tag champ’s eyes to Reigns’ cruelty or will his loyalty to his brother trump everything else? Can Zayn repair his friendship with Kevin Owens? And can he get some sort of revenge on Paul Heyman after what happened back at the “Tribal Court?” This will likely culminate in some form or fashion at WrestleMania — this is still pro wrestling after all — but trying to force Zayn into Reigns vs. Rhodes rings so hollow.
This isn’t “YestleMania II,” it’s just a good story. So let them tell it.
