Welcome back to my several part series on why the WWE’s Bloodline story is the best on television right now! I appreciate all who have read these so far, your support and reading helps me and everyone here at BSO. Now, last week I left everyone right at the beginning of Sami Zayn’s involvement in the Bloodline, so let’s just get into it.
On April 22nd, 2022, right after WrestleMania, Sami Zayn would be cautiously accepted into The Bloodline and this is where the fun begins. Zayn would relentlessly try to win the approval of The Bloodline. Composed of Roman Reigns, Jimmy and Jey Uso, with Paul Heyman serving as the wiseman, Zayn looked like a kid trying to win the approval of the cool kids at school, something I desperately relate to. The Usos would be the ones primarily interacting with Zayn with Jey being the skeptic of the whole thing. Jey had undergone so much abuse and torture at the hand of Reigns just to be forced to join The Bloodline, so to see someone try to just walk into a group made up of his own family (And family friend Heyman) made him furious. I also want to credit Jey for the acting throughout this whole story. His going from abused puppy to staunch defender of his family’s honor is just phenomenal. However little by little Zayn would earn the love of The Bloodline and especially the crowd. Eventually finally earning the title of “The Honorary Uce”. See Uce is Samoan for Brother. And the Usos are brothers. And twins. DO YOU GET IT?! Zayn would end up trying to speak for them, putting the Usos in a title unification match against Randy Orton and Matt Riddle, known as “RKBro”. The Usos would wind up unifying both Smackdown and RAW tag team championships and then The Bloodline was dripped in Gold. It was really fun watching Roman at this time too as he had this Darth Vader like presence over the entire show.
This is where the “Best story on tv” part comes into play. The acting by Reigns in this run has been absolutely stellar. He’s not just a good wrestling heel, he’s a phenomenal television villain. When he is on screen everything is different, everyone is on edge, his promos were incredible as you see him tow the line between stoic and enraged. Every time you hear his epic final boss-like theme music, you know shit is about to go down. Roman at this point is the best act in wrestling. A fully complete and realized character, a far cry from his early days struggling to get over as an underdog babyface. He was the main act. The guy. The face of the company. And here’s this stupid Sami dude dancing around, desperately trying to get the attention of his tribal chief. A constant hype man, Zayn would handle the battles that Reigns couldn’t be bothered to fight. He handled the Chief’s light work. Zayn would eventually roll with the Usos creating just the best dynamic. These two serious dudes flanked by a guy that unironically still listens to Ska in 2022. Zayn would eventually develop a rapport with Jimmy Uso, even coming up with a great handshake as well! Jey would continue to be the skeptic, becoming the king of the side eye. No matter how many times Zayn would try to be The Uso’s dawg, Jey just refused to show Zayn love. Zayn would eventually get that elusive meeting with the Tribal Chief where they bonded over hating Jey Uso, and Reigns would finally show Zayn some love.
We go to September of 2022 now as Roman Reigns faces Drew McIntyre at WWE Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales. McIntyre seemed like he had all the momentum. The event was in the UK, and he’s Scottish. The crowd was behind him and it felt like the historic reign was finally going to come to an end. Due to Jimmy and Jey both having DUI’s in their past history, they are not allowed to travel outside of the USA, leaving Reigns alone to fight the Scottish Warrior alone in his native Great Britain. But guess what? RIKISHI HAS MORE KIDS, BRO! The THIRD Uso, Solo Sikoa as he was known in NXT, finally made his main roster debut by yanking the referee out of the ring right as McIntyre pinned Reigns with the Claymore Kick. The Bloodline would then get a new wrinkle to the story as Sikoa, a man “Sent by the elders” as Paul Heyman put it, was now in the group. The young silent enforcer, always ready to kick some ass. At this point Zayn was fully accepted as the Honorary Uce, despite Jey’s constant dislike of him.
On the October 7th Smackdown The Bloodline gathered together in a very well lit blue green room of some kind. Sami starts talking about how awesome Solo Sikoa is and Jey Uso cuts him off and yells at him, saying he isn’t “Day One ” actual family. Now it’s interesting to watch Paul Heyman in this segment. He never takes his eyes off Reigns, reacting to his every move and slight twitch, it’s brilliant. Reigns agrees with Sami that Jey is a hot head and you can see Reigns be genuinely annoyed by this whole situation, demanding that Jey is Sami’s problem now. Dare I say Reigns is a better actor than his big cousin Dwayne?
The Jey/Sami relationship finally came to a head on October 28th as Reigns demanded Zayn and Jey to talk it out. Right away Zayn just says “Well okay” and the crowd chants his name. It’s truly amazing how far Sami has come along in this group. Jey would respond to Sami’s peace offering with nothing but disdain in his heart. He says how much he doesn’t like him or respect him, Sami follows up with saying this is what the tribal chief wants and Jey responds with “I don’t give a damn what the Tribal Chief thinks” and my God the crowd reaction. They immediately go “OOOOOOOH” as we get an epic zoom in on Reigns’ face as Reigns looks up in sheer anger. He turns to confront Jey but Sami steps in, saying Jey hasn’t been feeling “Very Ucey lately” which would send literally everyone into hysterics and the crowd chanting “UCEY”. Even Jey couldn’t help but sink his face in his hands in laughter. Reigns then follows up by saying “It’s cause you’re not feeling….. UCEY?!” and again the crowd and the talent in the ring laugh. The camera doesn’t even bother to show Sikoa because he’s dying of laughter. This entire segment deserves some type of award. Sami, in the most tense part of this whole storyline, manages to make everyone, even the face of wrestling, laugh. It’s brilliant in its simplicity. Reigns tells Jey that if he can’t “Find his inner Ucey ”, then Sami will be renamed “Sami Uso ” and the crowd chants the new name. Jey in this is brilliant because of how obvious it is he’s holding back laughter. Ya see this is why it’s great tv. It’s live. They say the scenes we see of Will Farrell are always the worst ones because it’s the one where his co-stars aren’t breaking character. Am I saying Sami Zayn is the Will Farrell of Pro Wrestling? Absolutely. I mean look at Sami’s face in this. Look at that damn face. This was incredible. Please watch it if you can.
Reigns would go on to face future hall of famer Logan Paul in Saudi Arabia, a place that Reigns declared wasn’t “Ucey” enough to get Sami after chanting his name. Now the real reason is Sami refuses to work any WWE event in Saudi Arabia due to the atrocities that country have committed, a very admirable reason. Following Reigns destroying Paul, Reigns gathered The Bloodline, and Sami, together on Smackdown. Reigns made Solo Sikoa swear fealty to him, acknowledging him as his Tribal Chief. Then, he made Jey rip the shirt off of Sami’s back, betrayal?! Reigns told Sami “I don’t want to see you wearing that shirt anymore, because I got you this.” Then Reigns, with a surprisingly jolly smile on his face, threw a shirt at Sami. He opened it up, revealing “HONORARY UCE” proudly on him, and the crowd erupted. The smile on this man’s face could light up a room. From then, he earned the love of the Chief, but Jey would continue to be the player hater of the year.
And this brings us to Survivor Series: War Games.
War Games are always a fun time. Two rings, one big ass cage, and 10 people just beating the piss out of each other. I won’t talk about the whole match, moreover the finish, which is one of the best story moments in WWE history in terms of acting, cinematography, and human ability. To catch you up, Sami was teaming up with the Bloodline, as Jey and Sami finally had their “Shit or get off the pot” moment where Roman warned the both of them to get it together… Or else. Sami spent the whole match proving his loyalty to the chief, constantly talking shit, saving Jey and Jimmy Uso several times and so on. We get to the end of the match where Kevin Owens, who had spent the past few weeks attempting to reconcile with his old friend, warning him that the Bloodline was using him and one day would betray him (And this guy knows betrayal) duking it out with Reigns. Owens actually hits Reigns with a slap directly to the ear of Reigns, which real life popped his ear drum and genuinely pissed him off and actually got into a bit with Owens after the match. They fight, then Owens hits Reigns with his patented pop-up powerbomb, followed by a stunner, and right as the ref was about to for sure count to 3, out comes Sami to catch the ref’s arm right before the third count. This is when the match gets Shakespearian. The facial storytelling between this two is second to none. Here are two men who have known each other over half their lives, all this real life history coming to a head. As the two talk, Jey Uso attempts a superkick on Owens which Kevin catches, but then Sami makes his choice. He chose the bloodline. He hits Kevin with a low blow. His best friend. His brother. Sami made his choice. Then, following a blessing from his Chief, delivers an epic Helluva kick, then catches Owens and then lays him down as a sacrifice for Jey Uso. Uso hits the splash and the bloodline wins. Just incredible. Then finally, Roman offers a hug, Sami is official. He is honorary no more. And then Jey gets up, stares Sami down, then gives him a big ol hug over a year in the making. Former enemies, now family. Vin Diesel weeps at this story.
Following War Games, Owens would continue to be a huge part of this story, continuing to warn Zayn of what could come should he slip up. All the while, all seemed well in the Bloodline. Sami was getting everyone, including Jey, all “Uced up” as Jey and Sami went from enemies to now great friends. As time would pass, it would be Jimmy Uso now who would remain skeptical, as Jey would swear up and down that Zayn would be made a full blown Uce, yet Jimmy would continue to warn Jey about Reigns’ reaction. Zayn would trash his former friend Kevin Owens in front of Reigns, in an attempt to swear fealty (Again). Reigns would give Zayn a final test: To team up with him. Reigns would demand he team up with Zayn against Kevin Owens and a partner of his choosing. Owens would choose one man… AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA (Hit the trumpets). On the final Smackdown of 2022, Cena and Owens would team up to take on Reigns in a damn fine match. After Cena hits an AA on Reigns, KO would hit Zayn with a Stunner and finish off Sami Zayn, infuriating Reigns. Then on January 6th, 2023, Reigns would tear into Zayn, beginning the downfall of this improbable friendship. Reigns would give Zayn a shot at redemption in a match against his ol buddy ol pal Kevin Owens, and right as Zayn would attempt to finish off Owens, the Usos and Sikoa would invade the match and attack Owens and jump him, where Sikoa would splash Owens through the announce table, all while Zayn looked on with a slight look of horror and empathy on his face.
On January 20th, Reigns would task Zayn with “Gassing up the cars and the private jets” right before Reigns would sign his contract for a match against Owens at the Royal Rumble for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Because Zayn wasn’t there, Owens would take advantage and sneak attack Reigns, slamming The Chief through the table as Paul Heyman yells in sheer horror, Zayn would show up right after, but it would be too little too late. Because of this fatal error (Which was Reigns’ fault) Reigns would blame Sami, and put him on trial, at Tribal Court. “The Trial Of Sami Zayn” would be underway on the 30th anniversary of Monday Night RAW, where Paul Heyman would viciously proclaim Zayn guilty as charged. But when Sami had a chance to defend himself, he didn’t. We start to see Zayn see through the crap after all these months, he tells Roman “My defense, is that I have no defense”. After epic gaslighting, Reigns would call for Solo Sikoa to finish Zayn with a Samoan Spike, which I guess is the tribal court version of the electric chair, but right as Solo began to hit Zayn, Jey Uso would leap in and stop his own brother from hitting Zayn, claiming him bullet-proof, and that he loves him like a brother. God damn this story is amazing. Reigns would find Zayn “Not guilty…. For now”, making Zayn prove his loyalty at the Royal Rumble, where it all came to ahead in epic Shakespearean fashion.
Reigns would destroy Owens and after the match handcuff him to the ropes, where the Usos would take turns superkicking Owens. Then, Reigns would hand Sami a chair, demanding he finish Owens off once and for all, to finally commit himself fully to the Bloodline. Sami would make his decision. He chose against the Bloodline. He would hit Reigns in the back to an all time great pop from the crowd, an ovation so loud you can hear the mics begin to pop due to the noise. Reigns would go down exactly like he went down when Seth Rollins hit Reigns in the back all those years ago to end the Shield. Sami would look at his friend Jey Uso, and apologize to him, before Jimmy Uso superkicked Sami in the face. Jimmy, Solo, and then Reigns would all take turns beating Zayn, ripping the shirt off of him as a sold out crowd of over 50,000 people in San Antonio Texas would yell “FUCK YOU ROMAN” and kudos to WWE for letting that chant through clear as day on the broadcast. Jey would look on in horror and end up leaving the ring, refusing to participate in this beatdown of a man he called a brother just a couple weeks prior. Jey also saw through his cousin at this moment, as he would recall when he was the one viciously beat up by Roman, and it would seem Jey had enough of his own family as well.
As I type this, Zayn is on fire going after Reigns and is going to face Reigns at the Elimination Chamber in a week and a half in Zayn’s native Montreal Quebec, Canada. This looks to be an epic night as the Canadian crowd is going to passionately chant and cheer for Zayn, and utterly destroy Reigns, and will possibly even riot when Reigns probably defeats Zayn. Now I know what you’re thinking as Cody Rhodes is looking to be the man to face and defeat Reigns at Wrestlemania in Los Angeles and you may be thinking Zayn should be the one to defeat Reigns, and I’m here to tell you: Let it play out. Triple H has proven to be an amazing booker and if the Cody Rhodes/Paul Heyman confrontation from the February 6th episode of Monday Night RAW is any indication, the Rhodes-Reigns feud will also be one for the ages. What I think is probable to happen, is Zayn will team with his best friend Kevin Owens, and defeat The Usos at WrestleMania for the Tag Team championship, where we will fully explore the Jey/Sami dynamic in what could be another epic.
And with that, is The Bloodline story with Sami Zayn. Get ready for the finale as I dive into why I personally believe this whole story is the best on television. Until next time, YEET.
