After a wild year that saw him reach new heights, Sami Zayn and his partner Kevin Owens won the tag team titles at WrestleMania, defeating The Usos in a satisfying night-one tag team match. Some fans had hoped to see Zayn main event WrestleMania or take out Roman Reigns directly back at the Elimination Chamber in Montreal. While the match wasn’t a world championship bout, it did give him a main event match. His face-off with his former brothers and proving once again that he can stand on his own two feet was a WrestleMania moment that worked with his character in the Bloodline saga. After months of consistently strong performances backstage and in the ring, Zayn and Owens win at WrestleMania and signal the end is near for the Bloodline.
The Road to a Zayn and Owens Win at WrestleMania
Exactly one year before he was in the online conversation to main event WrestleMania 39, Sami Zayn was feuding with comedian Johnny Knoxville. That rivalry led to a hysterical and entertaining match, which Zayn lost. Likewise, Kevin Owens was locked into a feud with a returning Stone Cold Steve Austin. Both were high-profile matches, yet both guys seemed destined to lose and fade into obscurity until they were again needed. However, the strange career of Sami Zayn and then fading star of Kevin Owens took an interesting turn after getting involved in the Bloodline family drama. After some time away for the “Island of Relevancy,” both men would get involved with Roman Reigns on Smackdown. The path they took was initially as enemies, but the story grew as legions of fans fell in love with Sami Zayn once again.
Sami attempted to and eventually succeeded in joining Reigns’ Bloodline. He began as an annoying jester before transforming organically into a loveable loser for the group. In story, he also became indispensable as a henchman and was given the title of “Honorary Uce.” On the other hand, Owens was one of Roman’s top rivals. They feuded for the titles, and Kevin was generally a nuisance for the faction. The parallels and personal connection between Zayn and Owens over that same time were even part of the story until the Royal Rumble came around, and everything came to a head. Since then, the two have reconciled to face the bloodline and were largely predicted to win and leave SoFi Stadium with championship gold.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens: Forever Frenemies
Sami tried to ignore his former brother’s pleas for him to turn away from the Bloodline. However, the site of Roman beating down a defenseless KO flipped the switch and set the wheels in motion for tonight’s win. The years of history in WWE and beyond were played up perfectly compared to the relatively little time Sami had to connect with the Usos and Roman Reigns. Sami and Kevin had feuded and teamed together well before either got signed to NXT, but that well-known past made this time and their inability to work past it more interesting. Luckily the rivals embraced each other and lead us down the road to a match with this Usos.
Speaking of, the Usos are one of WWE’s top tag teams, if not one of the best in the business. Likewise, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are incredibly talented wrestlers. A match between the four was always going to deliver, but the story was so well done that fans were excited before the bell rang. Just seeing Sami and Kevin head into the clash was a Mania moment. It was also the best-built match on the night one card, which helped build the anticipation. Once the action started, the match delivered for the fans. Hard-hitting and full of each team’s signature moves, the first tag team main event since the golden era of the 1980s lived up to its lofty expectations. Ultimately it was a series of Helluva Kicks and a quiet apology from Zayn to his former brother Jey Uso that ended the match.
THEY DID IT!@FightOwensFight and @SamiZayn are your NEW Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions at #WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/CXzg5KYDcc
— WWE (@WWE) April 2, 2023
Losing Everything: End of The Bloodline
For months there has been speculation that WrestleMania 39 could spell the end of the Bloodline and that the “honorary Uce” would get the last laugh. Roman Reigns still competes on night two against Cody Rhodes, but Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have delivered on their part. While the story hasn’t been finished just yet, this chapter has been emotionally and narratively compelling. Where Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, or anyone else mixed into this Bloodline saga goes next is a mystery we won’t get an answer to until Monday’s Raw at the earliest. Tonight though Michael Cole called Zayn and Owens the everyman, and it is hard to deny it after that main event. So, while we wait to see what’s in store, we all get to acknowledge that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens won big or all of us at WrestleMania.
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