At the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, Sami Zayn turned on Roman Reigns and The Bloodline by attacking The Tribal Chief with a steel chair. This was after Reigns asked Zayn to assault a beaten Kevin Owens with the weapon.
The turn came after weeks of dissension in the ranks of the Bloodline, and despite Jey Uso’s attempts to defend Zayn during his trial on RAW Is XXX. After Zayn struck Reigns with the chair, The Bloodline delivered a violent message to the former Honorary Uce.
The segment marked an end to Zayn’s time as part of The Bloodline, which began over six months ago. Zayn’s babyface turn also caused Jey to quit the heel faction.
On the latest episode of his AdFreeShows’ “What Happened When” podcast, AEW commentator Tony Schiavone expressed his admiration of the Sami Zayn and Bloodline angle that closed out the Royal Rumble premium live event on January 28th.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the show-closing angle: “The angle, I liked it. It was very well done, good drama; when one of The Usos walks away — very, very good drama.”
On the Logan Paul-Ricochet double clothesline from the Rumble match: “I thought it was one of the more spectacular moves I had seen in many moons. That move took a hell of a lot of timing, it was really good.”