Sami Zayn: I Can’t Be Accountable For Fans’ Expectations, But I Will Try To Give You What You Like

Sami Zayn doesn’t subscribe totally to Bob Dylan’s take on artistry, but also can’t be expected to maim himself just to live up to fan expectations.

Sami Zayn is entering an Anything Goes Match with Johnny Knoxville during the second night of WrestleMania 38. Wrestling fans are curious about what may come of this match considering Johnny Knoxville’s history of doing wild stunts in all of his Jackass movies.

Speaking to Kevin Kellam of Sportskeeda, Sami Zayn explained how he goes about dealing with fan expectations for his matches. 

“Sometimes, managing expectations is a very delicate thing, so this is a multi-faceted question here,” said Sami. “ On the one hand, I believe it’s very important to be mindful of what the fans expect and what they want and to deliver something somewhat in that range. I mean, if fans want me to fall off of Hell in a Cell while I’m on fire, I’m sorry, you’re just not going to get that, your expectations are your problem. But there is a meeting point there somewhere. I use Bob Dylan as an example a lot, because if you listen to Bob Dylan’s records, especially from the sixties oh, that’s so much of what he became famous for. If you go to one of his concerts expecting to hear that guy, you’re going to be severely disappointed. Because he’s going to do whatever he wants to do. That’s his thing. It’s almost like an art exhibition and you’re going to get what he, as the artist, puts out. 

“I don’t know if I subscribe entirely to that school of thought. Part of me says, ‘I’m the artist and you’re going to get what I give you.’ But the other part of me is like, ‘I know what you like and I’m going to give you what you like.’ So there is this teeter-totter of managing their expectations and giving them what they like but I also can’t be held accountable for what they expect.”

Fans can expect Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn to provide something unique at WrestleMania 38 when they meet in their Anything Goes Match. We will have full coverage of WrestleMania 38 Sunday beginning at 6 p.m. eastern time with the kickoff show.

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Keep track of everything that went down on WrestleMania 38 Saturday by checking out Fightful’s live coverage. We also had a post-show review immediately following the conclusion of the event.