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There are a multitude of great professional wrestling couple that are technical masterpiece ; match so good , wrestling fans continually debate which one is the greatest of all time . Whether it ’s Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage atWrestleMania IIIor Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker ’s classic showdown atWrestleMania XXV , there ’s no shortfall ofWWEmatches to debate about which play off truly is the great ever .
Sometimes you ’ll get a bang-up sports entertainment peer that will , by definition , entertain the fans in attendance , but may not be take in with the same level of cultism as some of the Graeco-Roman grappling match . Too much hate is throw to one of these match -Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn atWrestleMania 38- and it ’s time we ’re all true about how much fun this lucifer wasand how it was one of the unspoiled celebrity matches ever .
“I Accept, Schnookums!” - Johnny Knoxville, World’s Champion
A Brief History of Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn
The shape ofjackasshave a longsighted shape relationship with WWE and the two fan bases have a pregnant crossover appeal , withjackassbeing one of the most popular show of the late-1990s during a monolithic resurgence for both WWE and WCWduring the Monday Night Wars . Johnny Knoxville , the whizz of the show and the movies , became a key focal item during the promotion of 2022’sJackass Forever , leading him to appear on WWE programming for a period of time .
Knoxville set his quite a little on Zayn through the 2022Royal Rumble , and Zayn wipe out Knoxville from the match and set the track for their match at WrestleMania 38 . Through a series of pranks and stunt , include Knoxville post Zayn ’s cadre phone number all over social culture medium - a call back to a schtick from MTV’sViva La Bamwhere Bam Margera send Knoxville ’s personal cell phone number on the sign outside of Duffer ’s Pub in Glen Mills , PA - Zayn became so enraged after dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Ricochet that he challenged Knoxville to an " Anything Goes " match atWrestleMania 38 .
Johnny Knoxville Is Pro Wrestling
A Serious Entertainer and a Serious Wrestler
Johnny Knoxville has always had the goods and the acquirement to make his brand of performance playfulness , andjackassowes a major part of its success to his ability to make the most irritating stunt look and sound benignant . Wrestling fans want to be hold as well as enjoy a good technical match , and the South Knoxville Strong Boy ’s power to survive in both worlds translated utterly into WWE , with this skillset allowing him and Zayn to put on the most sports entertainment mate in WWE chronicle without hold itself too in earnest .
By allowing Knoxville to shine with his gifts , as well as this generation ’s Hogan / Andre bodyslam moment by manner of Wee Man and an appearing from Party Boy ( Chris Pontius ) that almost broke Pat McAfee and Michael Cole , the couple was a funny chef-d’oeuvre while providing several notable wrestling movement from Knoxville and Zayn . The match was obviously not a proficient show window and was resoundingly trash by wrestle critics and internet wrestle fan . However , it was entertaining , thrilling , and most importantly , fun , which is ultimately the finish of a great hand-to-hand struggle friction match .
The Impact on Sami Zayn’s Career
Knoxville Gave Way to the Bloodline
Sami Zayn , run out of gas in his confederacy theorist thingumajig by way of his Artist Collective stable with Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura , had little counselling past his match with Johnny Knoxville . With his loss , which saw him be pinned by Knoxville after being caught in a giant mousetrap , Zayn seemed relegated to the outer boundary of theSmackDownroster , until he find himself in the crosshairs and dependable grace of the Tribal Chief , Roman Reigns .
What keep an eye on was one of the most unexpected level of both Zayn ’s vocation andThe Bloodline story , as Zayn became both an integral member of the stable and arguably the most pop as the " Honorary Uce " . The inclusion of Zayn in the history pave the way of life forJey Uso ’s eventual break from the stable and his current main outcome status , as well as Zayn and Kevin Owens competing in the master event of Night 1 ofWrestleMania 39,ending The Usos ' record - breakage tag team championship sovereignty , something that would have been impossible without a storyline " awkward " loss to Knoxville the year before .
A Case For Its Place in Wrestling History
If You Hate This Match, You Must Hate Fun
It ’s hard to dispute that the good renown match of all meter is Bad Bunny and Damian Priest ’s " San Juan Street Fight " at2023’sBacklash , but in terms of crowd turmoil and fun , Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn outrank at a very skinny number two on that leaning . Not only did the match provide the sports amusement component that WWE strives to produce for the devotee base , but it alsogot the best reaction from the crowd throughout Night 2 ’s integral card , admit the show ’s main event compeer between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns .
Hating on this match because it did n’t supply the form of technological skill and power some section of wrestling fandom demand every night is kindred to hat on Batman for not fighting Thanos : it ’s ask for a result from something that ’s never going to be offered in the first position . Sami Zayn has repeatedly referred to this match asone of the all - metre favorite matches of his career , and the crowd response throughout the intact match was loud , boisterous , and employ .
Zayn toldThe Five Star Podcastin tardy 2024 that this catch shattered all first moment of what they were expected to do , and he ’s proud of their piece of work .
“ I ’ve had a lot of really great matches that I ’m really lofty of . The Knoxville one jump out at me for so many reasons , I think . For starters , expectations were low . Any time you may take people on that variety of drive when they ’re not really carry to be taken on that variety of ride . To me that ’s all grappling really is . "
" It ’s like a ride . An emotional ride , a ride of different reactions . It ’s kick the bucket left and it turn correct and it ’s up and it ’s down and the next affair you get laid you ’re just enamor up in it . It ’s a great feeling to be caught up in it . ”
Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn was never going to be Steamboat / Savage or Michaels / Undertaker because it did n’t have to be , and it was n’t intend to be . It was a fun romp of a match that saw a beloved millennial icon getting trounced in the ring until his thong - wearing friend came to save the day via interpretive dance , before Wee Man bodyslammed Zayn into wrestling history . IfWWEcould point to anything and say " this is the definition of sports entertainment , " this equal would be it , and it ’s long preceding clock time that wrestling buff stop seek to take it so seriously and just admit they enjoyed themselves and this match .
