WWE superstar Sami Zayn was the latest guest on the Out Of Character podcast with host Ryan Satin, where the former two-time Intercontinental champion spoke about his decision to re-sign with the company, and how he feels like his input backstage is greatly valued. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says he does have some creative input to his character, but admits that he’s not the one booking his own stuff:
“Let me just nip this in the bud — I don’t wanna act like I’m booking my own stuff, because I’m not. [I have] input for the creative team and whoever to be receptive to my ideas and trust me, I swing a lot and they’ll tell ya. If you ever have one of them in these chairs, that would be interesting. [laughs] But I swing a lot and I don’t think I swing a lot of duds but sometimes I swing ideas and sometimes there’s reasons that I don’t know why they won’t work and sometimes they say they won’t work because of XYZ. But a lot things I’ll take and okay, it’s not exactly how I envisioned it but pieces get through. Like the documentary, for example, and they take on a life of their own.”
Says WWE has shown that they value him:
“So, yeah, for sure, having even a little bit of creative input, I think that’s what’s really taken my appreciation and my enjoyment of being here in WWE to another level. I’ll say ‘hey, I really wish we can kind of do this’ and then some version of it will happen and I’m thrilled, I’m over the moon, what more could you ask for? That’s it. Yeah, just to feel like you have a voice and feel like you’re being heard and then when you actually go out there and do it, you feel respected and valued,” Zayn noted, “that’s really what kept me here. There are other factors for sure but that was really it. It wasn’t, ‘oh all of a sudden my contract is coming up and it’s time for a negotiation’ and hey, hey we really like ya, well where have you been the last two years? No, no, the last two years they’ve shown they value me, so when they told me that they wanted me to stay, I believed them. So I stayed.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestleZone)