Current Star Says WrestleMania 38 Match Was Never WWE's Plan
This current WWE wrestler says fan responses changed WrestleMania 38 plans.
Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville was never WWE's original plan for the former at WrestleMania 38.
SmackDown star Zayn told The Dallas Morning News that the creative team only started to think about asking Knoxville back for a match at 'Mania when fans treated him like a big deal - Sami told the site that JK got some of the loudest pops of the night whenever he'd show up ("I know because I was in the ring for all of them").
Originally, Knoxville was only supposed to work a guest spot in January's Royal Rumble match as a means to co-promote his upcoming Jackass Forever movie. WWE enjoyed the celeb's work so much, and Johnny was having so much fun himself, that they decided to turn it into a longer story.
Zayn was right up for that, because he could see the potential in a singles match against the actor.
WWE announced that the 'Mania bout pitting Sami vs. Knoxville would be an "Anything Goes" scrap on the latest episode of SmackDown. Zayn fired out the challenge for that in a quick promo, then Johnny accepted later on.