Kemo
11-02-2017, 09:29 PM
SmackDown Live Superstar Sami Zayn recently appeared on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness podcast where he talked about his recent heel turn and more. Below are some of the highlights from his interview:
Vince McMahon’s vision being different than others:
“Vince’s vision is super-different and I kind of get when people call him a ‘genius’, I kind of get it in a sense because call it ‘genius’ or call it whatever you want, but there’s no debating that his mind works different than everybody else’s does, so everybody else will see things one way and he’ll see it one completely different way. So his vision for me as a heel was completely different from how I viewed it, but as soon as I did it for the first week or the second week, and now I’ve gotten a couple of house shows under my belt, I’m like, ‘oh, man. He’s so right!’ He’s right.”
His interactions with the Boss:
“My interactions with Vince have been a little bit more limited because I haven’t been involved in as many prominent storylines, so now, this is something that I feel he sunk his teeth into and just getting to pick his brain a tiny bit about how he views the character. But he didn’t even get into detail. Like, some of it was just, he would just say, ‘smile out there.’ I go, ‘really? Smile?’ He goes, ‘big smile out there.’ And then, I’d do it and I’m like, ‘oh, man! Of course! Like, it’s so much more heat than going out there and scowling and being like, ‘you guys all did me wrong! if you’re smiling, it’s just so much more obnoxious and so much more dislikable. And, again, it’s just such a simple thing and you start to see it. Once you execute it and it works, that’s like another little lightbulb that goes off in your head.”
His heel persona being similar to an ex-girlfriend:
“I’ll try to sum [the character] up as easily as I can. The analogy that I would give is it’s almost like when you’re dating a girl and she kind of has these quirks, but they’re lovable. But once you break up, it’s like, ‘oh, God! She was so annoying! She would always hog the blankets, she always wanted the room at 65º,’ or whatever. Do you know what I mean? Like, the things you used to love about her, now, you hate about her because you don’t love her anymore. So it’s almost to me, that’s where I’m at right now. It’s like, the character isn’t all-of-a-sudden dying his hair black and wearing eyeliner or something like that. It’s just he’s the same kind of he, now it just means something different because his intentions are different.”
On how he wanted to remain a babyface throughout his career but is now excited about being a heel:
“It was kind of a fantasy in the back of my head to one day kind of do the same thing as Steamboat, like have a great career, but have always been like a straight-laced babyface through-and-through, beginning to end. And I’ve done, like, a good job. I’ve done tiny, tiny heel stints, but nothing of substance. So, again, it was another one of those little heartbreak moments, but the second it’s over, it’s like, ‘man, what do we do now? There’s so much that can be done.’ So I’m very, very excited, but in full disclosure, the part that I don’t have full confidence in yet, but I’m sure it’ll come, is actually working, working, as a heel. I’m going to need to relearn this a little bit.”
Vince McMahon’s vision being different than others:
“Vince’s vision is super-different and I kind of get when people call him a ‘genius’, I kind of get it in a sense because call it ‘genius’ or call it whatever you want, but there’s no debating that his mind works different than everybody else’s does, so everybody else will see things one way and he’ll see it one completely different way. So his vision for me as a heel was completely different from how I viewed it, but as soon as I did it for the first week or the second week, and now I’ve gotten a couple of house shows under my belt, I’m like, ‘oh, man. He’s so right!’ He’s right.”
His interactions with the Boss:
“My interactions with Vince have been a little bit more limited because I haven’t been involved in as many prominent storylines, so now, this is something that I feel he sunk his teeth into and just getting to pick his brain a tiny bit about how he views the character. But he didn’t even get into detail. Like, some of it was just, he would just say, ‘smile out there.’ I go, ‘really? Smile?’ He goes, ‘big smile out there.’ And then, I’d do it and I’m like, ‘oh, man! Of course! Like, it’s so much more heat than going out there and scowling and being like, ‘you guys all did me wrong! if you’re smiling, it’s just so much more obnoxious and so much more dislikable. And, again, it’s just such a simple thing and you start to see it. Once you execute it and it works, that’s like another little lightbulb that goes off in your head.”
His heel persona being similar to an ex-girlfriend:
“I’ll try to sum [the character] up as easily as I can. The analogy that I would give is it’s almost like when you’re dating a girl and she kind of has these quirks, but they’re lovable. But once you break up, it’s like, ‘oh, God! She was so annoying! She would always hog the blankets, she always wanted the room at 65º,’ or whatever. Do you know what I mean? Like, the things you used to love about her, now, you hate about her because you don’t love her anymore. So it’s almost to me, that’s where I’m at right now. It’s like, the character isn’t all-of-a-sudden dying his hair black and wearing eyeliner or something like that. It’s just he’s the same kind of he, now it just means something different because his intentions are different.”
On how he wanted to remain a babyface throughout his career but is now excited about being a heel:
“It was kind of a fantasy in the back of my head to one day kind of do the same thing as Steamboat, like have a great career, but have always been like a straight-laced babyface through-and-through, beginning to end. And I’ve done, like, a good job. I’ve done tiny, tiny heel stints, but nothing of substance. So, again, it was another one of those little heartbreak moments, but the second it’s over, it’s like, ‘man, what do we do now? There’s so much that can be done.’ So I’m very, very excited, but in full disclosure, the part that I don’t have full confidence in yet, but I’m sure it’ll come, is actually working, working, as a heel. I’m going to need to relearn this a little bit.”