“There were so many gifts that land in your lap when you’re doing a story that long,” Zayn explained. “Things you didn’t count on that take it to a whole other level. In the case of The Bloodline, a lot of it was stuff you couldn’t plan. Like some of the interactions with Jimmy and Jey and just the chemistry on screen as well especially with those two and with Roman. There’s just a great chemistry with all of us as performers, but some of those things you just could not have planned.”

Zayn then reflected on his first backstage “WWE SmackDown” segment with Reigns last year and how that revealed that Reigns’ character does things that fans don’t expect. There were other twists and turns with character dynamics that kept fans guessing as to whether Reigns would accept Zayn, who would turn on who first, and more.

“What a treat to be able to tell a story that deep and that layered with that amount of time to have it play out over almost a year,” Zayn said. “And on top of it, it’s with the person that the audience has the highest investment in the whole company, in the whole industry in the last decade. So everything you’re doing, they’re paying attention and caring about. Then on top of it, you’re doing compelling things, so they’re two or three times as interested as they normally would be.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Out of Character” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.