There are spoilers ahead for the upcoming SmackDown and WrestleMania events.
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Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville could be the WWE Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 38. On this week’s recorded edition of SmackDown, Zayn reclaims the secondary strap after defeating now-former titleholder Shinsuke Nakamura. As such, the rumor mill suggests the Royal Rumble storyline between Zayn and the ‘Jackass Forever’ star would go on to the ‘Grandest Stage of all.’
Before and throughout the Royal Rumble, Knoxville and Zayn were constantly in each other’s faces. This later continued to the former’s film premiere. Most people figured it was the end of their feud; but Zayn continued his Jackass-like behavior on the final SmackDown before his championship win. He did so by shocking Rick Boogs and assaulting Nakamura with a fake microphone.
The match was covered on the most recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. WWE could do a lot worse than put on one of the two nights with something like this bizarre.
Zayn vs Knoxville is as much a part of WrestleMania’s DNA as any poorly-constructed mid-card offering, and they’ve already generated some hype. The next weeks should reveal whether or not the corporation intends to make the announcement official.
READ MORE: WrestleMania 38: A title against title bout might imperil the Raw brand
The Jackass actor has done everything he can to anger and insult Sami Zayn. Johnny used the opportunity to attack WWE’s LA pop-up store, snagging Zayn’s gear and destroying it with a woodchipper.
In fairness, Zayn has done his fair bit of agitating Johnny by attending the premiere of Jackass Forever. He then went on to brag about how he eliminated Knoxville from the Royal Rumble so soon that he was thrown off the red carpet.
Throughout all of this, Zayn has stated that he is a completely innocent victim in this circumstance and has repeatedly tweeted in his defense. On Twitter, he wrote: ‘
“Last night @WWE aired footage of Johnny Knoxville having me ejected from the red carpet at the world premiere of #JackassForever in Hollywood. Many lies are circulating about what happened, so please retweet, share this & discuss widely. HERE IS THE FULL & TRUE STORY. Johnny Knoxville said over & over he’d eliminate me from the Royal Rumble match. Well, he didn’t.”
