Sami Zayn Calls WrestleMania Match With Johnny Knoxville One Of His Favorites

Written by Sondra Ruth • Published 8th April 2022
Sami Zayn Johnny Knoxville

Despite losing the bout, Sami Zayn says that his WrestleMania 38 match against Johnny Knoxville stands up as one of his favorites.

Sami Zayn and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville have been at odds since the leadup to the 2022 Royal Rumble, when Knoxville qualified for the event by throwing Zayn over the top rope on an episode of SmackDown.

Since then, tensions continued to rise with Sami Zayn being kicked out of the premiere of Jackass Forever, and Knoxville releasing Zayn’s personal phone number on social media.

Knoxville then challenged Zayn to a match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, and while Zayn lost the title to Ricochet before the event, the two still engaged an an Anything Goes match on the Grandest Stage Of Them All.

The WrestleMania 38 bout didn’t disappoint fans of Jackass shenanigans and featured a bowling ball, an appearance from Party Boy, the legendary Jackass hand, and Wee Man delivering a bodyslam to Sami Zayn. In the end, Zayn was caught in a giant mousetrap and pinned, and the Jackass crew stood in the ring to celebrate Knoxville’s victory.

Despite posting a Twitter thread of photos that hailed the match as the worst night of his life, Sami Zayn has since taken to social media and admitted that the match stands up as one of his all time favorites in his legendary career, rivaling bouts with such names as Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura.

“My Wrestlemania match against Johnny Knoxville is one of my all time favorites. Definitely one of the matches I’m most proud of. I’ve had a lot of great matches in my career, I’d put this up with any of them. Anyone who saw this match will remember it. That’s as good as it gets.”

One man who wasn’t a fan of the bout, however, is legendary wrestling manager Jim Cornette, who found the match to be an “abomination” and didn’t believe it belonged on WrestleMania.