Veteran claims 38-year-old WWE star is the centerpiece of Roman Reigns' storyline (Exclusive)

Roman Reigns is the most must-see star in WWE at the moment. Over the last two years, he has been the main focus of the company as the Universal Champion. Dutch Mantell believes Sami Zayn and Tribal Chief are the focal points of the latter's ongoing storyline.

Sami Zayn's feud with The Bloodline and Cody Rhodes' pursuit of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship coincided in 2023. The American Nightmare will take on Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania, while Sami Zayn is likely to challenge The Usos alongside Kevin Owens.

After the latest episode of WWE SmackDown on Sportskeeda's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell stated that Sami Zayn is the centerpiece of the ongoing feud between himself, Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes, and the Bloodline:

"If they’d thrown this together three months, they would have just wasted this great story. This is really an old-time wrestling angle actually played out longer than it would in the old days. Then again, it makes sense, you can put yourself in the shoes of Sami Zayn, but everybody in this, if they had more heels, the two Usos would’ve been tremendous babyfaces cause the people like them. And Roman is the one and he wasn’t even there. Him and Sami are the center players more than Cody." (31:29 - 32:46)

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Dutch Mantell spoke about WWE's patience with Roman Reigns' storyline

Often, fans have accused WWE of rushing storylines and now allowing stories to reach their full potential.

According to Dutch Mantell, the company has avoided doing that with the ongoing storyline involving Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and the Usos:

"They [fans] are putting the pieces together. And whether they fit or not, they can make them fit if they want to because they’re gonna arrive at the same spot anybody else is at right now. But that’s what makes wrestling good wrestling cause it makes sense. And at the end if it makes sense, it works. This has gone on for what, 9 months at least. They put this together and I’m glad they had patience with it because it took patience to get it here." (30:26 - 31:28)

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens hugged it out on SmackDown to close out the show, potentially setting up a future WrestleMania clash against the Usos.

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