When it comes to the discussion of the greatest babyfaces (the term for the good guy or fan favorite in pro wrestling lingo) of all-time in pro wrestling, the names Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Sting, Dusty Rhodes and even Cody Rhodes might come to mind. According to former wrestler Tommy Dreamer however, there’s a current WWE who already deserves a spot on the Rushmore of babyfaces: Sami Zayn.
“… I may have to start putting Sami Zayn up there in some of the greatest babyfaces to watch if you want to study how to be a babyface,” Dreamer said on the Busted Open After Dark podcast. “I say this about Sami, and I say it as the ultimate compliment, Sami could literally get squashed like an old school job guy tonight and then become your world champion tomorrow. He’s so believable. He’s beautiful in his art form of the sell.”
Dreamer continued, “He reminds me of Jeff Hardy. Jeff always was doing his magic when he was selling, and then when he finally blows his comeback, but that sell makes the comeback mean so much. I would always talk about [the conversation of] greatest babyfaces of all time, and I may have to start throwing Sami’s name in there.”
Although Zayn had a storyline where he joined Roman Reigns and the Bloodline, a heel faction, Zayn’s character growth with the group was so transformative — with different stages throughout the narrative seeing him go from flunkey to scapegoat to trusted ally to dissident to tag team champion with his best friend all along Kevin Owens — that it launched him from midcard status to WrestleMania main eventer all in one story arc. In addition, Zayn, who joined the Bloodline as a way to redeem himself after losing to Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame at WrestleMania 38, was arguably the only one in the Bloodline (aside from Jey Uso) who still retained a sense of altruism despite the group’s goals.
Zayne’s time with the Bloodline was regarded by many wrestling fans as one of the greatest storylines of the past decade and perhaps in pro wrestling history, with Paul Heyman describing the epic plot as “Shakespearian” in its unfolding.
“As soon as we had felt that everyone had gotten almost comfortable with all of our characters, we threw in this crazy out of left field, dynamic catalyst that no one saw coming, that would change the perception of the group and the interpersonal dealings amongst us all,” Heyman said of Sami Zayn joining the Bloodline storyline.
Heyman added, “Look at what we did without a microphone in our hands with Sami Zayn at the end of the Royal Rumble. We did a 15-minute storyline that called back to everything we’ve done for the past year with Sami, and everything we did was basically a Shakespearean pantomime.”
What do you think of the fact that Tommy Dreamer thinks Sami Zayn is in the conversation for greatest babyfaces of all-time? Do you think Sami Zayn should be in the discussion for greatest baby faces of all-time? Let us know in the comments.
