Sami Zayn Just Gave The Most Honest Possible Defense Of WWE’s Most Mocked Storyline

Sami Zayn has publicly defended WWE SmackDown’s Gingerbread Man storyline, calling the best execution of the angle “a good piece of business” while acknowledging one week fell flat.

Speaking on Huge POP!, Zayn addressed both the online criticism and reports of internal creative pushback on the angle, which has involved Trick Williams, Lil Yachty, and Zayn himself as part of a United States Championship program.

“I don’t know. I think context is kind of key for all of these things, right? A couple of weeks ago — I think these were maybe back-to-back weeks. I get the timeline messed up sometimes in my head, but the one week when Trick and Lil Yachty had came out with the Gingerbread Man, and then I ended up being under the outfit and attacked them with the cane and all that. I thought that was great, and then the following week, I just had the Gingerbread Man mannequin in the ring… and beat up the Gingerbread mannequin. So, in both cases, a Gingerbread Man is kind of — I don’t wanna say the focal part of it but, kind of, right?”

He was clear about which version worked and which didn’t.

“There’s this serious WrestleMania program for the United States Championship that involves a Gingerbread Man. On paper, sounds kind of silly. But the week we did it, where it was me under the suit, and I’m dancing, and then I clock those guys, I thought that was great. Then the following week, with the mannequin, it felt a little bit more lifeless to me. Not as great, maybe a little silly.”

He pushed back on the idea that the concept itself was the problem.

“I don’t think the concept of the Gingerbread Man by itself is ridiculous or silly. It’s all in execution and on a week-to-week basis. But I thought that week where the Gingerbread Man showed up with the bus and he was dapping up Trick, and then he had his own locker room, and then I’m dancing and having all this fun, then I’m just part of the celebration because the Gingerbread Man is there to troll me essentially and make fun of me, and I whack them with a cane and I break the cane on Yachty’s back, and that cane was legitimately made of — I don’t know what — oak or something. It was so hard. I don’t know how it broke. I felt that was all a good piece of business.”