WWE: The Bloodline storyline has been the best-executed storyline in years

When you sit down to watch your weekly dose of professional wrestling, what is it that keeps you coming back? For some, it’s the action in the ring between two wrestlers delivering devastating move after devastating move.

For others, it’s the story being told both inside and outside the ring.

A 5-star match will keep you entertained for 20 minutes, but the storyline of triumph, betrayal, and redemption will have you coming back every week.

The WWE is no stranger to telling outstanding stories that wrestling fans will remember fondly. Whether it’s a small sample like Brock Lesnar ending the Undertaker’s legendary undefeated streak at WrestleMania or longer-term storylines such as the WCW Invasion angle of WWE in the early 2000s.

But not every storyline resonates with fans either due to odd bookings or unwanted outcomes. As they say, “you win some and you lose some.”

Where the WWE has hit it big is with the current handling of Roman Reigns and the Bloodline.

Looking at this story from the beginning, it took a returning Reigns during the Summer of 2020 to take the WWE Universal Championship from then-champion Bray Wyatt.

It’s easy to forget that Reigns has nearly been champion for three years. But across those three years, we’ve seen some of the best storytelling in quite some time.

From taking Jey Uso out of the tag-team spotlight and crowning him “Main Event” Jey Uso, an I Quit match to solidify Reigns as the Head of the Table followed by a tribal acknowledgment from Uncle Afa and Father Sifa, and convincing Jimmy to fall in line, the Bloodline stood tall above the rest.

However, how do you continue to tell a story that has expanded nearly three years? Reigns had taken all challengers down leaving the field pretty thin.

With Reigns approaching the 1,000-day mark as THE champion and face of WWE, it’s no secret that steam had been close to running out on The Bloodline.

Enter Sami Zayn.

Now, if you were paying attention to Zayn’s character work, you’d had seen some … interesting characters.

From claiming he was the rightful Intercontinental Champion, to the obsessed conspiracy theorist, and finally, taking on Jackass star Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania, there’s no way this comedic act had any business entering the super serious Bloodline angle.

But sometimes the most absurd thing in wrestling shines the brightest.

Zayn breathed life into The Bloodline since his early days of wearing their t-shirt and pretending to be accepted by them. Zayn played the slow burn of winning over each member and the audience ate it up week in and week out.

Any good story needs tease and uncertainty to keep an audience engaged. Equally, there needs to be a defining moment that will last a lifetime.

When Reigns handed Zayn the Honorary Uce t-shirt last year, it marked the full embodiment of a stable, a dominant stable, dominating any challenge that would present itself.

The challenge within itself became quite clear: how do you cause tension within a group that had it all?

As it turns out, the answer was called Kevin Owens.

Now, Owens and Reigns were no strangers as the two feuded over the Universal Championship during Reigns’ reign. However, this time it caused conflict as one member of The Bloodline would refuse to partake in the beatings of Owens.

The history of Zayn and Owens goes back decades as the two have done almost everything together.

While The Bloodline took their frustrations out on Owens, Zayn stood by unwilling to fight his former best friend.

Reigns took notice.

A good champion sees challengers coming for his title. A great champion like Reigns sees the internal conflict before anyone else.

The 2022 Survivor Series, a WWE staple, shook things up by hosting War Games instead of the traditional 5-on-5 match.

All five members of The Bloodline partook in War Games against an equally formidable team that included Owens. In the closing moments, Owens landed a Stunner on Reigns that would’ve won his team the match.

Zayn stopped the referee’s three-count and moments later delivered a defining low blow to Owens to help secure the win for his team.

Solidary. Brotherhood. This was your tease following Survivor Series.

The uncertainty still needed to be played to bring this story to a fitting conclusion.

Fast-forward to the 2023 Royal Rumble where Owens would challenge Reigns one more time. And as history repeated itself one more time, the KO problem was solved.

In one of WWE’s defining moments of the past decade, the choice was given to Zayn: are you in or are you out?

The chair shot heard around the world would ensue moments later, but not to the head of a handcuffed Owens, but to the back of Reigns.

Zayn had made his choice.

After months of seeing his former best friend beaten to within an inch of his life, Zayn couldn’t take anymore.

Without a doubt, the most popular member of The Bloodline was now out. Following the brutal beatdown of Zayn and Owens by Reigns, the Alamodome had choice words for the champion.

But as vulgar as those chants were, they fell on deaf ears.

Throughout the many twists and turns to arrive at this moment had paid off for the WWE. It rejuvenated fans into a storyline that was heading for a brick wall.

To have all of this transpire without a single match between Zayn and The Bloodline is masterful. To have Zayn have the WWE Universe eating out of his hands with Uce-y vernacular is genius.

To cast doubt onto the WWE’s most dominant champ is unheard of.

Had any one of these segments gone south and not delivered what we ended up getting would’ve been a travesty not just in the WWE, but in the entire wrestling world.

This is when wrestling is at its best and it’s been too long since a storyline this captivating had been executed to perfection.