The Bloodline Timeline Part 3: The Honorary Uce

With the Bloodline Saga reaching a huge climax soon, it’s time to start chronicling what it all looked like to us. To do that here, Tanya of the Suplexes and Shea Butter Podcast has once again lent us her talents. You can find her at @TheWitchMilitia on Twitter. Check out Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

Sami Zayn first approached Roman Reigns on the April 22, 2022 episode of SmackDown. After shamelessly kissing ass and acknowledging the Tribal Chief, Zayn asked for assistance in his match that night with Drew McIntyre, who was gunning for the unified World titles. Coming off the heels of an embarrassing loss to Jackass star Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania 38, Sami was looking to regain credibility. He proposed a “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours” deal. 

Having similar enemies in the lockerroom in McIntyre, Matt Riddle, and Randy Orton, Sami and the Bloodline did, in fact, begin to help each other out. From the beginning of the arrangement, Jey always seemed reluctant to include Sami. He was visibly irritated by Sami’s presence despite Sami doing all he could to win favor with the Bloodline. About a month after first approaching the group, Sami asked the Usos if he could join up with them, despite not being blood related. While Jey clearly not feeling the idea, Jimmy agreed and dubbed Sami an “honorary uce”.

The closer Sami got to Roman, the more protective of his family Jey got and showed that protection by being mean to Sami. At certain points, it seemed as if Sami’s mere presence upset Jey. I believe Jey was frustrated that he had done so much for so long to appease Roman while it just seemed like Roman welcomed Sami with open arms. And the reason Sami was welcomed by Roman is because Sami is hilarious. He was constantly making the group laugh, even Jey. It reminded Roman of when he was known as The Big Dog, when he was *happy* to be backstage among his peers.

Roman Reigns successfully defended the WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales against Drew McIntrye when the Usos’ younger brother, Solo Sikoa, appeared from out of nowhere to pull the referee out of the ring and save Roman from being pinned. The Usos were unable to be there for the Chief, so the elders (without Roman’s knowledge) sent Solo. He was immediately slotted as the enforcer of the group. 

Solo’s arrival to the Bloodline coincided with Roman officially acknowledging Sami as the honorary uce by presenting him with his very own shirt. The method in which he did it, however, was done so at Jey’s expense. He asked Sami why he was wearing a Bloodline shirt, to take it off, and to never wear it again. Jey was so eager that Roman was doing this that he ripped the shirt off of Sami himself. Only to be left looking confused when Sami was presented with his own Honorary Uce shirt.

Roman presenting Sami with that shirt may have been the first time in years where he smiled for a non-evil reason. He had welcomed Sami into the family finally. Jey, on the other hand, was still not convinced and bumped heads with Sami at every turn. The peak of the tension happened when Logan Paul attempted to play mind games with the group, asking whether Roman or Jey was the real Tribal Chief. When Jey got mouthy with Paul, Roman felt threatened by this and looked to confront Jey about it before Sami deflected out of the situation, as usual, by making the Tribal Chief laugh.

Sami was not just a clown, however. He had helped the Usos retain their titles and assisted in beatdowns of McIntyre and Sheamus. He carried his own weight and genuinely seemed to have bought into being a member of the family. In late October 2022, Roman told Jey and Sami to hash out their issues in the ring in front of everyone.

Jey stated that he would do anything for his family. He would shed blood for them. When he asked Sami if he would do that same, Sami did not answer, instead asking why Jey was so upset and that he was doing with the Tribal Chief said. That is when Jey, full of anger, loudly declared “I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE TRIBAL CHIEF SAY!”

Jey’s point was that he did not feel Sami would go as far as he would for his family. He did not want any outsiders around. I feel like he was gaslit by both Sami and Roman a bit when he was expressing his concerns. As per usual, Sami was able to deflect the tension temporarily once Roman got upset at Jey’s outburst by telling Roman that Jey just wasn’t feeling very “ucey” lately.

The more entangled Sami became with the Bloodline, the more concerned his longtime friend/enemy/brother-from-another-mother, Kevin Owens, became. He began to become very vocal about how he felt Roman was using Sami and would expose to him when they were done with them. He cared so much that KO decided to reinsert himself as an enemy to Roman Reigns in an attempt to reach his friend.

Survivor Series saw the Bloodline compete in a WarGames match against the Brawling Brutes, McIntyre, and Kevin Owens. All eyes were on Sami to see if he would be loyal to his new family or his old. He was essentially the star of the match as he proved he was with the Bloodline several times over, even giving KO and lowblow and leaving Jey to be the one to get the pin on him, despite Jey accidentally kicking him in the face during the bout and not feeling very sorry about it.

Sami’s performance in the cage won Jey over in spades and he finally accepted him into the family. He had finally gained Jey’s trust . . . and yet Roman began to become suspicious of Sami, seemingly out of nowhere. I feel it was a combination of Sami getting a little too cocky for his own good and the fact that Sami reminded Roman of how he used to be: someone who was too trusting and that trust would get him screwed over. 

Roman wasted little time after Sami made one mistake (getting pinned in a tag match) and decided to hold Tribal Court to decide whether Sami would remain in the Bloodline. After Paul Heyman basically accused Sami of trying to take Roman down, Sami was so disillusioned that he refused to defend himself. He was about to get spiked in the throat by Solo before Jey physically held his brother back. He argued in Sami’s favor, which bought him some more time in the group. But the true test would be when Roman defended against Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble.

Roman defeated KO at the Rumble, with Sami’s help, even though it was clear Sami was conflicted. The Bloodline jumped KO after the match and Roman demanded that Sami “finish off” KO, even pushing Sami by the face and talking down to him. It was pretty clear to most people that nothing Sami did would ever be enough to please Roman. So, instead of hit KO, Sami blasted Roman in the back with the chair. 

Let me just say that I do not agree with Sami hitting Roman in the back. I do not know how you can claim to care about anyone and open up a barely scabbed over wound like that. I think it was a sucka move. However, he was not wrong to stand up to Roman. He was never going to stop testing Sami. He was never going to fully trust Sami because of what Sami represented; Roman’s time as the Big Dog. In a way, it was Roman trying to exorcize the fun loving side out of Sami in a similar way he had done to Jey and I applaud Sami for standing up for himself.

That chair shot to Roman’s back was met with Jimmy immediately attacking. Solo doing the same. And Jey, at that point having been pulled in so many directions, walked out. He walked out on the Bloodline for a while after this. His status in the group was up in the air as Sami decided that he would take the Bloodline down, starting with taking the unified titles with Roman. But he came up short at the Elimination Chamber because, at the point, you need at least two people watching your back if you want to have a fair fight against Roman Reigns.

Sami pivoted to going after the Usos, who, in their own ways, let Sami know that they had no choice but to fight him. The Bloodline is their family, which is what Jey was telling Sami all along. Of course it was easier for Sami to make the decision to stand up to Roman. He did not grow up in a wrestling family. He had no idea what their family dynamic is like. But I do feel the Usos seeing Sami do what he did made their later decisions involving Roman easier.

Sami eventually reconciled with KO and, at WrestleMania 39 in the Saturday night main event, defeated the Usos for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships, the titles that possibly represented the Bloodline’s dominance much more than the WWE Universal Championship, as the Usos were the workhorses in group. 

Sami Zayn had gone looking for credibility and to get his career back on track when he first approached the Bloodline. He became their family. And he learned that is not necessarily always a good thing. Fortunately, he was able to get away from the Tribal Chief and make his way back to the family he already had. 

Next time we will take a small detour from the timeline to explore how and why Roman Reigns evolved into the Tribal Chief