Sami Zayn Reflects On What Makes a Great Heel, Doesn’t Think He’s Fully Turned

Sami Zayn is playing a little more to the dark side as of late, and he weighed in during a new interview what makes a great heel. Zayn has been playing into a more heelish persona in his feud with Trick Williams. It’s a change of face for a star who has generally played a babyface far more than he’s played heel.

Zayn was asked about his new character arc during his interview with the Toronto Sun. He noted that he doesn’t believe he’s done a full heel turn and spoke about what makes a good heel in his eyes. You can see the highlights below:

On His Character Turn:

“Well, first I’ll disagree with your statement that I’ve fully turned heel here. I don’t think I have. I think I’m trying to play this one a little different. Because it’s kind of — this one is kind of different. We’re kind of riding these reactions, which are kind of different week to week.

“So I had this idea for a slight kind of character shift that would be a little outside the box, that would kind of split the audience a little bit. But sometimes things just don’t work out exactly how you envision it. And sometimes you think you’re going to be somewhere on the timeline and you’re not. Maybe I’m being a little vague here about it, but all this to say, I still think there’s a ways to go. And it could still go in in a number of different ways, which I find very interesting and kind of refreshing.

On What Makes a Great Heel:

“I spent the majority of my career as a good guy, and I know what I want out of my bad guys. So I just — I sometimes think we overthink things. Like even, what makes a good guy, what makes a bad guy? I think you kind of just got to look to yourself, right? What do you value in people and what qualities and characteristics do you not like in people. And then you kind of embody those things, and I don’t think it needs to be much more complicated than that. Because I think there’s a universalness to to some of these things, like there are certain qualities that are universally viewed as admirable and a lot of qualities that are universally deemed detestable. And I think if you just look inward, a lot of times it matches not only how you feel, but how other people feel too.

“So I think — you know, when you just think of, ‘God, what do I not like about people, or what really what really drives me crazy?’ And then you kind of do what you can to embody that.”

On the Technical Side Of Being a Heel:

“But then from the more technical aspect, I know when I work as a good guy, I know what I like out of my bad guys and vice versa. So, I think that just kind of — I don’t know, I just kind of keep that in mind. And I think I could say what’s worked for me might not work for the next guy. I don’t think Trick Williams is a full-blown — even though he’s getting really great reactions, I don’t know if I would call him a full-blown good guy, or babyface or whatever, right? But certainly he’s getting these huge cheers, and what’s gotten him cheered is maybe not the same thing that’s gotten me cheered in the past. So I do think there’s a — everybody has their unique qualities.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Toronto Sun with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.