Paul Heyman Passed On Drafting Sami Zayn To WWE Raw

In what could be used as another wrinkle for Sami Zayn's feud with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, Eric Bischoff has revealed that Paul Heyman passed on drafting Zayn to Monday Night Raw in 2019.

At the time, Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman had just been appointed as the Executive Directors of SmackDown and Raw, respectively, and they decided which talents they wanted on their brands in a backstage meeting before the official WWE Draft aired on TV.

Speaking about the meeting, Bischoff revealed on his 83 Weeks podcast that Heyman allowed the SmackDown Executive Director to bring Zayn to the blue brand.

"SmackDown was about to debut on Fox Network, which is a very, very big deal. I didn't know Sami [Zayn], so as we sit down and we're shuffling the deck and looking at the names on the roster and all of that. Sami was in the category where Paul would say, 'No, you take him.' The best part of listening to a cat like Sami is the nuggets of gold that you find when you read a little bit between the lines. I love the fact that Sami was one of those, I'll call him a utility guy," Bischoff stated.

At the time, Zayn was not being utilised as a wrestler, instead featuring on WWE programming as the manager of Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro.

Paul Heyman has shown his disdain for Zayn on WWE TV in recent weeks, even while the three-time Intercontinental Champion was a member of The Bloodline. Zayn turned on Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble and they will face off for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber on February 18.

H/T to Wrestling Inc.