Credit: WWE.com
Johnny Knoxville was never supposed to compete at WWE WrestleMania 38. He entered the men’s Royal Rumble match in January and, despite an energetic performance, met an early elimination, thanks in large part to Sami Zayn.
Sunday night, the comedian will battle The Great Liberator in an Anything Goes match at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the culmination of a months-long feud.
Unfinished business with his opponent and the opportunity to perform in front of upward of 100,000 fans brought him back to the company for another appearance inside the squared circle.
Bleacher Report had the opportunity to talk with the star of Jackass Forever about the match, why he has been greeted with open arms by the WWE Universe, his fandom of Georgia Championship Wrestling and, yes, whipping Zayn’s ass.
B/R: After the Royal Rumble, what made you decide to partner up with WWE again?
Knoxville: Well, I mean, the Royal Rumble…that low-down and dirty Sami Zayn kicked me in the face when I wasn’t looking and left a bad taste in my mouth. So, I was lobbying that I need to get Sami again. And thank God Vince McMahon said it’s OK. It’s like he’s answering a prayer putting me back in the ring with Sami Zayn.
B/R: This isn’t the first time you’ve worked with WWE. You were here in 2008 and worked with The Rock in Walking Tall. What makes Johnny Knoxville and WWE work so well together?
Knoxville: I think there’s a common thread between Jackass and WWE. There’s a certain spirit that works for both, and I think there’s a great connection that way. Also, [Jackass co-creator] Jeff Tremaine did Swerved [WWE Network original series] with WWE, so we have a lot of history.
Q: There were 100,000 fans in Dallas the last time WWE was in town for WrestleMania.
Knoxville: Oh, I hope 100,000 fans are there to watch me whip Sami Zayn’s ass.
B/R: For someone who wasn’t sure if Jackass was going to take off, how does it feel to know you went from that to getting ready to perform at this huge sports-entertainment pay-per-view?
Knoxville: By perform, you mean “Kick Sami Zayn in the face?” I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to perform at WrestleMania and for all the things that have happened in my life. I get the joke, how it could have went, with my barely high school education, so no one is more appreciative than me.
B/R: WWE fans react to you in a different way to other celebrities. Why do you think they are more accepting of you?
Knoxville: I don’t…I heard that the wrestling fans don’t react to all the celebrities and I’m just so grateful that they have accepted me. Maybe it has something to do with what I do for a living, as far as the stunts in Jackass are concerned. So, hopefully, there’s a legitimacy there with me being in the ring.
But I don’t know. Hopefully, they know I’m committed to this and taking it very seriously; training a lot and talking s–t about Sami Zayn whenever I can. It’s grown to be my favorite pastime. Have you ever met him?
B/R: I have not.
Knoxville: Well, consider yourself lucky. You would understand my animosity toward him if you ever met him. You’d get it in two seconds. Like “Oh, no wonder Knoxville wants to stomp him out.”
B/R: I mean, the hat alone…
Knoxville: Oh my God. And that stupid smile. And it’s just…groaning on and on on the microphone.
B/R: At the Royal Rumble, we saw some of your Jackass castmates accompany you to the ring. Any chance they’ll be in Dallas?
Knoxville: I’ll definitely have some guys there. And I’ll do my best to keep them out of the ring. This is between me and Sami, but I don’t know. Sami brings out the worst in everybody.
B/R: Anyone that you have in mind?
Knoxville: You don’t know how many. I went to a Los Angeles Lakers game the other night, right? And walking alone, and I see seven cops standing there. And they’re like, “Hey Knoxville, loved you at the Royal Rumble. F–k Sami Zayn!”
I’m not lying, at least five or six different people that night said “F–k Sami Zayn” unprompted to me. Of course, after they said it, I’d get them to say it again, but it was just out of the blue. He just brings out the worst in everybody.
B/R: Is there anybody in WWE you haven’t gotten to work with yet who you’d like to after you’re done kicking Sami Zayn’s ass?
Knoxville: About three times!
B/R: Anybody else?
Knoxville: Wow, I’ll get in there with anyone they want to put me in with. I’m dressed and ready to play. I didn’t come to just kiss and eat donuts.
B/R: I read in a previous interview you mentioned Paul Heyman?
Knoxville: Oh, Paul Heyman. Yeah, he’s another guy who runs his mouth a lot. A LOT. I don’t know if anyone has ever shut it for him.
B/R: Just small bits. But he just keeps popping up like a pimple on prom night.
Knoxville: Which, I almost find admirable. He is a great talker, right? So, I do have respect for him in that way. But, you know, he should watch what he says about me. But I do admire the man and the way he can jaw. He switches sides a lot. Switches boats midstream quite often, but yeah…
B/R: I also read that you grew up watching Georgia Championship Wrestling. Who was your favorite?
Knoxville: Abdullah the Butcher. Absolute favorite. Those genie shoes.
B/R: The fork?
Knoxville: I was doing a movie once in Columbia, Tennessee and that’s where he lives. I heard he went into the local bar in his genie shoes, still, but if you went up and tried to talk to him about it, like the wrestling, “Oh, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Well, don’t wear your genie shoes if you don’t want to talk about it. I bet he could have sat there and no one would have bugged him. But I heard he can put quarters in his head from all the slicing and dicing.
Man, he’s a big childhood hero. Abdullah the Butcher. Maybe I’ll come out in genie shoes at WrestleMania? I mean, the only thing worse than getting your ass kicked is getting your ass kicked in genie shoes.
B/R: Gotta do the big pants, too. And don’t forget the fork.
JK: Yeah, the fork. The fork!
Knoxville’s respect for WWE and its talent has helped him connect with audiences in a manner other celebrities entering the ring haven’t. He grew up a fan and invested in the stars of his youth, a love that remains all these years later.
The showmanship and larger-than-life character of Abdullah the Butcher attracted Knoxville, and it is those elements that he brings to his WWE appearances. We saw it at the Royal Rumble PPV, and we should expect the same on The Grandest Stage of Them All this weekend.
Might he channel the Butcher when he sets foot inside AT&T Stadium?
That remains to be seen, but if his history on Jackass is any indication, Knoxville will likely throw caution to the wind as he looks to defeat and shut up Zayn in the finale of a feud that has intensified in recent weeks.
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