Understandably, WWE fans are almost universally pumped about the idea of Sami Zayn rejoining The Usos and Roman Reigns to do battle against Solo Sikoa's Bloodline.

But WWE would be unwise to rush into this.

The pace of this whole thing already feels fast. Jey Uso lost the intercontinental title in a semi-strange way, almost to the point it broke the fourth wall as a reward for his good work, but now it's back to Bloodline business. And he was very quick to link back up with Jimmy Uso, too.

In this new era of methodical long-term storytelling looped around character motivations, it would be silly for Zayn just to shrug everything off and link with Reigns so quickly.

More compelling might be Zayn going the way of other anti-Reigns Superstars of late. Kevin Owens, obviously, is very unhappy that anyone would align with The Original Tribal Chief.

Randy Orton has also voiced his displeasure over the whole thing and seems one twitch away from a heel turn everyone appears to agree is coming.

If we're keeping the realistic booking going, Zayn is probably more akin to Owens in his feelings—just more vocal about it and less violent.

All the gaslighting and serious concerns aside, Zayn is liable to take his time trying to stick in the middle of the two factions. By the way, he also happens to know that, should he just up and align himself with Reigns again, it will spark a blood feud with KO yet again.

It doesn't feel like the small number of weeks between now and Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30 will be enough to bridge these gaps.

This opens up some interesting doors, though. Reigns and The Usos will need to clash with Sikoa's Bloodline. But what if Zayn sort of slides into an anti-all-of-you faction alongside Owens, Orton and someone who has serious beef with them all? Think, Drew McIntyre, AJ Styles or any number of other Superstars who have been harmed by Reigns or his family members in recent years.

How's that for a WarGames? Three factions, all with super-real motivations backed by years of builds. The match(es) would be bangers, we know. But they would also open up plenty of compelling in-ring storytelling that pushes the narrative forward too.

Zayn joining Reigns and The Usos just because he was asked nicely doesn't cut it here. And that fourth wall? It would be another bad case of blurred lines harking back to a now-bygone era of WWE.

We're not all that far removed from the Vince McMahon era of booking that molded stories around events in lazy ways. Slapping together tag matches despite character sensibilities was a staple of Survivor Series events. Ditto for the gross misuse of the Hell in a Cell or TLC formats.

Sure, there's more motivation here to have Zayn's spotlight alongside the good Bloodline again. It sure beats slapping Cody Rhodes in the family feud he has no business in again. But one could argue there's just as much motivation for Zayn to go in the other direction, too.

The only thing that should ever bring Zayn back to Reigns' side is the Tribal Chief himself. It will take him admitting the error of his ways, the mistreatment and the taking of Zayn for granted. Anything else is just noise.

And right now, it doesn't feel like we've reached that version of Reigns just yet—and we probably shouldn't just because the calendar happens to say Survivor Series is November 30.

Stretching this out longer to let things unfold naturally will benefit WWE and fans, too. We're approaching that "offseason" part of the calendar before the build to a WrestleMania really starts to heat up.

Fans will want to tune in every week to see if, how and when Zayn might actually join up as the missing link. Having it happen this early, then just having faction brawls every week until 'Mania just wouldn't be as compelling.

This won't please all fans, of course. To some, Zayn is the only fourth who makes sense. And to a degree, they're right. But that doesn't have to happen right away, either.

If WWE applies its methodical, careful storytelling to this scenario, Zayn might not loop back into Reigns' Bloodline until near next year's 'Mania—there are simply too many great storytelling threads to pull and a whole bunch of shows to fill between now and then.

WWE likes to subvert expectations to generate surprises. Here's an easy layup of one, earned naturally through the measured storytelling so far. For now, Zayn needs to push back and stand on his own beliefs on this one.