A wrestler from Canada might be one of the strongest sources of inspiration for children of the Middle East.
“I do feel in a lot of ways that I’m living proof that anything is possible,” says WWE NXT champion Sami Zayn. “I was the most unlikely looking 15-year-old kid with a dream and now that dream is coming true, so I feel in a lot of ways if I can do it then someone else can.”
That dream is currently at the stage of holding the championship belt for NXT, the professional development brand of the WWE, a title he won in December’s NXT Takeover: R Evolution. WWE fans in the UAE will be able to witness Zayn in action when he heads to Abu Dhabi on February 12 for the three-day WWE Live event in the capital.
Born and raised in Montreal, Zayn has a Syrian background. “It’s definitely something important to me [to be a positive role model for Arabs],” said the wrestler in an interview with tabloid!. “I was born in Montreal but my parents are both from Syria [and] immigrated to Canada, so I was very much brought up [as an Arab]. I never felt like we had proper representation, the only sort of Middle Eastern representation I remember while growing up was the Iron Shaikh [Iranian wrestler Hussain Khosrow Ali Vaziri], who was the big villain at the time.”
“Historically I feel that Arabs have not been well represented in the media in general, and you know the WWE now with the amount of power and how big it is has become part of popular media... if I can be a positive Arab figure on such a large platform such as the WWE, and become some sort of an inspiration to an Arab kid in Lebanon, Egypt or Jordan then that’s amazing. Or even you know in Canada and the US, there’s just a relatability there, and I definitely want to send a positive message. It’s very important to me and I’m very proud that we can do that, the WWE offers me that platform to be able to do that.”
Though still young at 30, Zayn’s professional career began more than 13 years ago when he debuted as El-Generico, competing as a masked wrestler. Zayn wrestled for a number of professional wrestling organisations, such as International Wrestling Syndicate, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, Chikara and Ring of Honour before he finally signed with WWE’s NXT in 2013.
A sign of WWE’s confidence in Zayn’s abilities was his televised debut with NXT, when he competed and won against established WWE superstars and champions Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro in one night.
Speaking of the advice he would give to other Middle Eastern WWE fans on how to make it into the WWE, he said: “It’s been 13 years for me to get to this point, it never felt hard, it never felt like work. It was just part of a journey that I accepted, I never dragged myself to work, there’s just sort of a mental acceptance of what it took, and when you have that mental acceptance and that love and passion then it doesn’t really feel like work.”
Zayn also explained some of the challenging aspects that come with wanting to become a WWE superstar, “If you really stop and think about it, you’re absolutely right. There’s a lot of sacrifices, a lot of hard work and a lot of injuries and everything else you’re going to have to sustain. Family you’re going to have to leave behind, friends as well, everything you can imagine you have to put that away and that is a hard thing. But because I accepted that from day one it almost never felt like a chore to me, so as far as advice it really just comes from a place of love.”
WWE fans in Abu Dhabi who go to watch Zayn live are sure to witness an exciting match, with the wrestler having a number of signature moves up his sleeve, such as the diving crossbody, the exploder suplex and the sunset flip powerbomb. Other notable WWE superstars who will be part of the tour include John Cena, the 15-time world champion of the WWE, the company’s biggest star and the ‘face’ of the WWE for the past ten years. Cena’s current rival, Rusev, will also be a part of the Abu Dhabi tour. Rusev currently hold the WWE’s United States Championship belt and has yet to suffer defeat by pinfall since his defeat.
Other notable superstars include former champion Dolph Ziggler, current Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, as well as Seth Rollins, the proclaimed future face of the WWE and founder of one of the most dominant stable factions in the WWE, the Shield.
— WWE Live Abu Dhabi takes place from February 12-14 at Zayed Sports City. Tickets, Dh300-Dh2,000, at ticketmaster.ae.
