Sami Zayn Praises Recent WWE Saudi Arabia Shows

The topic of Sami Zayn and WWE’s Saudi Arabia shows often felt like a taboo one for several years, with the Syrian born superstar not traveling to the Middle East amidst issues between the two countries. However, at Night of Champions 2023, he finally made the trip over, main eventing the show and receiving a hero's welcome.

Zayn spoke to Alex McCarthy of Inside The Ropes, talking about how it felt to be a representing Muslim in front of the Saudi crowd, and how recent Saudi shows are becoming integrated into WWE programming rather than feeling like random special events with thrown together matches.

"That was a pretty big deal for me, for a number of reasons. That whole trip was really remarkable. I guess, on some level, even as a child, being an Arab or Muslim growing up, never really seeing a positive representation of that in media. I always just assumed if I ever got to WWE that I would have to play a terrorist -- I don't know if you can use that, but you know what I'm saying -- that was the perception and portrayal of Arabs and Muslims on television, never mind WWE, just in media. It was always sort of a thing in the back of my head, 'Man, I'd love to change that one day.' To be able to really embrace that.

“The fact that even a major premium live event like that was coming and it wasn't just like...those early Saudi Arabia shows felt very not WWE-ish. 'Here is a WWE show taking place somewhere else,' and we happened to be able to watch it. Now, that was a seamless part of the show. It was a progression in the story with the Bloodline and everything else, and it just happened to be in Saudi Arabia. For that to converge with this wonderful story that I've been lucky enough to be part of for the last year, for that to converge with this moment of me being able to come before my people and be there and have that sort of return, under those circumstances, was very special.”

Zayn and Kevin Owens would win their match at Night of Champions, successfully defending the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships against the team of Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa in a big time main event bout in front of a hot crowd.

H/T Fightful

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