Paid Members Duke Posted 21 hours ago Paid Members Share Posted 21 hours ago 21 minutes ago, hallicks said: Isn’t there a thing about Sami not wanting to go or not being able to go to Saudi? If I remember rightly, that was whilst Saudi Arabia had a bad relationship with Syria (where Sami's family is from). They're doing better now, and I believe Sami has been on recent trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted 20 hours ago Paid Members Share Posted 20 hours ago (edited) He didn't initially participate in the Saudi as both of his parents are Syrian and relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria were particularly tumultuous when the WWE/Saudi 10 year deal began. He didn't work any of the shows from 2018-2022. I don't think it's ever been 100% clarified if he was barred or if WWE made the call. He said in interviews he wasn't invited to go and wasn't keen to go either. Saudi Arabia and Syria entered talks in 2023 with a view to restoring ties, so it was a less of a thorny issue for him to attend after that. He was in the main event of Night of Champions in 2023 in Jeddah and also made a pilgrimage to Mecca on that trip. Notably headlined that show teaming with Owens, who also hadn't worked the previous Saudi shows. He also worked Crown Jewel 2023 and King and Queen of the ring. He is wildly popular with the Saudi fans as he's a devout muslim, can speak Arabic and wore a kandura for his first appearance there. Also because he's Sami Zayn of course. EDIT: What Duke said, evidently I had not clicked onto the last page of the thread.  Edited 20 hours ago by JLM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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