WWE’s history with Arabic and Middle Eastern wrestlers and characters has not been great. Okay, let’s not mince words, it’s been terrible, but Sami Zayn, WWE’s first Arabic champion, has largely avoided the pointed boots and terrorist allusions that have dogged other Arabic wrestlers. Zayn, who was born in Montreal to Syrian parents, is just portrayed as a regular dude who happens to be Arab in NXT, but even thought it’s rarely, if ever, brought up as an issue on TV, Sami takes a lot of pride in his heritage, as he explained in a recent interview while promoting WWE’s first live shows in Abu Dhabi…
“It’s very cool to come here and represent my people. Certainly in the WWE there has never been a positive Arab image so if I can contribute to that then I feel great about that.”
Sami then talked escaping the “pantomime villain” roles WWE has given to Arabs in the past…
“I’m very proud that I can be myself. I’m not trying to be Arabic, I’m just being me and I happen to be Arabic. I think that might be refreshing to some people and it’s a bit more realistic than these pantomime villains we’ve seen before. Hopefully I can change some people’s perceptions being a down-to-earth human being that happens to be Arabic. Whether you’re Arabic or Portuguese it doesn’t really matter. A dude’s a dude!”
Zayn also talked being being an ambassador of sorts to the Arab world, a role that going to be increasingly important and lucrative given WWE plans to steadily increase their presence in the Middle East…
“I feel like these are my people in the same way that I feel the people of Montreal or any Canadian city are. You don’t get a lot of Arabs in wrestling so being able to represent is huge to me and honestly some-thing I’ve always dreamed of.”
Finally, Zayn touched on WWE apparently having no plans to call him up to the main roster, despite him being a proven, essential cornerstone in NXT. Turns out, he’s really not that fussed about the whole thing…
“You see it a lot that when people fixate on one goal, they miss out on the journey. And it’s one hell of a journey. As far as I’m concerned, I’m on the right track and I try not to obsess over when I’m going to be on Raw or when I’m going to be on this or that. I try not to think too much about it and make any situation as good as I possibly can.”
Or in other words, “I’m pretty sure NXT is going to be the best part of my WWE career, so I’m cool with not rushing things”. Let’s hope that Zayn’s story continues to be positive once Vince gets his hands on him because getting turned into Sethrogen Hassan might just be a “I’m done with this” moment for me.
via Sport 360
