Sami Zayn Unsure If He’s Banned From Saudi Arabia, But He’s Not Really Keen On Going Anyway
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Sami Zayn doesn’t know if he’s banned from Saudi Arabia because he hasn’t really asked — but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s not too concerned with going there either way.
Zayn appeared on the Blindboy Podcast and he was asked about not going to Saudi Arabia for WWE events and if he was banned from going. Zayn said he’s not too sure about the specifics as far as not being invited because he hasn’t asked, but says it’s not something he’s looking to do anyway.
“I don’t know. I don’t know the specifics on this. To this day I didn’t really ask because I wasn’t really keen on going anyway. But WWE did a thing, a partnership sort of or signed some sort of deal to put on these shows in Saudi Arabia for I don’t know, what? Ten years or something like that, and I just wasn’t invited to go and I never really dug into it too much because I wasn’t keen on going to begin with, but I would like to discuss that for a moment because there is a certain amount… there’s a certain amount of… what’s the word I’m looking for here? You know, it became very popular, very easy to say, ‘Well you shouldn’t go to this country because they do these awful things’ and I understand it and I agree and if I was asked to perform in Israel, I wouldn’t, right? But at the same time, I perform in the United States, you know what I mean? And I live in the United States. So there’s that sort of dissonance to get your head around a little bit. So I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel about all of that.”
Zayn, Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan are just three of a number of talents that have elected not to perform in Saudi Arabia for WWE. It’s worth noting that Zayn, who is of Syrian heritage, was reportedly not booked for the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018 to respect the local culture in Saudi Arabia.
Transcription credit: The Blindboy Podcast (H/T to POST Wrestling)