The King and Queen of the Ring tournament is back for 2025, and this year the finals will be held at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Who knows who will win, but the favorite on the men’s side has to be Sami Zayn. With the winner getting a world title shot at SummerSlam, it seems like it’s now or never for Zayn to have his moment. To get there, he’s going to have to wrestle in Saudi Arabia first, a country that he used to not compete in. So why wasn’t he involved in so many Saudi WWE shows, and what changed to finally get him there?
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Sami Zayn Is The Son Of Syrian Immigrants
Saudi Arabia Wouldn’t Allow Him To Wrestle At WWE Shows
- Zayn was born in Quebec, Canada to Syrian migrants.
- He is a devout Muslim.
- John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan wouldn’t compete in Saudi Arabia.
Sami Zayn was born in Quebec, Canada, which is no secret, as he always gets a loud ovation whenever he returns to his home country. However, Zayn, whose real name is Rami Sebei, is the son of Syrian immigrants who migrated to Canada about a decade before Sami was born. Zayn is proud of his Syrian heritage and is a devout Muslim, but his ancestry has caused some issues for him in WWE.
When WWE began a very controversial deal with Saudi Arabia in 2018, most fans weren’t happy. It came off as a gross blood money agreement, and for the first few shows, women weren’t even allowed to attend. Some stars, such as John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan, refused to go in the initial years. Sami Zayn wasn’t there either, but it wasn’t necessarily his choice. In a 2019 report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote about Sami Zayn, saying:
“The Saudi Arabian government told WWE they didn’t want him on the show due to his ethnicity.” (h/t Cultaholic)
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Sami Zayn Was Torn On Wanting To Wrestle In Saudi Arabia
Kevin Owens Supported His Best Friend By Not Competing In Shows
- There was a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Syria.
- Sami Zayn wasn’t keen on competing in Saudi Arabia.
- Zayn said he wouldn’t have performed in Israel.
It wasn’t only John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan who protested. Kevin Owens, who is Zayn’s best friend in real life, refused to go to Saudi Arabia in an act of support. If the Saudis didn’t want Sami Zayn, K.O. didn’t want them. No matter how often he’s been the perfect heel, it’s moves like that which will always make Kevin Owens a real-life babyface.
In 2018, Ryan Satin reported that Sami Zayn was not allowed to compete at the Saudi show called the Greatest Royal Rumble, but it wasn’t his request. At the time, the civil war in Syria caused a lot of conflict between them and Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi government even giving money to help rebels oust the Syrian President.
Zayn was asked about it during a 2020 interview on The Blindboy Podcast, and although he said he wasn’t invited and wasn’t too keen on going to Saudia Arabia, he added:
“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.”
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Sami Zayn Was Finally Allowed To Wrestle In Saudi Arabia In An Emotional Moment
Zayn Spoke About What It Meant To Him
- Zayn and Kevin Owens defended their tag titles at Night of Champions in 2023.
- He wore a Muslim thobe to the ring and spoke Arabic to the crowd afterward.
- He defended his Intercontinental Championship at the 2024 King and Queen of the Ring.
In 2023, however, things changed. With the Saudi and Syrian governments now talking again and the heightened tensions decreasing, Zayn was not only allowed to go to WWE shows in Saudia Arabia, but he wanted to. At Night of Champions 2023 in Jeddah, it was fitting that he competed with Kevin Owens to defend their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships in the main event. The crowd not only welcomed him, but he looked excited to be there as he walked down the ramp in a traditional Muslim thobe. He even got to speak Arabic to the crowd after the match.
Zayn returned to Jeddah the next year for the King and Queen of the Ring tournament, this time as a singles wrestler, where he defended his Intercontinental Championship in a winning effort versus Chad Gable and Bronson Reed. Afterward, he posted a message and video to Twitter/X, where he not only wrote that performing for his Arab brothers and sisters was one of his proudest achievements, but he said:
“I don’t necessarily present myself as Mr. Arab Man every day. And I think a lot of people probably don’t even know that I’m Arab or that I’m Muslim. I realize that. Because… it doesn’t seem like a central part of my character. But the truth is, it’s a central part of who I am. When you come to this part of the world, there’s just a piece of me that feels whole in a way that I don’t even know is missing until I get here. And to come here as Intercontinental Champion and represent my people, represent all the people of Middle East as champion, I can’t tell you how proud that makes me.”
No matter what role he plays at Night of Champions, or if he wins King of the Ring or not, Sami Zayn will be the most over star in Riyadh. Saudi WWE shows are still controversial and probably always will be, but even if you’re against them, seeing Sami Zayn make his entrance is still an emotional moment because you’re witnessing a wrestler coming home.
