Sami Zayn Shares Experience of Fighting in Saudi Arabia for KQOTR Tournament

Sami Zayn is bringing the WWE Intercontinental Championship back to North America after successfully defending it against Bronson Reed and Chad Gable at WWE King & Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Despite WWE’s 10-year partnership with the country’s Ministry of Sports, Zayn—a Canadian Muslim of Syrian descent—had not been allowed to participate in these events for several years due to Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Syrian Civil War.

Zayn took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share a video expressing what it meant to secure a significant victory in front of a packed Muslim crowd.

“It’s really, really, really hard to put into words, it really is,” Zayn said. “Just ‘proud’ is the only word that comes to mind…

I understand that 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, and I realize that.

It doesn’t seem like a central part of my character, but the truth is, it’s a central part of who I am. And when you come to this part of the world, there’s just a piece of me that feels whole in a way that I didn’t even know was missing until I get here.

And to be able to come here as the Intercontinental Champion and represent my people, represent all the people of the Middle East, as a champion, I can’t tell you how proud that makes me.”

Out of the 11 premium live events held in Saudi Arabia under WWE’s partnership, this is only Zayn’s third.

His first event was Night of Champions on May 27, 2023, where he and Kevin Owens successfully defended the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against The Bloodline. Notably, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca ahead of that event.